Search - J.D. Crowe :: Live in Japan

Title

bzfgt | Oregon | 08/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"the late Keith Whitley had one of the most evocative voices in the history of bluegrass; it slides and ripples around in the most affecting way. This album wonderfully showcases his singing style and also features some great bluegrass picking. The musical style often veers towards straight country, and the electric bass is a little bit annoying, but to hear Whitley sing "Rose-colored Glasses" is a wonderful thing, even if it isn't very bluegrass. And there is some straight-ahead bluerass on here; the Flatt&Scruggs segment is excellent, and "Sugar-Coated Love" rocks. "Memphis Mandolin" has some very interesting and atypical banjo work from JD."

Solid live bluegrass from one of the '70s best bands

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 02/13/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, so if YOU were J.D. Crowe, and you were about to go on a triumphant tour of Japan, playing for their unique brand of wildly appreciative fans, who would you pick to go as your back-up band? Well, fiddler Bobby Sloane, Jimmy Gaudreau, Steve Bryant and future country star Keith Whitley are all good choices, and sure enough, that's who he took. The boys whiz through a solid set of crowd-pleasing favorites, sticking pretty close to their strengths. The sound quality is pretty good, with just a hint of amphitheater hall muffle, but mainly it sounds great. The album closes with the band hamming it up on a set of stereotyped commercial bluegrass, "The Ballad Of Jed Clampett," etc., as they goofily recreate an old Martha White radio show. You can pretty much stop the album when that comes on, and not miss much, at least if you've already heard hose old routines. On the whole, though, not much to complain about with this disc."