best bluegrass albums ever
Matthew Mielke
Could someone list the names of
some bluegrass albums/collections
that would be essential listening
for someone who is just getting in to
bluegrass? Perhaps also some of the
best bluegrass albums ever...
-----------------------------
Matthew Mielke
george conklin
Well, Matthew, to my mind the old LP Ralph Stanley: A Man
and His Music (Rebel Records) is right up there with the very
best.
# George Conklin; Geo...@NCCU.EDU | The Mind is a Terrible Thing #
# N. C. Central University | To Waste #
# Durham, North Carolina USA | Support Cygnet Horns for Edison #
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--
John Wright
While I would agree with the Ralph Stanley suggestion, I would also advise
trying to find the Folkways/Smithsonian CD MOUNTAIN MUSIC BLUEGRASS STYLE.
It's a classic. The people involved were all doing old songs and old tunes,
and even though these are field recordings bluegrass has never sounded better.
In article <Dy72GK.Fus.4...@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>,
Keith Dunnigan
John Wright <jhwr...@nwu.edu> wrote:
: While I would agree with the Ralph Stanley suggestion, I would also advise
: It's a classic. The people involved were all doing old songs and old tunes,
: and even though these are field recordings bluegrass has never sounded better.
My favorite is "Skaggs and Rice", although to many itwon't be bluegrass
since it contains only guitar and mandolin
Keith Dunnigan
William Tomlin
I would recommend "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" by The Nitty
Gritty Dirt band w/ Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson,
Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements, Oswald Kirby and
others. It's from the early '70's but is now available in a two CD
set at most record stores, I would think. Basically it's some
of the best songs done by some of the greatest musicians
ever. Many a grasser has learned to play from this album.
William
--
Jay McCullough
I'd recomend 5
Bill Monroe "Cryin Holy"(to the lord) absolutely the best blugrass gospel
album I'v heard, and great harmonies and instrumentals as well.
The Kentucky Colonels "Long Journey Home" an absolute classic, short on
songs but if you're into the musicianship its the best thing going.
Bill Monrore "bean blossom" recorded live at his Bean Blossom festival
its got everybody on it and is a good way to get acquainted
with some quality bands.
>Ralph Stanley and Jimmy Martin "1st Time toghther" this is great album
with the best renditions of In the Pines, Stone Walls and Steel Bars and
Rabbit in the Log that I've heard
Hazel Dickens "A Few Old Memories" Its just her but singing but my god!
Its like listening to a Dorthea Lang photograph. (you might have heard her
if you saw Matewan, she sings the title and te final hymn. if you haven't
seen it you need to. Its probably the best bluegrass movie made)
Good Luck
Jay
"you're coal miners, they was hard people
back then, they wasn't nobody you wanted to cross......
"Matewan"
Jean Fong Kwok
Matthew,
I think one of the best bluegrass collections ever is The Stanley
Brothers, 1953-58, The Mercury Years (I'm not sure of the exact name
because I'm visiting from Holland and my music collection is there), on
Bear Family Records -- it's a double Cd.
The first King album of the Stanley Brothers, "The Stanley Brothers" is
also one of the best. Most recently, it can be found in the 4 CD box set
of King, "The King/Starday Years: 1958-61." The box also contains more
great King stuff.
The Columbia box set, a 2 CD set, with all the recordings of the original
bluegrass band (Bill Monroe with Flatt and Scruggs), "The Essential Bill
Monroe" is also great. The recordings are from 1946-48.
Some of the best Flatt and Scruggs recordings can be found in the Bear
Family box, "Flatt and Scruggs: 1948-59." Incredible.
I think one of the best gospel albums ever is Ralph Stanley's "The Cry
from the Cross" on Rebel Records, 1971.
I hope this is helpful.
Erwin
Bill Richardson
Since its often the case that many people don't know that bluegrass came
out of old-time music, and don't know the difference, and since this IS a
newsgroup for old-time music, not bluegrass or classic country, may I
suggest that you give a listen to some old-time music?
There are some incredible collections of old-time music that are available
from Rounder, County, and the Smithsonian Institute (Folkways). The
great artists of this music will blow your mind. If you like great
fiddling, try Wm Stepp, who we have been talking about, and the other
great Kentucky fiddlers. Banjo? Try Uncle Dave Macon, or Charlie Poole.
Singing? Try the original Carter Family.
Country and bluegrass are children of old-time music. Old-time music is
alive and well in a community near you! Don't look for it from a
commercial source, like radio or cable or TV. Look for it from people who
are actually playing the music on fiddle, banjo and guitar, and dancing to
it.
Bill Richardson
Blacksburg, Va
Peter Schug
Don't ignore some of the new things out there. I really like the two
Richard Greene, Grass is Greener CD's. Both CD's are instrumental only
and both are great.
Todd A. Gracyk
Matthew Mielke <mi...@ruby.ils.unc.edu> wrote:
>Could someone list the names of some bluegrass albums/collections
>that would be essential listening for someone who is just getting into
>bluegrass? Perhaps also some of the best bluegrass albums ever...
