Flatt & Scruggs - Complete Mercury Recordings CD

Complete Mercury Recordings CD music There have been many collections of Roger Miller's hitmaking peak on Mercury over the years, but few have been as comprehensive or as good as Mercury/Chronicle's 2003 CD, All Time Greatest Hits. Spanning 20 tracks over the course of one CD, this contains all the big songs: "Dang Me," "Chug-a-Lug," "Do Wacka Do," "In the Summertime (You Don't Want My Love)," "King of the Road," "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd," "Kansas City Star," "England Swings," and "Husbands and Wives," among others. All but one track from the seminal 1965 collection Golden Hits is here ("Atta Boy Girl" is the missing culprit -- a good song but not enough to tip the scales in favor of the 38-year-old collection), and it spans further than that record, collecting hits from 1967-1970 and ending with the 1986 hit "River in the Rain." While that final song isn't quite of the standard of what preceded it, it provides a nice closer to a set of songs that unequivocally proves Miller's genius. That might seem like a weighty word for a singer/songwriter whose specialty was lightweight funny songs, but the thing is, those songs have a certain mad ingenious sensibility that nobody else could replicate, and he could dig deeper -- witness "I've Been a Long Time Leavin' (But I'll Be a Long Time Gone)" -- when he wanted to. That side might not be mined as deeply as it could have been here, but that's what previous comps like the King of the Road box is for. This is a hits collection, a summary overview and introduction to his genius, and it succeeds brilliantly on that level. Absolutely essential. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Includes liner notes by Robyn Flans. Liner Note Author: Robyn Flans. Recording information: Nashville, TN (01/11/1964-??/??/1985). Photographers: Harry Goodwin; Scott Newton. Producers: Jerry Kennedy, Jimmy Bowen, Roger Miller. Compilation producers: Andy McKaie, Cary E. Mansfield. 19 Tracks.

Complete Mercury Recordings buy CD music Recorded live at the R.J. Reynolds Auditorium, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Includes liner notes by Jim Brown. THE THREE PICKERS was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. "Pick Along" was nominated for Best Country Instrumental Performance. This concert recorded for public television is a summit meeting of three of the most legendary bluegrass musicians around. Earl Scruggs pioneered bluegrass banjo technique, Doc Watson was the key bluegrass guitarist of the '60s, and Ricky Skaggs spent the '70s and '80s bringing the tradition into contemporary parlance. Here they tackle a mix of traditional songs and original material, lovingly picked by all three, with a minimum of fuss and plenty of country soul. Singing and picking together, they are the ultimate bluegrass dream team; high lonesome harmonies and earthy-but-flawless instrumental runs are the rule of the day. During sections of the performance, each artist got a solo spot accompanied by his own musicians, but it's the trio material that's truly awe-inspiring, displaying the simple majesty that's at the heart of the best bluegrass. /Doc Watson/Ricky Skaggs. Personnel: Earl Scruggs (vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo); Ricky Skaggs (vocls, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin); Doc Watson (vocals, acoustic guitar); Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle); Gary Sgruggs (vocals, electric bass); Brad Davis, Darrin Vincent, Paul Brewster (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Cody Kilby, Richard Watson (acoustic guitar); John Jorgenson (electric guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Jim Mills (banjo); Rob Ickes (dobro); Glen Duncan (fiddle, background vocals); Andy Leftwich (fiddle). Adapter: Doc Watson. Personnel: Earl Scruggs (vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo); Ricky Skaggs (vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin); Doc Watson (vocals, acoustic guitar); Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle); Gary Scruggs (vocals, electric bass); Cody Kilby, Darrin Vincent, Brad Davis , Paul Brewster, Richard Watson (acoustic guitar); John Jorgenson (electric guitar, mandolin); Rob Ickes (dobro); Jim Mills (banjo); Glen Duncan , Andy Leftwich (fiddle); Mark Fain (acoustic bass); Martin Parker (drums). Audio Mixer: Brent King. Liner Note Authors: Doc Watson; Earl Scruggs; Jim Ed Brown. Recording information: R.J. Reynolds Auditorium, Winston-Salem, NC (12/2002). Director: Jim Ed Brown. Editor: Alan Silverman. Photographer: Les Leverett. Arranger: Doc Watson.

