Search - Jim & Jesse :: Our Kind of Country

Jim and Jesse McReynolds are best known for the classic bluegrass records they made in the early 1960s, on which they blended instrumental virtuosity with their exquisite harmony vocals. On Our Kind of Country, they trade their acoustic bluegrass band for an electric country group and show they could have just as easily become great honky-tonkers in the tradition of Ernest Tubb. The selections include classics like Ray Price's "Heartaches by the Number" and "Invitation to the Blues," early Buck Owens tunes like "Under Your Spell Again," and the Johnny Paycheck number "Lovin' Machine," which features lead vocals by Jesse's grandson Luke McKnight. The McReynolds brothers are backed by the Grand Ole Opry stage band, musicians who have mastered the subtle art of the country shuffle. Bluegrass purists will probably wince at the piano, drums, and electric guitars on Our Kind of Country--like they did in the late 1960s when the duo experimented with electric sounds--but when Jim and Jesse join their voices in harmony, they produce so much down-home feeling they could make a kazoo orchestra sound country. --Michael Simmons