If someone had a $25 budget and wanted to hear essential recordings of
bluegrass music I would suggest the following 2 CD's:
Bill Monroe, "16 Gems", Sony 53908. This budget CD features 16 cuts
by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys recorded for Columbia between
1945 and 1949. This CD has a solid selection of songs and is as good
a place as any to listen closely to Monroe, the father of bluegrass
music. Recordings made in September of 1946 with Monroe, Lester Flatt,
Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise, and Howard Watts (Cedric Rainwater) are
considered by many to be the first true bluegrass recordings. It was
Scruggs' banjo playing in these 1946 sessions that set this band apart
from earlier versions of the Blue Grass Boys.
"The Best of Bluegrass, Volume One: Standards", PGD/Polygram 48979.
This budget CD features 10 essential tracks by the second and third
most important bands in bluegrass music: The Stanley Brothers and the
Clinch Mountain Boys and Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and the Foggy
Mountain Boys. Furthermore, it contains 7 cuts by the two most
influential progressive bluegrass bands: The Osborne Brothers (with
Red Allen) and the Country Gentleman. It also contains one track each
by pioneers Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers and The Lonesome
Pine Fiddlers. This CD also features the classic "Feudin' Banjos" by
Arthur Smith and Don Reno. The CD has 22 cuts in all, each one a
classic in one respect or another, and good liner notes by Ben Sandmel
that include recommended reading (like Neil V. Rosenberg's "Bluegrass:
A History" and Bill C. Malone's "Country Music U.S.A.") .
In terms of "some of the best bluegrass albums ever", a recommended
third purchase would be David Grisman's 1988 double CD project "Home
is Where the Heart Is", Rounder 251/2. This traditional bluegrass CD
has excellent fidelity (unlike the above 2 releases) and features many
of the finest second generation bluegrass artists performing songs
that are standards of the bluegrass repertoire. This CD features 4
cuts by an early, bluesy lineup of the Nashville Bluegrass Band and
over a dozen tracks featuring artists such as J.D. Crowe, Tony Rice,
Ricky Skaggs, and Doc Watson. There are 4 wonderful songs featuring
the soulful lead vocals of Red Allen plus Del McCoury does a fantastic
job with 4 classic Bill Monroe songs.
Should a new listener find they like traditional material and the
singing of Red Allen, they should keep going with another
Grisman/Allen project simply titled "Bluegrass Reunion", Acoustic Disc
4. This is a wonderful, often mournful CD that also features Jerry
Garcia's moving version of the Stanley Brothers' "The Fields Have
Turned Brown".
My favorite modern band is the Johnson Mountain Boys. They have made
several fine studio recordings plus two excellent live recordings.
The best is probably the lengthy concert CD "At the Old Schoolhouse",
Rounder 260/1, .
For really hot playing and hard singing, I love the traditional
bluegrass material (about half) on "Tony Rice Plays and Sings
Bluegrass", Rounder 253. I also love Rice's work with the Bluegrass
Album Band. However, if I could do it all over again, I would first
listen to original recordings of bluegrass standards and then move on
to revival artists. I came to learn about bluegrass by hearing the
revival artists first. Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice's wonderful CD of
duets, "Skaggs and Rice", Sugar Hill 3711, is still a favorite of mine
but I wish I had heard the original versions of some of these classic
songs first (but I do feel that in most cases the Skaggs and Rice
versions are improvements).
Problem is, it is difficult to obtain the original recordings of same.
Re-issues have helped tremendously, but in the case of Bill Monroe,
there are several compilation CD's and box sets and most duplicate
material. There is a 4 CD book set, "The Music of Bill Monroe from
1936 to 1994", MCA 11048, that provides a solid overview of Monroe's
career. Monroe's best years were 1946 to 1954 but this set doesn't
put a greater emphasis on these years, so the 3rd and 4th discs are
weak compared to the 1st and 2nd discs. It is a shame that many
important Monroe recordings can only be obtained on imported German
box sets. I consider the 4 CD import box set "Blue Grass 1950-58",
Bear Family 15423, to be much stronger than the MCA set, as it
features all recordings made between 1950 and 1954, which is Monroe's
best, most lonesome work (recorded with Jimmy Martin and Carter
Stanley on lead vocals). The sacred material in the set from 1958
ain't bad stuff, either. For those wanting just one CD of material
from this period to augment "16 Gems", there is the budget CD "Country
Music Hall of Fame", MCA 10082.
Then there is my favorite band, the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch
Mountain Boys. Their very best material was recorded for Mercury
between the years 1953 and 1958 and all of these recordings can be
obtained on the fairly affordable double CD set "1953-58/59", Bear
Family 15681. I strongly suggest that all bluegrass fans purchase
this set! A budget CD called "Angel Band", Mercury 314-529 191-2, is
more affordable but omits at least 9 fantastic cuts from this period.
