Earl Scruggs - I Saw The Light With Some Help From My Friends CD

 Lost Gem
This is a great alt country cd. Best Cuts - I saw the Light Ring of Fire Rock Salt and Nails
Submitted by bayvito (NY NY) 
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 Surprised at how good this cd is
I bought the cd for the great, early songs performed by Linda Ronstadt. Her contributions are fun to listen to. An excellent opportunity to hear some great bluegrass from some unique singers.
Submitted by Mark (Scranton, PA)
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 Bluegrass listeners w/ eclectic interests will enjoy it
With a title that nods to the music of Hank Williams and The Beatles, "I Saw the Light with Some Help from my Friends" was an Earl Scruggs’ solo album that represents a different creative era for banjo virtuoso. In 1969, Flatt & Scruggs parted ways as a result of their disagreement about repertoire and whether to include folk material into their sets. Scruggs was also looking to broaden his musical horizons. From 1971, this album gave Scruggs to team with three of his sons (aka Earl Scruggs Revue), fiddler Vassar Clements, along with popular country vocalists Linda Ronstadt (4 tracks), Tracy Nelson (5 tracks), Arlo Guthrie (3 tracks), Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and some of Nashville’s best studio musicians. Bob Wilson plays piano; Jody Maphis or Karl Himmel play drums; and Norman Blake appears on dobro. Songs are drawn from the country genre (Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings,” Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light"), blues (Tracy Nelson's "Motherless Child Blues") and pop (Michael Nesmith’s "Some of Shelley's Blues" and “Propinquity”). The banjo is relegated to a more minor role than it played in Earl’s earlier straight-ahead and classic bluegrass endeavors. I believe that the project was an effort to reach out to younger people, and Don Law’s liner notes also acknowledged that “Earl Scruggs is far more than a bluegrass banjo picker.” I consider the album (like the seminal 1971 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Will the Circle be Unbroken” project with also featured Scruggs) to be a popular success that served to help bring a largely urban youthful audience to bluegrass. Like the Nitty Gritty project, “I Saw the Light with Some Help from my Friends” helped to form a new circle that would unite past and present through music. The success of albums like these were proof that different generations could respect each others’ brands of music. Originally a folk singer from Wisconsin, Tracy Nelson could also belt out the blues and built her early reputation as a singer on the west coast before moving to Nashville. She appears on five tracks, but her own self-penned 1971 recording of "Motherless Child Blues" is a highlight. “Tramp on the Street,” “Fireball Mail,” and “The Cure” are previously unreleased cuts. The songs chosen range across a wide musical spectrum from folk to rock, country to pop. Cross-pollination of musical genres has its place, and listeners with eclectic interests find much to enjoy from the resulting blend. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
Submitted by Joe Ross (Roseburg, OR.)
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