Classic Bluegrass, Vol. 2

by CLASSIC BLUEGRASS 2 / VARIOUS

Overview

When Moses Asch released American Banjo (which focused on the influence of Earl Scruggs' innovative three-finger banjo playing technique) in 1956 on his little independent Folkways label, it was the first ever full-length bluegrass LP. Asch followed it up with dozens more, and when Folkways became part of Smithsonian Recordings in 1987, Asch's bluegrass catalog was assured a quality label that would keep everything in print. The bluegrass music Asch released in the 1950s was a new hybrid driven by propulsive banjos and wailing fiddles, with astounding high, lonesome vocal harmonies, part string band, part gospel-spiritual, with more than a little of the blues to keep it grounded. Among the many highlights on this delightful set (the second bluegrass sampler the label has issued) are Fred Price, Clint Howard, and Doc Watson's three-part mountain harmonies on the spiritual "Daniel Prayed"; the more old-timey than bluegrass "Won't You Come and Sing for Me?" by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard; "I've Endured" by the late, great Ola Belle Reed, and the driving "Renegade" by Bob Everhart, which carries more than a bit of country in its DNA. Also worth noting are John Hartford's rhythmic fiddle plucking (which makes the fiddle sound a bit like a wayward ukulele) on "Miss Ferris," and Doc Watson's world-class flat picking guitar on "Sitting on Top of the World," a version of the old Mississippi Sheiks 78. There's a lot of soul in these tracks, and bluegrass has never sounded brighter or fresher than it did when Asch first took a chance on it some 50 years ago. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	06/28/2005
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074016329
Rank:	48003

Tracks

1. Blue Grass Breakdown  - David Johnson
2. Roving Gambler  -  Country Gentlemen
3. Daniel Prayed  - Clint Howard  - Fred Price  - Doc Watson
4. Fourteen-Carat Mind  - Dallas Frazier  -  Half and Half  - Larry Michael Lee
5. Won't You Come and Sing for Me?  - Hazel Dickens  - Alice Gerrard
6. Rocky Run  - Tom Gray  - Smiley Hobbs  - Pete Kuykendall  - Jerry Stuart  - Jerry Stuart
7. The Girl Behind the Bar  -  Red Clay Ramblers  - Carter Stanley
8. Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me  - Chubby Anthony  - Don Stover  - Bea Lilly
9. Are You Afraid to Die?  - Red Allen  - Eddie Hill  - Charlie Louvin  - Ira Louvin  - Frank Wakefield
10. Walls of Time  - Bill Monroe  - Peter Rowan
11. Back Up and Push  -  Friendly City Playboys
12. I've Endured  - Ola Belle Reed
13. Carolina in the Pines  - Harley Allen  - Michael Martin Murphey
14. Jesse James  - Eric Weissberg
15. Two Orphans  -  Georgia Pals
16. China Grove, My Home Town  - Randall Hylton  -  Nashville Grass
17. Bluegrass Spectacular  - Bill Price
18. Stoney Creek  - Sonny Miller
19. Little Maggie  - Larry Richardson
20. Miss Ferris  - John Hartford
21. Foggy Mountain Top  - Earl Taylor
22. Sinner, You Better Get Ready  -  Lilly Brothers  - Don Stover
23. Sitting on Top of the World  - Lonnie Chatmon  - Walter Vinson  - Doc Watson
24. Renegade  - Bob Everhart
25. Possum Holler  - Bill Price
26. Red Wing  - Thurland Chattaway  - Kerry Mills  - Tom Morgan
27. I'll Take the Blame  - Red Allen  - Carter Stanley
28. Watson's Blues  - Bill Monroe  - Doc Watson

