Bluegrass & Old Time Music

[Old San Antone]

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have released a new album of covers titled All the Good Times. It features two Bob Dylan tracks, John Prine's "Hello in There," a song by folk guitarist Elizabeth Cotten, and a version of "Jackson," which Johnny Cash and June Carter made famous. The album takes its title from the traditional tune "All The Good Times Are Past and Gone," which also appears in the collection. Check it out below.

Welch's most recent album under her own name was The Harrow and the Harvest, which came out in 2011. In 2016, she released Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg, a collection of demos and other recordings made early in her career. Welch also joined Rawlings on his 2017 LP Poor David's Almanack and the 2015 Dave Rawlings Machine album Nashville Obsolete. (Pitchfork)

https://www.youtube.com/v/HYt4rRgx5OU

1. "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" (Elizabeth Cotton)
2. "Señor" (Bob Dylan)
3. "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss" (Trad. arr. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)
4. "Hello in There" (John Prine)
5. "Poor Ellen Smith" (Trad. arr. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)
6. "All the Good Times Are Past and Gone" (Trad. arr. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)
7. "Ginseng Sullivan" (Norman Blake)
8. "Abandoned Love" (Bob Dylan)
9. "Jackson" (Jerry Leiber, Billy Wheeler)
10. "Y'all Come" (Arlie Duff)

[Papy Oli]

Ooooh 

Thank you very much for the heads-up, OSA !

[Gurn Blanston]

My predilection for violin (or fiddle in this genre) is well-known, so I took a cue from OSA and got this Michael Cleveland album; his first, I believe, and also pure traditional Bluegrass, no Newgrass, no Country Music.



One can see oneself being disappointed in a full price CD with only 38 minutes of music on it, but damn, this is 38 minutes of pure wonderfulness! There are a couple of Bill Monroe songs on here, but in truth, it sounds like many more than 2! And 'Lee Highway Blues' is worth the price of admission on its own.

[Old San Antone]

My predilection for violin (or fiddle in this genre) is well-known, so I took a cue from OSA and got this Michael Cleveland album; his first, I believe, and also pure traditional Bluegrass, no Newgrass, no Country Music.



One can see oneself being disappointed in a full price CD with only 38 minutes of music on it, but damn, this is 38 minutes of pure wonderfulness! There are a couple of Bill Monroe songs on here, but in truth, it sounds like many more than 2! And 'Lee Highway Blues' is worth the price of admission on its own.

Glad you liked it.      Good fiddle playing is hard to beat.

[Gurn Blanston]

Glad you liked it.      Good fiddle playing is hard to beat.

And this is way beyond good! 

I was reading reviews of his albums, the consensus is that this is the only one that is purely Bluegrass, the others have a mixture of Country and Folk in them too. Which is why I decided on this one, obviously.  Does that jibe with your experience too?

[Old San Antone]

And this is way beyond good! 

I was reading reviews of his albums, the consensus is that this is the only one that is purely Bluegrass, the others have a mixture of Country and Folk in them too. Which is why I decided on this one, obviously.  Does that jibe with your experience too?

It's hard these days to find a pure Bluegrass record by someone under 40 - but that's not to say that they can't play the shit out of the Bluegrass on their records.  Cleveland played with Alison Krauss for a while, and might have wanted to exploit that audience for his solo work.  My feeling is if they play Country with Bluegrass instruments, it's a helluva lot better than Country with Nashville production. 

That said, Cleveland's latest record is pretty darn good.  It features a number of big names with him.  Also his working band, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, plays pretty much straight Bluegrass.

[Gurn Blanston]

It's hard these days to find a pure Bluegrass record by someone under 40 - but that's not to say that they can't play the shit out of the Bluegrass on their records.  Cleveland played with Alison Krauss for a while, and might have wanted to exploit that audience for his solo work.  My feeling is if they play Country with Bluegrass instruments, it's a helluva lot better than Country with Nashville production. 

That said, Cleveland's latest record is pretty darn good.  It features a number of big names with him.  Also his working band, the Flame Keepers, plays pretty much straight Bluegrass.

