The Country Gentlemen's early recordings included a rather unusual pattern of cutting singles (45rpm) for one label (Starday ), and albums for another (Folkways in this case). The reason for this arrangement was that rural people bought singles but not the newly popular album format, while the urban "folk" audience was just the opposite, and the Gentlemen were one of the very first groups to appeal to both markets. They made 3 long playing albums for Mo Asch's Folkways label in the early 1960s, starting on a path that led eventually to an impressive career on the Rebel, Vanguard and Sugar Hill labels. This album did not come out until 1973, long after the group's other Folkways records, but at the height of the band's popularity. It is taken from live personal appearances and the sound is somewhat muffled and not up to what we'd normally expect from a Country Gentlemen record. That being said, any fan of this group will most likely want to have this re-issue, which features the "classic" configuration of the band: Charlie Waller, John Duffey, Eddie Adcock and Tom Gray. The 16 song program features mostly songs & tunes that the group was known for, such as COPPER KETTLE, BROWN MOUNTAIN LIGHT, BLUE BELL, MARY DEAR, TOM DOOLEY and GOING TO THE RACES, but the group was in good form for these shows, and the 26-page booklet includes a really good set of notes by Jon Hartley Fox . Great music from a legendary band!
