Search - Dreadful Snakes :: Snakes Alive!

A Successful Mix of Traditional & Contemporary Bluegrass

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 07/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All bluegrass albums should be this good. When I first bought this album on vinyl in 1983, it was because of the presence of banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck (who was then playing with the New Grass Revival), Roland White (who was a then member of Country Gazette and with brother Clarence had been the core of the legendary Kentucky Colonels), and Jerry Douglas (who quite simply is the world's greatest Dobro player). Pat Enright and Mark Hembree would go on to form the Nashville Bluegrass Band (which White would later also join). Blaine Sprouse was a terrific up-and-coming fiddle player who had worked with Jimmy Martin and the Osborne Brothers among others. This group played as a unit only sporadically--this was, after all, intended only as an informal band--and they recorded only this one album. But what an album!This is a mix of contemporary and traditional bluegrass. Fleck wrote the banjo breakdown "Snakes Alive." Enright penned the rollicking "Who's That Knocking at My Door." The final original is the gospel number "Story of the Pharisees" by Hembree. They tackle three Bill Monroe songs--"Travelin' Down This Lonesome Road," the fiddle number "Brown County Breakdown," and the vocal treat "Linda Lou" (with the Whites adding support). They turn in rousing versions of Jimmie Rodgers' "Blue Yodel #4" and the Louvin Brothers' "Cash on the Barrelhead." And Roland White reaches deep into his repertoire to deliver the traditional "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die," Instrumentally and vocally, this album is a joy from start to finish and makes an excellent addition to your bluegrass library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"