Appalachian Mountain Gospel: 25 Bluegrass Gospel Classics

Rural Rhythm Records RHY-326

Format: CD, Album, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2008
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Gospel, Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
01 There Is Power in the Blood: The Marksmen (2:04)
02 No Hidin' Place Down Here: Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (1:47)
03 Take Me in Your Life Boat: Red Smiley & the Bluegrass Cut-Ups (2:03)
04 Old Country Church: House Brothers (1:26)
05 The Great Speckled Bird: Reno & Harrell with The Tennessee Cut-Ups (2:30)
06 Keep on the Sunny Side: Lee Moore 1:13)
07 A Beautiful Life: Red Smiley & the Bluegrass Cut-Ups (1:33)
08 I'm on My Way to Canaan Land: House Brothers (1:44)
09 Oh Why Not Tonight: The Marksmen (1:38)
10 Is She Praying There: Mac Martin & His Dixie Travelers (2:38)
11 Golden Slippers: Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks (1:25)
12 Somebody Touched Me: Red Smiley & the Bluegrass Cut-Ups (2:35)
13 Where the Soul of Man Never Dies: Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (2:00)
14 Uncloudy Day: J.D. Jarvis (2:13)
15 Angel Band: House Brothers (2:35)
16 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms: Red White & the Country Gospel Singers (1:45)
17 Paul & Silas: Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks (1:52)
18 If I Could Here My Mother Pray Again: Happy Land Gospel Singers (1:46)
19 Lonely Tombs: J.D. Jarvis (1:54)
20 Precious Memories: House Brothers (2:36)
21 I Am a Pilgrim: Raymond Fairchild & the Maggie Valley Boys (1:48)
22 Let the Church Roll On: Red Smiley & the Bluegrass Cut-Ups (1:53)
23 I Feel Like Traveling On: Happy Land Gospel Singers (2:04)
24 Walking Cane: Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (2:12)
25 I'm Getting Ready to Go: Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys (2:04)
[Credits]
Compilation Producer: Sam Passamano, Jr., Designner and Photographer: Marty Rosamond, Engineer: Steve Hoffman
[Notes]
Part of the ongoing Sound Traditions series of bluegrass anthologies from the Rural Rhythm label, Sound Traditions: Appalachian Mountain Gospel (25 Bluegrass Gospel Classics) gathers 25 rare examples of vintage bluegrass gospel. Artists include the Marksmen, Hylo Brown & the Timberliners, and Jim Greer & the Mac-O-Chee Valley Boys. Many of these songs have never been available on CD before.

Appalachian Mountain Bluegrass

Rural Rhythm Records RHY-317

Format: CD, Album, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2007
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
01 Foggy Mountain Top: Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys (2:14)
02 Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee: Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks (2:41)
03 Froggie Went a Courtin': Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (1:38)
04 Cumberland Gap: The Cumberlands (2:35)
05 Black Mountain Blues: Mac Martin & His Dixie Travelers (3:07)
06 Home Across the Blue Ridge Mountains: Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys (2:02)
07 Poor Ellen Smith: Reno & Harrell with The Tennessee Cut-Ups (2:01)
08 Where the Soul of Man Never Dies: Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (2:01)
09 Grandfather's Clock: Mac Wiseman (2:08)
10 Big Sandy: Red Smiley & the Bluegrass Cut-Ups (1:02)
11 Worried Man Blues: Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys (1:57)
12 Deep Elm Blues: Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks (2:08)
13 Wild Bill Jones: Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (1:43)
14 Rovin' Gambler: Mac Wiseman (1:49)
15 Soldier's Joy: The Cumberlands with Michael Cleveland (2:36)
16 Darling Corey: Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys (1:49)
17 Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss: Red White & the Dixie Blue Grass Band (1:36)
18 When the Bees Are in the Hive: Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks (2:24)
19 Bread and Gravy: J.E. Mainer & The Mountaineers with Morris Herbert (2:55)
20 Run Boy Run: Michael Cleveland / The Cumberlands (2:20)
21 Gathering Flowers from the Hillside: Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys (2:17)
22 Mole in the Ground: Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (2:23)
23 Long Journey Home: Reno & Harrell with The Tennessee Cut-Ups (2:01)
24 Rebel Soldier: The Cumberlands (3:40)
25 Fire on the Mountain: Fiddlin' DeWayne Wear & the Wear Family (1:10)
26 The Tie That Binds Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks (1:27)
27 Rabbit in the Log: Frosty Mountain Boyswith Raymond Fairchild (1:31)
28 All the Good Times Are Past and Gone: Hylo Brown & The Timberliners (2:41)
29 Just Over in Glory Land: Mac Wiseman (1:53)
30 Amazing Grace: Raymond Fairchild & The Maggie Valley Boys (2:02)
[Credits]
Compilation Producer: Sam Passamano, Jr., Designner and Photographer: Marty Rosamond, Engineer: Steve Hoffman
[Notes]
Continuing with our successful Sound Traditions series, Rural Rhythm is proud to release this special new 30 Song Heritage Collection title, Appalachian Mountain Bluegrass 30 Vintage Classics which contains over 60 minutes of Historic Bluegrass Music and debuts many classic recorded songs Never-Before-Available on CD. Each song was remastered from the original master tapes by Steve Hoffman, (a leading mastering engineer in the High End Audio market). The end results are some of the best sounding authentic Traditional Bluegrass music available today.