Complete Mercury Recordings songs Koch's reissue of AT CARNEGIE HALL! restores all 32 cuts from the original 1962 two-LP release. Recorded live at Carnegie Hall, New York, New York on December 8, 1962. Originally released on Columbia (8845). Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were big news at the height of the late '50s/early '60s folk revival. New York City was essentially ground zero for a mania that extended to all things musical and Southern. So something of a love-fest occurred when Flatt and Scruggs and their polished bluegrass band rolled into town on one December night in 1962 to play no less a venue than Carnegie Hall. There are screams from the crowd for "Martha White" (the theme song from the band's radio sponsor), and Scruggs has no choice but to encore the banjo showpiece "Flint Hill Special." To know what the Foggy Mountain Boys sounded like in their natural habitat, you'd have to go to transcripts of the band playing a school auditorium or radio hour somewhere south of the Jersey Turnpike. CARNEGIE HALL still gives you a taste of how Flatt and Scruggs put together a show before their original band disintegrated under the weight of the revival itself. As you might expect from a live recording of this era, the sound favors the top end. Vocals, fiddle, and banjo breaks come through best, especially as the band performs with only two microphones among its six performers. 1st U.S.Rel.Of Complete 1962 Carnegie Hall Concert Flatt & Scruggs: Lester Flatt (guitar); Earl Scruggs (banjo). Producers: Don Law, Frank Jones. Reissue producer: Dave Nives. Recording information: Carnegie Hall, New York, NY (12/08/1962). Additional personnel: Burkett H. "Buck" Graves, Billy E. Powers (guitar); Paul Warren (violin); English P. Tullock, Jr. (bass).

Complete Mercury Recordings album for sale Recorded between 1950 and 1967. Includes liner notes by Patrick Carr. All tracks on disc one are mono. All tracks on disc 2 are in stereo, except tracks 1-3, 14-15 which are mono. Excepting a few years with Mercury at the beginning of their career, Flatt & Scruggs made all of their studio recordings for Columbia. This double-disc set is the most useful survey of their work for the label, spanning 1950 to 1969, and throwing in three unreleased tracks along the way. In addition to the expected sterling bluegrass, it has their occasional commercial breakthroughs ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett," "Petticoat Junction," and the version of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" that was used as the theme to Bonnie and Clyde). Curiosity seekers will also be impressed by their cover of Bob Dylan's "Down in the Flood," recorded in late 1967, and unreleased by Dylan himself until The Basement Tapes. ~ Richie Unterberger All tracks have been digitally remastered. Liner Note Author: Patrick Carr. Recording information: 11/21/1950-10/20/1967. Photographer: Michael Ochs. Arranger: Doc Watson.

Complete Mercury Recordings CD music Recorded between 1950 & 1981. Includes liner notes by Mary Katherine Aldin. So much has been said about the founding father of bluegrass music that it would be nice if there was an all-encompassing collection of Bill Monroe's music to accompany the legend. Although the almost-correctly titled Anthology comes close, there is still a wealth of Columbia and RCA-Victor recordings missing from this Decca-centric collection, which runs chronologically from 1950 to 1969 (with one final track from 1981). Unfortunately, this means that the classic lineup of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, with fiddler Chubby Wise and bassist Howard Watts, is not represented. Still, bluegrass luminaries Vassar Clements, Jimmy Martin, Kenny Baker, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, and many others, all drifted in and out of the Blue Grass Boys during their twenty-some years, and make appearances on classic tracks like "Sally Goodin," "Uncle Pen," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," and "New Mule Skinner Blues." All told, this may be the perfect collection of Monroe's work for Decca, but it falls only slightly short of being the Bill Monroe Anthology. ~ Zac Johnson 2cds;50 Songs From Decca/Mca Recordings,25 Not In Boxset. Compilation producers: Mary Katherine Aldin, Andy McKaie. Personnel: Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin); Del McCoury, Franklin G. Buchanan, Jimmy Maynard, Edd Mayfield, James Monroe , Jimmy Martin , Peter Rowan, Roland White, Carter Stanley (vocals, guitar); Rudy Lyle (vocals, banjo); Gordon Terry, Charlie Cline (vocals, fiddle); Culley Holt, Ernie Newton, Joel Price, Kenny Baker , Milton Estes, Boudleaux Bryant (vocals); Joe Stuart (guitar, banjo, fiddle); Jimmy Elrod, Grady Martin, Jack Cooke, Jimmy Selph, Jackie Phelps, Norman Blake, Carl Butler (guitar); Curtis McPeake, Don Stover, Don Lineberger, Rual Yarbrough, Lonnie Hoppers, Hubert Davis, Lamar Grier, Robert Lee Pennington, Joe Drumright, Sonny Osborne, Tony Ellis , Vic Jordan, Bill Keith (banjo); Sheldon Kurland (violin, strings); Connie Ellisor, Dennis Molchan, George Binkley III, Carl Gorodetzky (violin); Dale Potter, Tommy Williams Jr., Red Stanley, Merle "Red" Taylor, Hal Smith , Richard Greene & Beryl Marriott, Horace "Benny" Williams, Red Hayes, Tommy Jackson, Vassar Clements, Bobby Hicks , Buddy Spicher, Byron Berline (fiddle); Roy Christensen (cello); Farris Coursey (drums); Cindy Nelson, Curtis Young, Arlene Hardin, Bobby Hardin (background vocals). Liner Note Author: Mary Katherine Aldin. Recording information: Mt. Juliet, TN; Nashville, TN. Photographer: Les Leverett. Personnel: Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin); Jimmy Martin, Carter Stanley, Eddie Mayfield, Jimmy Maynard (vocals, guitar); Rudy Lyle (vocals, banjo); Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin); Ernie Newton (vocals, bass); Kenny Baker, Charlie Cline, Boudleaux Bryant, Culley Holt (vocals); Jimmy Selph, Lester Sandy, Carl Butler, Norman Blake, Thomas Grady Martin (guitar); Robert Lee Pennington, Don Stover (banjo); Vassar Clements, Merle "Red" Taylor, Tommy Jackson, Hal Smith (fiddle); Joel Price (bass, background vocals); Ernie Newton, Howard Watts, Bessie Lee Mauldin (bass); Farris Coursey (drums); Cindy Nelson (background vocals). Producers include: Bill Monroe, Owen Bradley, Paul Cohen, Walter Haynes, Harry Silverstein.

