Sangin' 'bout that old Kentucky blue...
Timothy P. Scanlon | Hyattsville, MDUSA | 01/07/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first heard this masterpiece when I was in college. Some friends put on the 3-record set (Remember records?) and sang along with Wabash Cannonball I think it was. After listening to the whole collection, I got the set...and got the CDs for my birthday years later.I don't think of it as a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, maybe unfortunately for them. Indeed, I'm not that much of a bluegrass fan (having had a housemate for a while who over-played the banjo.) But the music of this collection is fabulous. Just to listen to Doc Watson is incredible. (How can a guy pic that fast?) The songs are, I'm told, classics among the bluegrass repertoire.From tunes Doc Watson's picking of which would make Alvin Lee jealous, to sentimental tunes, especially the title number, a kind of bluegrass requiem, you can't go wrong. I'm just now looking at the names of the 38 tunes on the set. Fantastic.The performers are talking between the numbers too. Not frivolity but musical detail. They really are professionals despite their lack of credentials.Oh, and I heard reference to the album--which I am proud to own--on public radio which was discussing the best-selling soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou," also bluegrass. They felt the soundtrack was reminiscent of this collection (which was assumed to be a distant memory to listeners.) Anyway, between the classic numbers, and the classic performers, who other reviewers have named, I can't recommend the album strongly enough. Be prepared, though, to hum tunes that strike a chord with you after you've listened to it. (I got in trouble where I worked as I listened to it, then sat at a computer humming and whistling all day! And I wasn't humming "Taps"!)...You are my flower....that's bloomin' in the mountain so high....Oh...sorry.Get it, and enjoy it."
There's a better world a waiting
Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 10/24/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a classic American album. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band worked with several Nashville legends, like Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis and Jimmy Martin. The veterans proved they could still keep up with the young upstarts. Most of the songs played were classic country songs. The whole thing works wonderfully well, and if you have any interest in Americana, you should get this CD."