Blue Grass Special: Don Reno and Red Smiley / The Stanley Brothers

Angel Records HV-1048

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: JP
Released: March 1960
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Dixie Brakdown (2:20) *
A2 Haw Mountain Girls Can Love (2:05) **
A3 Let's Live For Tonight (2:21) *
A4 Train 45 (2:40) **
A5 Tree Of Life (2:42) *
A6 Mastertone March (2:23) **
B1 Charlotte Brakdown (2:20) *
B2 Think Of What You've Done (2:06) **
B3 How I Miss My Darling Mother (2:36) *
B4 Clinch Mountain Backstep (2:18) **
B5 Love Me Darling Just Tonight (2:15) **
B6 Springtime In Heaven (2:38) *
[Credits]
* Don Reno and Red Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-Ups
** The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys
[Notes]
Made in Japan by Toshiba Musical Industries LTD.

First Bluegrass Festival Fincastle VA. 1965

First bluegrass festival held in Fincastle Va. on Labor Day Weekend September, 1965.

In September of 1965 the first multi-day bluegrass festival was held at Cantrell’s horse barn in Fincastle, Virginia. The now legendary event was the brain child of the longtime manager of Reno and Smiley, Carlton Haney. Some of the entertainment lineup included Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, Clyde Moody, The Osborne Brothers, The Stanley Brothers, Don Reno and Red Smiley (in their own separate bands), and the father of Bluegrass himself, . The festival proved to be one of the most significant events in bluegrass music history. In fact it may have actually saved the music itself. Carlton’s festival started a festival movement that spawned many more festivals throughout the country and eventually the world. These festivals provided the already struggling bluegrass industry with a venue for musicians to play, meet their fans, and most importantly make a living. And for the last 47 years festivals have been life blood for most professional bluegrass bands.

Bill Monroe, Carter and Ralph Stanley at Fincastle VA, 1965.

One of the most memorable things about Carlton’s early festivals was his narration of “the bluegrass story” or as he infamously pronounces it “the bluegrass stow-ree”. “The bluegrass story” was a history lesson on the music’s beginnings and usually featured Bill Monroe and former Bluegrass Boys playing the classic tunes that defined the music. For the 1965 festival, Bill Monroe, Don Reno, Clyde Moody, Benny Martin, and Mac Wiseman were all part of the first “stow-ree”. Luckily, portions of this historic event were captured on video. If you haven’t seen the video of Don Reno, Bill Monroe, Benny Martin, and Mac Wiseman all playing on stage together at the first festival, put down this magazine now and go to Youtube immediately! It can be found on my Youtube page: www.youtube.com/user/renopicker. They play several classic tunes, such as Rawhide, Orange Blossom Special, Can’t You Hear Me Calling, Six More Miles, Molly And Tenbrooks, and Traveling Down This Lonesome Road. You can tell how Don, Benny, and Bill were all feeding off each other in the video. This isn’t the slick, clinically sterilized perfection we hear in today’s bluegrass bands, this is raw real bluegrass played by the first generation masters. Even though the video and the audio isn’t the best quality, you can still feel the energy that these guys produced when watching them perform on stage. This is what made them great and why we still talk about them today. I can only imagine how incredible and exciting it was for those that were lucky enough to see the show live in 1965.