Earlier Stanleys’ recordings aren't as well performed as the Mercury
sides but several of their best songs were written and recorded for
Columbia between 1947 and 1949. This material can be found on both a
single Bear Family CD or on a new Columbia budget CD, "The Complete
Columbia Stanley Brothers", Sony 53798. There is all kinds of
material out that was recorded live or in the studio for the Starday
and King labels following 1958 but listeners should stay away from
this material until they have gotten and exhausted the Mercury and
Columbia material. A possible exception would be "The Stanley
Brothers, Volume 3, #4", Copper Creek 5513, featuring excellent live
shows from 1958.
My list of essential recordings could go on and on. For an fairly up
to date discography of bluegrass recordings, see Richard D. Smith's
book "Bluegrass: An Informal Guide", 1995, A Cappella Books.
Todd A. Gracyk
Petaluma, CA
ta...@pge.com
Steve Goldfield
I was going to stay out of this one, but here are a couple
of thoughts. If I had to pick a single Bill Monroe recording,
I'd get the Smithsonian/Folkways off the record, vol. 1,
which Ralph Rinzler put together. It's absolutely wonderful
and is filled with live and jam performances. I'd also get
the recording that Rounder put out on LP of the classic band
with Flatt & Scruggs, Monroe, and Chubby Wise. After those,
my list gets way too long to type.
--
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Steve Goldfield :<{ {>: ste...@uclink.berkeley.edu
Jon Weisberger
Matthew Mielke asks:
> Could someone list the names of
> some bluegrass albums/collections
> that would be essential listening
> for someone who is just getting in to
> bluegrass?
There are some great boxed sets out there, but it is possible to put
together a pretty good "essentials" collection out of domestic single CD
releases...
16 Gems, Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys. Includes many, if not most, of
the singles recorded by the Flatt-Scruggs-Wise-Watts version of the band
(the rest are on the 2-CD "Essential" Bill Monroe & BGB set, together with
alternate takes of the ones on 16 Gems), plus before-and-after lineups.
The Mercury Sessions, Flatt & Scruggs. The stuff they cut in their first 2
or so years after leaving Monroe. There's a one-CD Mercury set that has
this all; Charles Wolfe says that the sound is better on the Rounder 2-CD
version of the same stuff.
Blue Ridge Cabin Home/The Golden Era/Don't Get Above Your Raisin', Flatt &
Scruggs. Any one of these will serve as a good introduction to middle
Flatt & Scruggs, after they moved to Columbia. If you want more than one,
it's time to start thinking about the first F &S boxed set (4 CDs) from
Bear Family, which contains the Mercury sessions and everything else
through 1959.
Angel Band, The Stanley Brothers. Mercury's collected a good selection
here of the aterial the Brothers did for them in the 50s. Bear Family has
it all on a 2-CD set.
You Don't Know My Mind, Jimmy Martin. Rounder's selection from his 130 or
so Decca recordings between the mid-50s and mid-70s. Bear Family has 5-CD
set with it all - one of my most treasured possessions.
Border Ride, Jim & Jesse McReynolds. A new reissue on the King Special
label. Not very good sound, and skimpy, but budget-priced. The secular
sides cut for Starday in the 50s, plus an extra or two.
Country Songs Old & New/Folksongs and Bluegrass, The Country Gentlemen.
This year's inductees into the IBMA's Hall of Honor. These are two very
early albums done for Folkways.
Good Old Country Ballads/A Variety of Country Songs, Reno & Smiley. 2
reissues on the King label of the stuff done in the 50s and 60s. As an
introduction to the Reno & Smiley sound, they're pretty interchangeable.
King also has a 4-CD boxed set out.
Award Winning, The Country Gentlemen. My favorite CG lineup. A great and
very influential album - just take a look at how many tunes on there are
jam session favorites.
J.D. Crowe & The New South. The self-titled infamous Rounder 0044.
Arguably the most important BG album of the 1970s, it is still one of the
standards by which a lot of bluegrass is measured.
Rock My Soul, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. A bluegrass album that's sold
hundreds of thousands of units. DL & Q has been one of the most
influential bands of the 1980s and 90s; this is the first lineup doing the
first of Doyle's many all-gospel albums.
Let The Whole World Talk, the Johnson Mountain Boys. Standard bearers for
trad. bluegrass, at least in the eyes of many fans, the JMB is another band
that has had a tremendous impact on the BG scene.
The Bluegrass Album, The Bluegrass Album Band. There are six volumes on
Rounder, the most recent of which is all-instrumental. The band is mostly
Tony Rice (see Rounder 0044), Doyle Lawson (see Rock My Soul), Bobby Hicks
(long-time Blue Grass Boy), J. D. Crowe (see Rounder 0044, You Don't Know
My Mind) and bass player Todd Phillips. Younger generation homage
to/reinterpretation of the classics (mostly). Again, tremendously
influential; a lot of pickers know a lot of Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, etc.
numbers from these albums, rather than the original recordings.
Every Time You Say Goodbye, Alison Krauss & Union Station. Influential
fiddler, influential singer, influential band.
That will give a fairly decent picture of bluegrass's development. There
are, of course, many other artists and recordings who need to be heard to
develop a well-rounded familiarity with different styles (not to mention an
appreciation of an awful lot of good music <g>), but this will come close
to giving you the most bang for your buck in terms of "essentials" in 15 or
so CDs.