Search - Larry Rice :: Clouds Over Carolina

It's not too late

Pascal DESASSIS | CHALONS EN CHAMPAGNE, France | 07/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After attending a concert given by Ronnie Bowman in France, I learned from his mandolin player that Larry Rice died last May.

It's not too late to listen to his latest CD. "Clouds Over Carolina" is a great album, full of talent, melody & harmony, musicianship, humanity. Larry never reached the fame he deserved. He was a very talented singer, songwriter and musician. And most of all, he was a beautiful man.

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Newer songs sit comfortably between those that give a nod to

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 08/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 40:06 -- The opening cut, Larry Rice's "If You Only Knew," brings back memories of another milestone --Tony Rice's seminal Cold on the Shoulder album. Fact is that the Rice Brothers have had significant impact on bluegrass music over the years. The Rice Brothers (Larry, Tony, Ron and Wyatt) were from Virginia &North Carolina, but they grew up in California. Their father played bluegrass with The Golden State Boys (with Vern and Rex Gosdin.) As early as 1963, Larry, Tony, and Ron had a group called The Haphazards.



"Clouds Over Carolina" is a solo project which most prominently features the oldest of the Rice Brothers, Larry, mandolin player, lead singer and songwriter. Besides the opener and the title cut, Larry also penned Don't Be Careful for What you Wish For, and the snappy instrumental Burnt Rice. It's a treat to see him joined by his brothers Tony (guitar) and Wyatt (guitar), along with Rickie Simpkins (fiddle), Ronnie Simpkins (bass), Sammy Shelor (banjo), Frank Poindexter (dobro), and Jeff Parker (harmony vocals). Some of their covered songs come from Elizabeth Cotton, Fred Rose, Pete Kuykendall, Gordon Lightfoot, and others.



Back in the 1960s, Larry played in a Southern California band called Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party, and in 1969 he began his pro career with J. D. Crowe's "Kentucky Mountain Boys." In 1975, Larry joined the Dickey Betts Band. He retired from music for several years, but returned to record multiple solo albums, a Rice Brothers album, and to form The Larry Rice Band. He has recorded and performed with brother Tony, Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson as "Out of the Woodwork" or "Rice, Rice, Hillman and Pederson."



I believe that this is Larry's fourth solo album. His first was Mr. Poverty on the King Bluegrass label. Nearly a decade has passed since his last solo album. Growing up out west gave the Rices considerable leeway to experiment and push the bluegrass envelope into certain uncharted waters. On one hand, this project gives us a traditional standard like "Little Maggie," but it also shows more adventurous tastes with the likes of Gordon Lightfoot's "Rainy Day People." The newer songs sit comfortably between those that give a nod to bluegrass music's forefathers. I must say, however, that "You're Not a Drop in the Bucket" doesn't seem quite the same without the bass plunking the proverbial drop at the appropriate points in the chorus. While Larry is the center of attention on this project, he's joined by some of bluegrass' elite, and the result is striking. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

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