Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall

Columbia – CS 8845

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1963
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country, Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Salty Dog Blues (1:57)
A2 Durham's Reel (1:04)
A3 Hot Corn, Cold Corn (2:21)
A4 Footprints In The Snow (2:37)
A5 Flint Hill Special (2:23)
A6 Dig A Hole In The Meadow (2:00)
B1 The Martha White Theme (1:13)
B2 I Wonder Where You Are Tonight (1:39)
B3 Mama Blues (1:25)
B4 Take This Hammer (2:06)
B5 Fiddle And Banjo (1:26)
B6 Yonder Stands Little Maggie (1:48)
B7 Let The Church Roll On (2:01)
[Credits]
Lester Flatt (guitar/vocals) Earl Scruggs (banjo/guitar/vocals) Josh Graves (dobro) Paul Warren (fiddle) Billy Powers (guitar) Cousin Jake (bass)
[Notes]
Recorded live at Carnegie Hall, New York, New York on December 8, 1962. Originally released on Columbia (8845). Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were big news at the height of the late '50s/early '60s folk revival. New York City was essentially ground zero for a mania that extended to all things musical and Southern. So something of a love-fest occurred when Flatt and Scruggs and their polished bluegrass band rolled into town on one December night in 1962 to play no less a venue than Carnegie Hall. There are screams from the crowd for "Martha White" (the theme song from the band's radio sponsor), and Scruggs has no choice but to encore the banjo showpiece "Flint Hill Special." To know what the Foggy Mountain Boys sounded like in their natural habitat, you'd have to go to transcripts of the band playing a school auditorium or radio hour somewhere south of the Jersey Turnpike. CARNEGIE HALL still gives you a taste of how Flatt and Scruggs put together a show before their original band disintegrated under the weight of the revival itself. As you might expect from a live recording of this era, the sound favors the top end. Vocals, fiddle, and banjo breaks come through best, especially as the band performs with only two microphones among its six performers.

Lester Raymond Flatt

Flying Fish FF-015

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1975
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Come Back Darling (2:43 )
A2 The Wreck Of The Old 97 (3:30)
A3 Remarks (0:40)
A4 Some Old Day (2:49 )
A5 Listen To The Mockingbird (4:03)
A6 When It's Time For The Whippoorwill To Sing (2:40)
A7 Remarks (0.40)
A8 Down The Road (2:01)
B1 I Won't Care (2:23)
B2 It Was Only The Wind (3:09)
B3 Remarks (0.20)
B4 My Cabin In Caroline (3:43)
B5 Remarks (0:28)
B6 Sleep With One Eye Open (3:14)
B7 Foggy Mountain Chimes (2:11)
B8 That Old Book Of Mine (3:08)
[Credits]
Lester Flatt (guitar/vocals) Curley Seckler (mandolin/vocals) Kenny Ingram (banjo/vocals) Paul Warren (fiddle/vocals) Charlie Nixon (dobro) Marty Stuart (guitar/mandolin) Jack Hicks (bass) Buddy Spicher (fiddle)
[Notes]
Bluegrass Musician. A native of the Cumberland Plateau in East Tennessee, he ranks as one of the all-time preeminent lead singers of Bluegrass music. Born in Sparta, Tennessee, he left school in 1931 at an early age to work in the local textile mills. While working in the mill, he got a partime job at radio station WDBJ to perfom with "The Charlie Scott Harmonizers". Later he would team up with Clyde Moody and perform a few shows in and around Burlington,North Carolina. It was then in 1943 that he realized that he may have a hopeful career in music and quit textiles to join full time with Charlie Monroe's "The Kentucky Partners". His wife, Gladys, also joined and toured with the group. Lester Flatt and his wife moved to Nashville in 1944 and was soon hired by Bill Monroe to play in his "Bluegrass Boys Band" for the next four years. In 1948, he would form a partnership with Earl Scruggs, which would last for twenty one years as the most popular duo Bluegrass act. "Flatt and Scruggs" would breakup over musical differences in 1969. Durning the early 70's, Lester Flatt teamed with "The Foggy Mountain Boys" to record and perform live shows, including the Grand Ole Opry. In 1975, his health began to decline; however, he still remained fairly active up until November 1978 when he experienced some serious health problems. He returned to the Opry in March 1979 and would fall ill again and die two months later in May. "Flatt and Scruggs" will always be remembered as one of the greatest duos in Bluegrass music.

Foggy Mountain Banjo: Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys

Columbia CS-8364

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1961
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Ground Speed
A2 Home Sweet Home
A3 Sally Ann
A4 Little Darlin', Pal Of Mine
A5 Reuben
A6 Cripple Creek
B1 Lonesome Road Blues
B2 John Henry
B3 Fire Ball Mail
B4 Sally Goodwin
B5 Bugle Call Rag
B6 Cumberland Gap
[Credits]
Earl Scrugg (banjo) Lester Flatt (guitar) Paul Warren (fiddle) Josh Graves (dobro) Cousin Jake (bass) Buddy Harman (drums)
Artwork: Thomas B. Allen, Liner Notes: Rich Kienzle
[Notes]
The album that secured Flatt & Scruggs standing among folk music enthusiasts in the 1960s, Foggy Mountain Banjo focuses on Earl Scruggs' instrumental prowess as well as his sharp interplay with dobroist Josh Graves, fiddler Paul Warren and Lester Flatt's flat-picking guitar. The album also features drummer Buddy Harman, whose appearance shocked purists.

Lester Flatt & Mac Wiseman: On the South Bound

RCA Victor – LSP 4688

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: United States
Released: 1972
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Salty Dog Blues (2:09)
A2 Just A Strand From (2:51)
A3 Mama's And Daddy's Little Girl (2:33)
A4 How Lonely Can You Get? (2:28)
A5 I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling (2:42)
B1 On The Southbound (2:16)
B2 Are You Coming Back To Me (2:16)
B3 You Can't Trust A Friend Anymore (2:25)
B4 Me & Your Memory (2:31)
B5 When You Are Lonely (2:47)
[Original Version]
RCA Victor LSP-4688 (US) 1972
[Credits]
Lester Flatt (guitar/vocals) Mac Wiseman (guitar/vocals) Josh Graves (dobro) Roland White (mandolin/vocals) Haskel McCormick (banjo) Victor Jordan (banjo) Howdy Forrester (fiddle) Paul Warren (fiddle) Hargus Robbins (piano) Don Smith (bass) E.P. Tullock Jr (bass)