This LP is anticipated to ship in early 2024. Order your copies today! The first 100 pre-sales get a limited edition, high resolution print of a never-before-released Kenny Baker image from the same photo session as the iconic artwork for multiple Baker albums!
Kenny Baker is credited as the greatest bluegrass fiddler to ever draw a bow. Hailing from eastern Kentucky, Baker served as a Blue Grass Boy with Bill Monroe for 25 years, the longest tenure of any musician with Monroe. Originally released in 1972 as County 736, ‘Kenny Baker Country’ featuring bluegrass legends Kenny Baker, Joe Stuart, Buck White, Monroe Fields and Jack Hicks, has been lovingly and meticulously remastered for release on vinyl LP album! Long out of print, this timeless album features standards of the fiddle canon such as TWINKLE LITTLE STAR, SPIDER BIT THE BABY, ROXANNA WALTZ, WHITE HORSE BREAKDOWN and SUGAR TREE STOMP among others. As bluegrass music experiences another renaissance in national attention, County Sales is working to connect pickers and grinners alike with this quintessential LP album of bluegrass fiddle instrumentals.
Special thanks to Mark Freeman of Rebel Records who made possible the transfers being sourced from the original master tapes. The high resolution cutting masters (96k/24bit) were transferred and restored by award-winning restorationist David Glasser of Airshow Mastering in Boulder, CO. Vinyl masters were cut on a Neumann VMS70 mastering lathe with an SX74 cutter head by Clint Holley and Well Made Music of Bristol, VA. This reissue represents a quantum leap forward in the fidelity of this oft-forgotten, wonderful title. While the original pressings were very fiddle heavy and lacking in the low end, this new reissue balances the backing band allowing the listener to hear the interaction of all the musicians as they work surge and pulse in lockstep with Baker on these stellar cuts.
The album is being pressed at Gotta Groove records in Cleveland, Ohio, known for high quality pressing as well as handmade artistic variants known as Wax Mage pressings. Wax Mage pressings are known around the world as unique, playable pieces of art that enhance the listening experience through their physical beauty. This release will offer only 25 of these special pressings while the regular release will be classic, high quality black vinyl and roughly 150 grams. This release was done with both the casual listener and musician in mind with wider deadwax between each track for ease of individual selection and to eliminate ghost notes and overtones that often appear in vinyl recordings of fiddle music.
This album also features two previously unissued alternate takes of two legendary Baker instrumentals as well as several never before released photos of Kenny Baker in superior resolution. Sonically speaking, this remastered album is of the utmost quality and is the greatest fidelity recordings of Kenny Baker currently available.
Side A
Freda
Spider Bit The Baby
Roxanna Waltz
Sugar Tree Stomp
Brandywine
Salty
Sugar Tree Stomp (Alt. Take)
Side B
Whitehorse Breakdown
Dusty’s Hornpipe
Festival Waltz
Allentown Polka
Charmaine
Twinkle Little Star
Festival Waltz (Alt. Take)