Complete Mercury Recordings buy CD music Recorded between 1953 & 1958. Includes liner notes by Mary Katherine Aldin. Major label Universal, which controls the catalog of Mercury Records, has taken a welcome, if belated, interest in the recordings made for Mercury by the Stanley Brothers during their tenure there from 1953 to 1958, issuing a full-priced compilation, Angel Band: The Classic Mercury Recordings in 1995, and an entry in the midline-priced 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection series of artist best-ofs in 2002. Annotator Mary Katherine Aldin makes no bones about the reason for Universal's decision to plump for this two-disc set of the Stanley Brothers' complete Mercury recordings, mentioning the appearance of the track "Angel Band" on the multi-million-selling O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack in the opening paragraph of her liner notes. The success of that 2000 album has opened the reissue floodgates for more than one bluegrass act, and this is one of the happier results. The Stanley Brothers (with the varying personnel of their three-or four-piece backing group, the Clinch Mountain Boys), were still-young bluegrass veterans when they arrived at Mercury in 1953, guitarist Carter about to turn 28, and banjoist Ralph 26. Recording was not the primary element in their career; they managed only 46 tracks in 12 sessions in four-and-a-half years (the last two selections come from an undated session for Smash, a label acquired by Mercury). But that gave them time to come up with excellent original material; 37 of the songs here were written by one or both of the brothers. The cover songs include standards like "Orange Blossom Special" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky." The subject matter consisted mostly of songs of love gone wrong, with religious statements providing some relief from the romantic grief. The playing, fast or slow, is consistently impressive bluegrass picking on guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and bass, and Carter's lead vocals, with Ralph chiming in on high tenor, are the epitome of bluegrass singing. This is classic work of its type. (The collection includes four tracks previously unreleased in the U.S.) ~ William Ruhlmann /The Clinch Mountain Boys. 2cds-W/The Clinch Mountain Boy The Stanley Brothers: Carter Stanley (vocals, guitar); Ralph Stanley (vocals, banjo). Personnel: Carter Stanley (vocals, guitar); Ralph Stanley (vocals, banjo); Bill Lowe, Curley Lambert (vocals, mandolin); Ralph Mayo (vocals, fiddle); John Shuffler, George Shuffler (vocals); Charlie Cline (guitar); Roy Wiggins (steel guitar); Darrell "Pee Wee" Lambert, Jimmy Williams , Bill Napier (mandolin); Chubby Wise, Joe Meadows, Howard Forrester, Art Stamper, Benny Martin (fiddle). Liner Note Author: Mary Katherine Aldin. Photographers: Ray Flerlage; Julie Snow.