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 (Click here for Newsletter 291 in PDF format) |
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THE NEW FLATT & SCRUGGS DVDs ARE HERE!
We are delighted to report that the latest two
volumes of this great series have just arrived in
our warehouse as we finalize this Newsletter!
Originally filmed in Nashville over 45 years ago,
these provide a wonderful and exciting visual
documentation of this fabulous group in its prime.
If you are among the many hundreds who now own
one or more of the first 4 volumes, you will know
what to expect--these have been our best selling
DVDs over the past year. Order SHAN-615-DVD (Vol.
5) and/or SHAN-616-DVD (Vol. 6) at just $18.00
each. And note that Volumes 1 to 4 are still
available at that price as well!
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REB-1803-CD JIMMY GAUDREAU & MOONDI KLEIN '2:10 Train' A few years back the short-lived group Chesapeake came out with three interesting albums, which—though uneven—all contained some gems. Klein and Gaudreau were the major forces in that group which also included Mike Auldridge and T. Michael Coleman. What Jimmy and Moondi are doing here as a duet is very reminiscent of the Chesapeake recordings, except the material is all well-chosen and appropriate to their style. Klein—who was lead singer for the Seldom Scene for awhile—has a good voice and a very distinctive manner of presentation, and he is complemented beautifully by Gaudreau’s tasteful mandolin playing and equally strong vocals. (Klein adds some excellent lead guitar work too). Offset by a couple of lovely slower pieces like Harley Allen’s HIGH SIERRA, the songs are mostly sprightly pieces that move along nicely: BLACK JACK DAVEY, SWEET SUNNY SOUTH, COLLEEN MALONE, LAST THING ON MY MIND and Harvey Reid’s DREAMER OR BELIEVER all stand out, as do the two mandolin-guitar instrumentals (DIXIE HOEDOWN and an ARKANSAS TRAVELER/SOLDIER’S JOY MEDLEY). The music here is different, distinctive, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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5SP-7003-CD JOHN HOFFMANN & MAC BENFORD 'It's About Time' Hoffman plays the fiddle and Mac Benford the old time banjo on this very nice collection of 22 tunes & songs that total over an hour’s worth of music. They switch instruments on a few tunes, Benford sings 3 numbers in a crusty voice, and they are joined on a few numbers by Paula Bradley (guitar and vocals). Lots of nice tunes on this enjoyable, well produced album. GONE INDIAN, WALK ALONG JOHN, SWEET SUNNY SOUTH, SAILOR BOY, 8TH OF JANUARY, CUCKOO’S NEST, HENRY REED MEDLEY, etc. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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PA-8164-CD PENNY ANDERSON 'My Dearest Friend' Ms. Anderson, a West Virginian, has a nice voice and does a quite pleasant job on the 12 well chosen gospel songs here, backed up with traditional Bluegrass picking; those credited are banjo picker Robert Maynard and Jim McCown (remember the old Outdoor Plumbing Company?) TROUBLESOME WATERS, OTHER SIDE OF JORDAN, SEA OF WHITE, ANGEL UNAWARE, etc. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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BASEMENT-003-CD NEAL & COLEEN WALTERS 'My Pathway Leads To Pennsylvania' Those who have been customers of ours since the days of the vinyl LP may remember The Mill Run Dulcimer Band, which had 4 or 5 nice records out back then. Neal Walters was a key member of that group, and here he is joined by his wife in a generous 18 track collection of songs backed by Neal’s autoharp, dulcimer or banjo and Coleen’s acoustic bass. The songs are mostly sentimental or nostalgic, and the singing is gentle and low key, most of it featuring Neal’s deep voice with Coleen joining in on harmony vocals on some pieces. The duo certainly has an ear for a good song, including pieces like COME BY THE HILLS, TIL I’M TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG, GOLDEN RIVER, FAMILY REUNION, CURTAINS OF NIGHT and Tim O’Brien’s lovely LATE IN THE DAY. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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ROU-0600-CD CLAIRE LYNCH 'Crowd Favorites' Claire Lynch is a marvelous singer who now has 5 Rounder albums to her credit, in addition to two wonderful early records under the name Front Porch String Band that came out on the Rebel label and helped establish her reputation as one of the premiere vocalists on the Bluegrass circuit. This disc is mainly a re-issue album that takes a couple of the best tracks from each of her earlier Rounder issues; however there are also new recordings of four of her best and most memorable earlier songs: HILLS OF ALABAM’, THE DAY THAT LESTER DIED, KENNESAW LINE and her very popular arrangement of WABASH CANNONBALL. These cuts are remarkably close in quality and execution to the Rebel originals (which are still in print as REB-1624 FRONT PORCH STRING BAND and REB-1689 LINES & TRACES—each $ 13.50). This is a very nice collection for those who would like a good representation of Claire’s most popular songs. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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CR-023-CD JUDY BOITNOTT, HENRY BOITNOTT & JACK ZELL 'Judy, Henry & Jack' Pleasant work by this trio from the Roanoke area of Virginia that makes use of old time banjo, mandolin and both finger style and flat pick guitar as the group makes its way through an excellent choice of material—the 14 songs & tunes include SHADY GROVE, MOLE IN THE GROUND, ARAGON MILL, GREENEVILLE TRESTLE HIGH, RED MOUNTAIN ROSE, YOU’VE BEEN A FRIEND TO ME, ANGELINE THE BAKER, etc. The singing is laid back and relaxed, in a mode somewhere between old-time and folk. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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Powell-2007-CD BOBBY POWELL & TIM JONES 'Nothing So Blue' We had not heard of this duo before, but after a quick listen to this recording we can say there’s no doubt that these fellows from North Carolina can really pick and sing. They both are good singers and they switch off on the lead and tenor vocals, and Tim Jones plays a nice, solid mandolin (he shines on the one instrumental here, an excellent version of Bill Monroe’s TOMBSTONE JUNCTION). It doesn’t hurt any that the duo is joined by some members of the Steep Canyon Rangers (Graham Sharp banjo on 4 cuts, Nicky Sanders fiddle on two tracks, and Woody Platt guitar & vocals—Platt is in fact listed as the producer). This is strong, hard-core traditional Bluegrass music, well worth a listen ! UNFAITHFUL ONE, DRY RUN CREEK, HEART TROUBLE, MOSES FREE MY CHILDREN, WINDY HOLLOW, etc. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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SUG-4036-CD NASHVILLE BLUEGRASS BAND 'Best Of The Sugar Hill Years' This is one of 4 discs in this relatively new Sugar Hill series of CDs that present some of the best work of some major bands of the 1980s and 1990s. Like the others in this series, there are about 3 cuts each from most of this group’s Sugar Hill records (including the Unleashed, The Boys Are Back In Town, and American Beauty albums). This Nashville based band featured personnel that changed very little over the years: Pat Enright and Alan O’Bryant were the singers and driving forces in the group, which also included Roland White (mandolin), Gene Libbea (bass) and the super fiddler Stuart Duncan. Mike Compton—an original member of the band who rejoined the group again later, is on three of the16 numbers here, playing his fine Monroe-styled mandolin. Some of the best songs here are THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN, RED CLAY HALO, TEAR MY STILLHOUSE DOWN, BLUE TRAIN and the fine, bluesy WAITIN FOR THE HARD TIMES TO GO, ROCK BOTTOM BLUES and TRAVELING RAILROAD MAN BLUES. Our only complaint with this fine series of re-issues is that they are not offered at budget price. A fine and solid CD by one of the important bands of the 1990s—a group that appealed to both traditional and contemporary fans alike. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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WVBB-2007-CD WEST VIRGINIA BLUEGRASS BAND 'First Cut' Solid & competent traditional Bluegrass from this 6-piece band that includes dobro. 3 different singers take turns with the vocals, which are generally pleasant but not as strong as the instrumental work. The group has written all 14 of the songs here, some quite good, some just average. HILLBILLY HOBO, COLD ROCK WALLS, BROOM SAGE, etc. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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JSP-4201-CD CARTER FAMILY 'The Acme Sessions 1952/56' ” The Carter Family’s extensive recording career (over 250 commercially released songs) has been beautifully documented with Bear Family’s complete 8-CD set plus a few other nicely done packages (for those who just want a good sampling)—and there are even a few CDs (on Arhoolie and Old Homestead) drawn from their famous broadcasts on the powerful Mexican radio stations that were heard across the USA in the late 1930s and 1940s. There has been just one significant gap left uncovered until now, and that is the series of records they made for the ACME label between 1952 and 1956, and this