Of course like most of you, the first time I saw this video I was thrilled to see and hear my heroes playing together in their prime but I was mostly fixated on Don, of course. I couldn’t believe the things I was hearing. His breaks were ingenious and his back up was out of this world. The first time I heard his break to Rawhide I literally jumped out of my seat and got goose bumps! But the real stand out for me was his break to Traveling Down this Lonesome Road. Till this day it’s one of the coolest things I have ever heard him do. It’s pure rock and roll on the banjo. How he thought of these things still amazes me. For Traveling, Don implements a lot of Chuck Berry/Bill Monroe type riffs on the banjo that are similar to his kick off on I Know You’re Married. Most of the double stops are done with the thumb. Remember to mute the bridge with your palm to get the right sound when doing all the thumb brush work. They are playing in the key of F in the video but as with much of Don’s playing his break can easily be transposed to any key. One of the greatest things about this break is his ending lick as he walks away from the microphone. Pure genius!! What is also impressive about this break is that Don probably never played it exactly the same way again. He was the king of improvisation. He was never afraid to take chances and neither should you. So once you get the basic break down, use your imagination to add your own ideas to it and see what happens! If you have any questions or comments please contact me through my website: www.renopicker.com Until next time…Keep Pickin’ Reno!

Reno-Style Workshop
by Jason Skinner

30 APPALACHIAN BLUEGRASS CLASSICS: Rural Rhythm Records

Rural Rhythm Records on SoundCloud

POWER PICKS is a BEST OF series and contains Rural Rhythm's most powerful classic song performances by many Bluegrass legends and pioneers from the heyday of Bluegrass music! This Heritage Collection title contains classic original master performances culled from Rural Rhythm’s treasure trove of over 4,000 original masters dating back to 1955. If you like traditional Bluegrass music and want a collection of classic songs performed by the Legends & Pioneers of Bluegrass, then the Rural Rhythm Heritage Collection series is right for you. The songs were very familiar to our ancestors, and thanks to these traditional Bluegrass musicians, they’re with us still.

1. Little Maggie - Frosty Mountain Boys
2. Deep Elm Blues - Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks
3. Uncle Pen - Ernie & Mack With The Bluegrass Cut-Ups
4. Martin & The Coys - Hylo Brown & The Blue Ridge Mountain Boys
5. Rabbit In The Log - Log Cabin Boys
6. Yonder Comes The Sheriff - Bob Ensign & The Stump Jumpers
7. When It's Time For The Whippoorwill To Sing - Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks
8. Cripple Creek - Frosty Mountain Boys
9. Whoa, Mule Whoa - J. E. Mainer & The Mountaineers ( Featuring Morris Herbert)
10. If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again - Hylo Brown & The Timberliners
11. Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - James Wall
12. Foggy Mountain Top - Raymond Fairchld
13. Tupelo County Jail - Red Smiley & The Bluegrass Cut-Ups
14. Rolling In My Sweet Baby’s Arms - Frosty Mountain Boys
15. Shady Grove - J.E. Mainer & Red Smiley With The Bluegrass Cut-Ups
16. Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down - Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks
17. Bring A Little Water Sylvie - Hylo Brown & The Timberliners
18. Black Eyed Susan - Tater Tate
19. My Clinch Mountain Home - James Wall
20. Why Do You Wonder - Ernie & Mack With The Bluegrass Cut-Ups
21. John Hardy - Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks
22. Down In The Willow Garden - Earl Taylor & Jim Mccall With The Stoney Mountain Boys
23. Sweet Fern - Hylo Brown & The Timberliners
24. John Henry - Red White & His Dixie Blue Grass Band
25. I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Hom - Ernie & Mack With The Stoney Mountain Boys
26. Pallet On The Floor - J.E. Mainer & The Mountaineers ( Featuring Morris Herbert)
27. Plant Some Flowers By My Grave - Red Smiley & The Bluegrass Cut-Ups
28. I'll Be All Smiles Tonight - Hylo Brown
29. Chruch In The Wildwoods - Jim Greer & The Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks
30. Old Mountain Dew - Raymond Fairchild