Well, I can't argue with that. I guess is you amass enough albums, you can put together a pretty fine playlist. I'mm just be patient and work it out, I reckon.

Oh, I never even got to mention them: that is a truly fine 'backup' band! The mandolin player is especially excellent on this first album. And the banjo is no slouch either! 

[Old San Antone]

Cross-posted from the Non-Classical listening thread

Not Our First Goat Rodeo
Yo-Yo Ma being joined by mandolinist Chris Thile, fiddle player Stuart Duncan and bassist Edgar Meyer to create stellar sounds in the bluegrass vein.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have released a new album of covers titled All the Good Times. It features two Bob Dylan tracks, John Prine's "Hello in There," a song by folk guitarist Elizabeth Cotten, and a version of "Jackson," which Johnny Cash and June Carter made famous. The album takes its title from the traditional tune "All The Good Times Are Past and Gone," which also appears in the collection. Check it out below.

Welch's most recent album under her own name was The Harrow and the Harvest, which came out in 2011. In 2016, she released Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg, a collection of demos and other recordings made early in her career. Welch also joined Rawlings on his 2017 LP Poor David's Almanack and the 2015 Dave Rawlings Machine album Nashville Obsolete. (Pitchfork)

https://www.youtube.com/v/HYt4rRgx5OU

1. "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" (Elizabeth Cotton)
2. "Señor" (Bob Dylan)
3. "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss" (Trad. arr. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)
4. "Hello in There" (John Prine)
5. "Poor Ellen Smith" (Trad. arr. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)
6. "All the Good Times Are Past and Gone" (Trad. arr. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)
7. "Ginseng Sullivan" (Norman Blake)
8. "Abandoned Love" (Bob Dylan)
9. "Jackson" (Jerry Leiber, Billy Wheeler)
10. "Y'all Come" (Arlie Duff)

I'll make note of this album...sounds interesting!  Wonder what their covers of Señor and Ginseng are like?  Speaking of Señor, have you ever heard this album?  It's by Tim O'Brien and the O'Boys:  Red on Blonde (bad pun I know).  It's their covers of all Dylan songs.  I particularly like Señor, Farewell Angelina, Maggie's Farm, but other good ones there too.





Best wishes,

PD

[Old San Antone]

I'll make note of this album...sounds interesting!  Wonder what their covers of Señor and Ginseng are like?  Speaking of Señor, have you ever heard this album?  It's by Tim O'Brien and the O'Boys:  Red on Blonde (bad pun I know).  It's their covers of all Dylan songs.  I particularly like Señor, Farewell Angelina, Maggie's Farm, but other good ones there too.





Best wishes,

PD

I have listened to it some, but not enough to remember.  I like Tim O'Brien, he's done a number of very interesting records, some with Darrell Scott which I enjoy a lot.  I will go back and listen to Red on Blonde again, since I would like to hear him doing Dylan songs.  Two of his best, IMO, were released just after Red on Blonde, The Crossing (1999) and Two Journeys (2001).  I like songs that are historical in subject matter.



He also shares the name of one of my favorite writers.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I have listened to it some, but not enough to remember.  I like Tim O'Brien, he's done a number of very interesting records, some with Darrell Scott which I enjoy a lot.  I will go back and listen to Red on Blonde again, since I would like to hear him doing Dylan songs.  Two of his best, IMO, were released just after Red on Blonde, The Crossing (1999) and Two Journeys (2001).  I like songs that are historical in subject matter.



He also shares the name of one of my favorite writers.

Think that I have heard of Darrell Scott before, but don't know his work.  Note:  I was mistaken as the O'Boys are not on this record.  Don't know the other two albums but will keep my eyes and ears open for/to them.   

[Old San Antone]

Think that I have heard of Darrell Scott before, but don't know his work.  Note:  I was mistaken as the O'Boys are not on this record.  Don't know the other two albums but will keep my eyes and ears open for/to them.   