new 2-CD set covers that very nicely. Some may not consider these the “real” Carter Family, because Maybelle Carter is not present, but most fans of the Carters will still want these because the sound is not that different from their classic earlier recordings: Sara Carter is in fine, strong voice, A.P. is very much present and even sings a few solos, and son Joe fills in very nicely on guitar in a style very similar to Maybelle’s (check out his sprightly breaks on WESTERN HOBO). And daughter Janette sings the harmony parts that otherwise would have been done by Maybelle. Appearing on 78rpm discs in the mid 50s, the records caused a mild sensation among fans & collectors, who hadn’t seen or heard anything from the Carter Family since their final Bluebird and Columbia sessions about 1941. And along with versions of their standard old repertoire came a bunch of songs that the family had never recorded before: songs like THE TITANIC, SHIP AHOY, I’LL BE SATISFIED, I SHALL NOT BE MOVED and THE LAST LETTER (this 2-CD set contains 57 songs, 23 of which were not previously cut by the family. Sara sounds great on SHIP AHOY and RAILROADING ON THE GREAT DIVIDE, and it’s good to hear A.P.’s nice versions of WHERE THE SUNSET TURNS THE OCEAN BLUE TO GOLD and the bluesy LIVE ON DOWN THE LINE. The sound quality of the originals was never the best, but Chris King has done a good job in getting the most out of the old discs, and the notes by Pat Harrison are adequate if somewhat hard to read because of the small point size. This is an important and welcome set, packaged attractively and at a fair price. (more...) $22.50 Buy Now
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MRR-07-CD RAGGED BUT RIGHT 'Down Harmony Road' Here’s a solid and very enjoyable 14-track album primarily composed of old time duet songs by Canadians Arnie Naiman and Kathy Reid-Naiman. Several other picker friends join them here and there (including Chris Coole on banjo on a very nice version of LOUISVILLE BURGLAR), but for the most part it’s just good duet singing simply but effectively accompanied by two guitars or guitar & banjo. There’s a good selection of songs, with especially nice versions of BLUE RAILROAD TRAIN, AIN’T GOT NOWHERE TO TRAVEL, and SAILOR ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA. It’s attractively packaged, with a neat cover drawing of famous old time artists including the Delmore Bros., the Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon, Charlie Poole, Riley Puckett—and of course the Naimans: nice idea and nicely executed. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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ROU-0604-CD DAILEY & VINCENT 'Dailey & Vincent' Jamie Dailey, who spent three years as featured lead singer for Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and Darrin Vincent, a key member of Ricky Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder have joined forces in this outstanding new group that promises to be one of the highlight attractions on the Bluegrass circuit for the next several years (or as long as they stay together). The emphasis here is on duet singing in the classic, straight traditional Bluegrass style, with top flight instrumental backing as well (the excellent vocalist and mandolin picker Jeff Parker is a full time member of the group, as is Joe Dean, a fine banjo player—others brought in for this album include Stuart Duncan and Andy Leftwich on fiddles, and Bryan Sutton and Cody Kilby on guitars). This is tasteful, high-energy stuff, with the hard driving numbers like CUMBERLAND RIVER, DON’T YOU CALL MY NAME and SWEET CARRIE nicely offset by slower, sensitive pieces like the poignant MORE THAN A NAME ON A WALL. A really nice feature of this disc is the inclusion of three songs just done by Jaimie and Darrin themselves with mandolin and guitar: superb performances of BY THE MARK, MUSIC OF THE MOUNTAINS and MY SAVIOUR WALKS WITH ME TODAY. This is a gem of an album by a band that should have a great future. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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TRIAD-2007-CD OLD FRIENDS 'Just For The Record' Solidly played traditional Bluegrass by this regional band that includes members from east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Dan Moneyhun—who previously had recorded Bluegrass gospel music with The Moneyhuns—is leads vocalist and lead guitar picker for the band. The 10 songs include TENNESSEE BLUES, TAKE THIS HAMMER, SHENANDOAH BREAKDOWN, HEAVEN, REBELS YE REST, and SUNNY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. (more...) $13.50 Buy Now
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