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[JollyJim]

Morning All

Like me, my son seems to like all different genres and this week, he's into Bluegrass.

Now, this is not an area I know much about. I've got hold of some Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs stuff but, in the back of my mind, I can remember watching and listening to a guy some years ago who was rated the best in the world at that time.

Trouble is, I can't remember his name. The only clue is that I seem to remember that he backed Glen Campbell and, I guess, would be about the same age or maybe a bit younger.

If anyone's got any suggestions - I'll know his name if someone says it .....help

Thanks

Jim

[matshif]

Hi

Try this one
http://stations.mp3s.com/stations/21/cybergrass_-_is_bluegrass_.html
or
http://www.banjonews.com/

Maybe that could be to same help.

Take Care

Mats

[Deivit]

Could it be Norman Blake or Ricky Skaggs (he is younger though)?

If neither ot them, take a look at this link. It probably may be of help:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=MISS70305161612&sql=C2381

----
Listening to: 'The Winds Of Time Won't Change' from 'Far Away, Down On A Georgia Farm' by 'Norman Blake' on Media Center 9.0

[Deivit]

For modern bluegrass check out Alison Kraus. She's simply wonderful.

[JollyJim]

Thanks guys - I finally remembered. It was Carl Jackson.

Banjo pickers always amaze me - it looks as though their fingers hardly move yet they throw out about 200 notes per minute - totally amazing.


I'll check out Alison Kraus and thanks for the tip

Jim

[KingSparta]

Banjo pickers always amaze me

this reminds me of a story long ago when i lived in upper Mich (around copper harbor)

we went thru 3 bus drivers rather quickly and the last one was this guy that could play a Banjo this guy was good and he would play a song each day for us.

he was the last bus driver we had untill I left Mich this must have been in the early 60's

I hope I am not the only one who remembers him.

[zevele10]

Ralph Stanley

Bill Monroe

Sam Bush

Newgrass Revival

Sam Bush

John Fahey [not all]

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band : they" Will The Circle Be Unbroken "serie is masterpiece ,not 100% bluegrass , but masterpiece

[Charlemagne 8]

I always thought it was John Hartford that stood up in the audience at the beginning of every show playing the banjo to the tune "Gentle on my Mind" which JH wrote and with which Glen Campbell launched his career.

Don't forget Doc Watson.

For "Progressive" bluegrass, find some John McCuen, an original member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Also the bluegrass album(s) of Bela Fleck.

For old bluegrass, you must hear Bill Monroe.

Check out the bluegrass section in Rhapsody. You'll not find a better, more diverse collection.

For a couple of really wonderful  videos, "Down from the Mountain" and "The Three Pickers" available from PBS.

I'm not an expert in the field but this is my heritage ... I grew up in Nashville. It's said that bluegrass music is a continuation of traditional Scottish and Irish music that was brought over with the original settlers in the South. Over the generations, it developed it's own life and became a separate genre. It's also said that the Southern accent derived from the Celtic flavored accents of those same groups.

It's also been said the Country music evolved from bluegrass but "devolved" is a more appropriate term, I think. That's just my opinion ... like it if you want but I don't. But I DO love bluegrass.

CVIII

[JimH]

Tony Rice
Jean Ritchie
A third or a fourth on Doc Watson

You're lucky to have a son whose interests are so broad.  It speaks well for his parents.

[zevele10]

I just realize you are in England- So two very cheap and very good boxsets:

From Proper Records : a 4 cds box :"Bluegrass Bonanza".
Like all they boxsets ,the selection is first class. Price as well ,i got it for 12- or 10- pounds in Tower London.


From Proper/Retro a 2 cds box with best songs from Bill Monroe ,Doc Watson,Hank Snow ans Merle Travies.
The art sleeve is gorgious and price in the 5/8 pounds mark

[JollyJim]

Thanks everybody for responding - I'll have something to do in my spare time now!!

Charlemagne - You may well be right about John Hartford. I'm afraid my memory ain't what it.......errrr, what was the word I was looking for??

JimH - Thanks for that comment - that was real nice.

Does Glen Campbell still perform? I was always impressed with his guitar playing especially some of the runs he used to do on his Guild electric 12 string. It was disappointing that he did'nt do much in this direction.

Thanks again chaps

Jim

[NanjingGuy]

Thanks everybody for responding - I'll have something to do in my spare time now!!

Charlemagne - You may well be right about John Hartford. I'm afraid my memory ain't what it.......errrr, what was the word I was looking for??

JimH - Thanks for that comment - that was real nice.