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bea Lilly   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Jerry Stuart   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Bob Everhart   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Chubby Anthony   Primary Artist,Vocals,Fiddle
Earl Taylor   Primary Artist,Vocals,Mandolin
The Country Gentlemen   Primary Artist
Pete Kuykendall   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Fred Price   Primary Artist,Vocals
Frank Wakefield   Primary Artist,Vocals,Mandolin
Doc Watson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Peter Rowan   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Clint Howard   Primary Artist,Vocals
Red Allen   Primary Artist
Ola Belle Reed   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Bill Monroe   Primary Artist,Vocals,Mandolin
Nashville Grass   Primary Artist
Tom Gray   Primary Artist,Guitar
Harley Allen   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Hazel Dickens   Primary Artist,Bass,Vocals
Smiley Hobbs   Primary Artist,Fiddle
Sonny Miller   Primary Artist,Fiddle
The Friendly City Playboys   Primary Artist
David Johnson   Primary Artist,Banjo
The Lilly Brothers   Primary Artist
Don Stover   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Eric Weissberg   Primary Artist,Banjo
John Hartford   Primary Artist,Fiddle,Vocals
The Georgia Pals   Primary Artist
Tom Morgan   Primary Artist,Bass
Half and Half   Primary Artist
Alice Gerrard   Primary Artist
Bill Price   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Larry Richardson   Primary Artist,Banjo
The Red Clay Ramblers   Primary Artist
Charlie Waller   Guitar,Vocals
Curly Seckler   Guitar,Vocals
The Dave Clark Five   Guitar,Vocals
Al McCanless   Guitar
Walter Hensley   Banjo,Vocals
Fred Weisz   Vocals
Elmer Pegdon   Bass
Everett Lilly   Mandolin,Vocals
Blake Williams   Banjo
Pete Corum   Bass
Bill Ober   Mandolin
Bill Hicks   Fiddle
Mike Lilly   Banjo,Vocals
James "Jimmy" Atkins   Bass
Newman Young   Mandolin
Jim Phinney   Bass
Billie Ray Johnson   Guitar
Willis Spears   Guitar,Vocals
Lawrence Humphries   Guitar,Vocals
Steve Bryant   Bass
Charles Adkins   Bass
J. Y. Gray   Bass
Clarence Green   Mandolin
Eddie Adcock   Banjo,Vocals
Kenny Haddock   Dobro
Joe Miller   Guitar,Vocals
Scott Adams   Mandolin
Jerry Butler   Mandolin
Jim Watson   Vocals,Mandolin
Marty Stuart   Mandolin
Ralph Rinzler   Guitar
Tom Carter   Bass
Bill Emerson   Banjo
Billy Baker   Fiddle
Kenny Ingram   Banjo,Vocals
John Duffey   Vocals,Mandolin
Gene Wooten   Dobro
Mike Seeger   Bass,Guitar,Mandolin
Tommy Thompson   Vocals
David Grisman   Vocals,Mandolin
Jim Cox   Bass,Vocals
Rex Allen   Guitar,Vocals
Carl Nelson   Fiddle
Tater Tate   Fiddle
Steve Thomas   Fiddle
Kevin Roth   Guitar
Harry Shaffer   Banjo
Vernon "Boatwhistle" McIntyre   Bass
Lamar Grier   Banjo
Sam Porky Hutchins   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Lonnie Chatmon   Composer
Thurland Chattaway   Composer
Stephanie P. Ledgin   Photography
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Jerry Stuart   Composer
Warren Pinnix   Performer
Ira Louvin   Composer
Larry Michael Lee   Composer
Eddie Hill   Composer
Lee Michael Demsey   Producer,Annotation
Sonya Cohen Cramer   Design,Layout Design
Ola Belle Reed   Composer
Dan Sheehy   Production Supervisor
Hazel Dickens   Composer
Carter Stanley   Composer
John Hartford   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Compilation Mastering
Peter Rowan   Composer
D.A. Sonneborn   Production Supervisor
Charlie Louvin   Composer
Jeff Place   Producer,Annotation,Liner Notes
Walter Vinson   Composer
Randall Hylton   Composer
Michael Martin Murphey   Composer
Dallas Frazier   Composer
Kerry Mills   Composer
Jacob Love   Editing