Search - Country Gentlemen :: Bluegrass at Carnegie Hall

Classic Gents from Starday!! Now on CD

Leonard Lewis | San Jose, CA USA | 10/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not a new album. As a neophyte bluegrass fan I purchased this album in the 1960's on the Starday label (anybody who really knows Bluegrass really knows the Country Gentlemen. Starday was the home of their original recordings) and found my way into what was to become known as "progressive bluegrass". Full of mindboggling picking by Waller, Adcock, Duffy and company, this album brims with sparkling instrumental virtuosity and wonderful, clean harmonies as only Bluegrass can showcase! Twice in my life, my record collections were lost in long moves, and this marvellous album was consumed in the first musical tragedy of that class. I have been looking for it to appear on CD reissue for years, and now here it is. This is an underappreciated example of the magnificent music of a known, but less-appreciated than they should-be group I await it eagerly ("cuts" have appeared in various collections, but here it is whole!) with full knowledge of what I have in store. I am a bluegrass musician and know the field. P.S.: Listen to "Red Rockin' chair", "Sunrise", and "Two little boys" first!"

Love the 'Gents, but this is not their best

LtCol Richard L. Jones (USAF-Retire | Warner Robins, GA USA | 10/29/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The Country Gentlemen have always been one of my favorite Bluegrass groups, if not THE favorite, but this CD was disappointing. First and formost--Where is the audience, and the "live" performance? The CD artwork never mentions "Live" but the Amazon ad says "Live". This is not like "Live in Japan" or any other live performance I have ever heard, including the times I have seen the 'Gents in person. No audience sounds at all, no chatter between songs, no introduction nor any other indication they are really playing at Carnegie Hall. It is strictly 14 songs like a studio recording. The recording quality is heavy with echo, so much it seems like they are playing in a bucket or something. I think someone found an old collection of studio takes that probably never made the grade to be released, put them in a misleading package in an attempt to recycle material and make money. Even beyond the false presentation, none of the tracks are up to normal Country Gentlement standards. Pass this one up."

Great recordings

Barry A. Walker | 09/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This isn't actually a live performance, from what I've read on other websites. It is a collection of studio recordings done around the time when the Country Gentlement played Carnegie Hall. That said, this is a great record. The recording quality is not pristine--it has an old timey feel to it. It does kind of sound like they're playing in a bucket. But it still sounds really good. The playing and singing on this album are just really great. Many of the songs are slower--not like the hyperspeed stuff typical of a lot of bluegrass. So if you're into older, slower, not-overproduced bluegrass, this is a record you should check out."