Darrell Scott is a very good songwriter, who's had several hits out of Nashville, but his solo records are where you really hear him at his best.  Probably his most famous song is "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive", made famous as one of the featured songs in the TV series Justified.

https://www.youtube.com/v/cco-pCb0klU

[Old San Antone]

Some great gittar and fiddle pickin'

Bryan Sutton

https://www.youtube.com/v/Itt54N2KQq8

Michael Cleveland

https://www.youtube.com/v/HE_G0OfJ-ew

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Darrell Scott is a very good songwriter, who's had several hits out of Nashville, but his solo records are where you really hear him at his best.  Probably his most famous song is "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive", made famous as one of the featured songs in the TV series Justified.

https://www.youtube.com/v/cco-pCb0klU

Thank you for that link. I enjoyed it.   

PD

[Old San Antone]

The Stanley Brothers are known primarily for their Mercury and Columbia recordings, but for most of the latter part of their career they recorded for King and Starday records. These recordings are not hi-fi but do contain some of their best performances.  Generally they are split between gospel and secular records, and this one has a good sampling of this period and is well worth hearing, especially if you have limited your Stanley Brothers to the major labels.



But these 4CD boxes contain all of their sessions for King Records and Starday, and are two I'll probably pick up.

Early Years 1958-1961



King Years 1961-1965

[Gurn Blanston]

Some great gittar and fiddle pickin'

Bryan Sutton

https://www.youtube.com/v/Itt54N2KQq8

Michael Cleveland

https://www.youtube.com/v/HE_G0OfJ-ew

Great stuff! That version of Lee Highway Blues was what pushed me into getting his first album. The live version is better, but even the studio one is outstanding!

[Gurn Blanston]

The Stanley Brothers are known primarily for their Mercury and Columbia recordings, but for most of the latter part of their career they recorded for King and Starday records. These recordings are not hi-fi but do contain some of their best performances.  Generally they are split between gospel and secular records, and this one has a good sampling of this period and is well worth hearing, especially if you have limited your Stanley Brothers to the major labels.



But these 4CD boxes contain all of their sessions for King Records and Starday, and are two I'll probably pick up.

Early Years 1958-1961



King Years 1961-1965

I'll definitely check these out, I have the Columbia and Mercury disks, it will be interesting to see how they evolved from there.

[Papy Oli]

You wait for years between releases and you get two in the same month from Gillian Welch with Boots No.2 - Lost Songs Vol.1, that appeared on Qobuz today.



Tracklisting -

Johnny Dear
First Place Ribbon
Give That Man A Road
Mighty Good Book
Chinatown
Fly Down
Shotgun Song
Apalachicola
Strange Isabella
Little Luli
Valley Of Tears
Blind On The Inside
Back Turn And Swing
Roll On
Honey Baby
Here Come The News

[Old San Antone]

You wait for years between releases and you get two in the same month from Gillian Welch with Boots No.2 - Lost Songs Vol.1, that appeared on Qobuz today.



Tracklisting -

Johnny Dear
First Place Ribbon
Give That Man A Road
Mighty Good Book
Chinatown
Fly Down
Shotgun Song
Apalachicola
Strange Isabella
Little Luli
Valley Of Tears
Blind On The Inside
Back Turn And Swing
Roll On
Honey Baby
Here Come The News

I'll have to check that out.  Good news.

[Old San Antone]

For some reason the 2015 recording by Ralph Stanley and friends:  Man of Constant Sorrow just showed up on Spotify this month:



Good selection of songs with some interesting guests (including Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, which is how I noticed it) dueting with Dr. Stanley.

Today his most recent album, Man Of Constant Sorrow, is released through Cracker Barrel. It's a collection of Stanley songs performed with a bevy of country and bluegrass luminaries. They are supported by Ralph's Clinch Mountain Boys, as solid a traditional bluegrass band as one might imagine. The good Doctor actually takes a back seat here for the most part, allowing his guest vocalists to shine on most of the tracks.

But there's no lack of "Stanley-ness" on any of them. It's a Ralph Stanley project from start to finish, with the raw energy and unbridled emotion that we've come to expect, from the first sessions with his late, lamented brother Carter, through the classic recordings of the 1970s, and on to the many various superstar studio gatherings of more recent vintage. Bluegrass Today