Does Glen Campbell still perform? I was always impressed with his guitar playing especially some of the runs he used to do on his Guild electric 12 string. It was disappointing that he did'nt do much in this direction.

Thanks again chaps

Jim

I think you'll find it was John Hartford. God rest his soul. I used to live in a river town that had a steamboat and he was VERY into steamboats. So each summer there was a bluegrass festival on the waterfront and he would be there for the whole time. Seemed to have these funny cigarettes, he and the rest of the band...

More info on his albums is here:

http://web.rounder.com/index.php?search_field=musical_group&searchtext=hartford&new_target=catalog&id=search.php&Search_btn=GO

[zevele10]

&#8220

&#8221

All other the post.
Not the first time i see it.

May i know what it means?

[d_pert]

Hi,

I'm a Canadian (in Toronto) who runs an MP3 library with MC9 which includes approximately 4,000 BLUEGRASS files. I'm an avid student of 5-string banjo, and have been very privileged to be taken under the wings of some professional players who have taught me a great deal about the music over the last three years. I've been absorbing the best recordings and attending live events (including in the heartlands of Bluegrass in the USA) for about three years, and have a pretty good fix on what the most important and influential recordings are.

The artists who have been recommended to you here are excellent and the recordings too, but the true "reference" recordings which carry the "core" of the repertoire and sound of Bluegrass are not well represented, generally.

Here are some suggestions for albums to get not based on personal taste but on their sheer status and influence - stuff that students of Bluegrass music (of playing the instruments and singing the songs) learn automatically, in no particular order of importance:

First, modern recordings:

1) Title: "The Bluegrass Compact Disc" with J.D. Crowe, Jerry Douglas, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson, Todd Phillips, Tony Rice, Rounder Records CD11502.

Note that the above is Volume 1 in a series.

2) Title: "J.D. Crowe & The New South" Rounder Records 0044. Absolutely quintessential.

3) Title: "Snakes Alive!" by "The Dreadful Snakes" (featuring Bela Fleck, the premier Banjo player in the world ... in all styles) Rounder Records 0177.

4) Title: "Time Stands Still" by Ron Stewart, Rounder Records CD 82161-0479-2.

5) Title: "Live at the M.A.C." by "IIIrd Tyme Out" Rounder Records, 0413.

6) Title: "Del & The Boys" by the Del McCoury Band, Hollywood Records (sorry no # but very famous).

Note that this last one was a hard choice because Del McCoury is sort of the new elder of neo-traditional Bluegrass and has many albums out which are mostly all. The one I chose has a track which won best new song just a couple years ago at the IBMA so I thought it should receive the extra status.)

7) Title: "The Stanley Tradition: Tribute To A Bluegrass Legacy" a special multi-artist project by many top super players/singers pay tribute to Ralph Stanley, on Doobie Shea records, DS-CD-1001.

8 - Titles: "My Dixie Home" or "Bound To Ride" by Jim Mills both on Sugar Hill Records. (Sorry no #s, but again very famous.)

9) Title: "Live At The Charleston Music Hall" by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder" on Skaggs Family Records. Probably the most recent super-concert live recording in Bluegrass.

10) Title: "Live At The Old Schoolhouse" by "The Johnson Moutain Boys". Very influential, firey, live recording. (Sorry no number but again very famous.)

11) "Tony Rice" by Tony Rice ... super-influential, little bit older album which is considered to have almost single-handedly initiated a post-folk-revival renaissance in Bluegrass style and composition on Rounder Records (sorry no #).

Other super player/singer bands in the Modern side are: 1) "Sammy Shelor & Lonesome River Band", "Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver" this list goes on. "Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass" is considered many in by the hard-core traditionalist Bluegrass crowd to be the modern "torch carrier" of "high lonesome, traditional" Bluegrass, with a somewhat rougher sound.

Alison Krauss & Union Station is also a five star super-band who comes out of Bluegrass but now performs sets which include some ultra-hot Bluegrass with other, more contemporary compositions. The best Krauss I can think of to recommend is the recent, 2-CD high budget "Live At the Charleston Music Hall". Simply awesome.

Now for the prerequisite first-generation stuff...

Note that I've only selected stuff which both gives you the essential songs by the essential artists but also far enough along in their careers that the sound quality is great too ... no crackly telephone audio here ... beware of the historical "box sets" ... you may be disappointed that 2/3 of each set are really ancient bad sound simpky beacuse they include so much early, early stuff.

