Check itunes
Michael James Knight | Lawrence, Kansas | 12/10/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have nothing to add about this CD, a great introduction to bluegrass. However, before you spend $50.00 to buy a used copy, you should check out itunes, where you can get it for $11.99."
It's not perfect, but you're not either
Eddie Finn | 11/02/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"At times exhilarating, at times frustrating, this recording of the huge Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival from 1973 must have been like a hayseed Woodstock. Huge acts, including Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass, Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys, Jim and Jesse and the Virginia Boys, James Monroe and the Midnight Ramblers, and literally a dozen fiddlers all showed up, in fine form, playing and singing what have become bluegrass classics like Uncle Pen, the Sunny Side of the Mountain, Free Born Man, the Ballad of Jed Clampett, Ole Slew Foot, and about 20 more. Hampered (like every festival I've ever attended) by poor sound quality at times, the recording preserves all the onstage banter, the introductions, and the glitches along with the amazing musicianship and tight, 'high lonesome' harmonies. The closest thing to attending a bluegrass festival with an all-star cast short of buying a ticket and going - although you're too late for Bill Monroe, who's now singing tenor harmony with Elvis."
Heavenly
K. Merrill | Sheboygan, WI | 12/02/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I am happy to say that I was at Beanblossom to see this as it was being recorded. Although there was some of the Grant Turner-type encouragement from the wings to get the audience to applaud at just the right times, it was, simply, a gathering of giants. They're almost all gone. Bill, Jimmy Martin, Lester, Jim McReynolds ... it just about brings tears to my eyes to listen to Jimmy Martin, especially. Skip the James Monroe stuff ... he sounds (and looked like) he was coming off a weeklong meth binge. It was also the first time I saw (the great) Marty Stuart, playing mandolin in Lester's band. A scrawny little hillbilly-punk lookin' kid who could play like crazy. After one of Bill's sets, I walked up to his bus parked nearby and walked in on (the great) Kenny Baker, who signed an album and indulged my gushing fandom. This is a GREAT album."