Single Best Bluegrass Collection of All Time
09/01/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sounds like hyperbole, I know, but this platter lives up to it. Even 40-year-old recording techniques can't diminish the tightness and drive exhibited by this greatest of all bands. You won't believe the groove these old guys create! And the songs are from F&S's true "Golden Era"...after they'd transcended their Bill Monroe beginnings but before the Jed Clampett/weird echo sell-outs of the 60s. All the songs and performances are great, but the LP hits a perfect stride that starts with I'M WORKING ON A ROAD and that continues through TIL THE END OF THE WORLD ROLLS AROUND, JIMMY BROWN THE NEWSBOY [song list shown above is incorrect], EARL'S BREAKDOWN, and SOMEONE TOOK MY PLACE WITH YOU. These performances are sublime -- bluegrass music (or any music) doesn't get any better. After you hear it, you'll have to have more and you won't be able to stop yourself from buying the 1948-1959 box set."