The father of Bluegrass is Bill Monroe. The equally important Flatt & Scruggs who parted from the Bluegrass Boys must receive the same attention.

For "Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys" (his band's name):

1) Instrumental collection title: "American Traveler" on County Records CCS-119-CD.

2) Vocal title: "Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys - Live Recordings 1956-1969 - Off The Record Volume 1" on Smithsonian Folkways CD 40063. Note that this one also has extremely astute and informative liner notes.
For Flatt & Scruggs:

Title: "Flatt & Scruggs At Carnegie Hall! The Complete Concert"; KOC-7929-CD. Sorry don't know the label but a very famous record and should be easy to get. This is an all-in-one songbook of super-standards at the height of their act, with superb sound too. Pretty well any of the historic studio recording albums which are just as enjoyable will have a lot of song-overlap with this one.

2) Title: "Foggy Mountain Banjo" on Sony A23392. This is indisputable the most important Bluegrass banjo (instrumental) album in history. I was at the Earl Scruggs tribute in Dayton Ohio a year or so ago and it seemed like every banjo player who played the shows (many big names) said THAT ALBUM was their main recording-based inspiration and vehicle to learning their instrument.

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, and Jim & Jesse are the two other, standard first-generation  bands to know about...

For Ralph Stanley:

1) Title: "Cry From The Cross" on Rebel Records #1499 (absolutely classic spiritual).

2) Title: "Short Life Of Trouble (Songs Of Grayson & Whitter)" on Rebel Records REB-1735-CD (absolutely classic secular).

Note that Ralph Stanley was with his brother Carter as "The Stanley Brothers" before Carter died in the sixties and their stuff is super-classic as well. There are many excellent compilations of this band.

For Jim & Jesse:

Compilation Title: "Y'all Come, The Essential Jim & Jesse" on County Records EK 65076.

The "Osborne Brothers" and "Jimmy Martin" are arguable just as important, but I have less of these guys and am not sure which specific albums are to be recommended. Note that a famous Bluegrass anthem, "Rock Top" was most famously recorded by the Osborn Brothers.

Well that's all I can muster right now. There are is a host of other, lesser recorded bands and artists but I can't name everyone. The ones I've listed will also serve as launchpads to other artists. Many if these discs have excellent liner-notes and the band members are all influential in thier own rights and have thier own superb albums to learn about.

Check out: www.countysales.com for the world's largest Bluegrass and Oldtime (pre-Bluegrass) record collection available online.

P.S. - If you just want to get one comilation which can serve as a all 'round intro to modern bluegrass, there's a simple answer. Get "Hand Picked - 25 Years of Bluegrass on Rounder Records". It's cheap, the liner notes are amazingly good, and it's a 2-CD set which will introduce you to many of the modern bands I've mentioned here and more. Rounder 0 11661 8522 2 8. This is the first bluegrass CD(s) I ever owned.

Good luck!

[zevele10]

d_pert

I see that you edited your post.
But i still do not know why or the meaning of this #8...
It is not the first time i see it here on interact.

I just would like to know.
If instead of impolite words ,just drop me a private message.

PS: i know some of the albums you speak about.
And i can say that if all your list as the albums i know ,this is a TOP list.

[d_pert]

Hi,

Re the funny codes were supposed to be ' characters (apostrophes). In my earlier (now replaced) posts ... they had somthing to do with the English (Canadian) keyboard setting and originally authoring the message in MS-Word with that as the active regional setting. Even though I distilled the text through Notepad before pasting into the post window it persistsed. I had to go through manually in the Post Modify window and clear them out with proper characters.

[zevele10]

Thank You!

Beside me wanting to know , i do think that you can leave your messages with the #8... funny  codes.

No one would complain about it ,i'am sure.

[Charlemagne 8]

Many of the greats got their start with Bill Monroe. Earl Scruggs will tell you himself that he is STILL in awe of Doc Watson. If you see / hear "The Three Pickers", you will see why. That live show (in North Carolina) consists of Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs. It's a CD and a DVD.
My boss is  (or "was" before his stroke) a lifelong and accomplished bluegrass fiddler that knows a lot of the above mentioned people personally. He's certainly played with a great many of them and others less well known. He claims that a fiddler who has played with Bill Monroe AND Flatt & Scruggs is the best fiddler player he's ever heard and there doesn't seem to be any music available from him. His name is Howard "Howdy" Forrester and I am searching everywhere for an example of his work.
There is also a local source for you for some fairly standard bluegrass at Record Corner that I found on Ebay. Lot's of good stuff including many of the above suggested stuff.
CVIII