cddcodebase = "/";cddcodebase454632 = "/";
HELP
E-mail Author
Send to a Friend
Print Version December 06, 2004, 8:02 a.m.
A Distorted Legacy
is a woefully inadequate picture of Bluegrass.
By Aaron Keith Harris B luegrass is a uniquely American music that, in spite of a recent rise in its popularity aided by the movie soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The latest and best attempt at telling the bluegrass story is Grand Ole Opry and, conveniently for the boxed set in question, Columbia Records. Opry radio program in 1939 with a hit in the form of a souped-up version of Jimmie Rodgers's "Mule Skinner Blues." It's in telling the story up to this point that Can't You Hear Me Callin' is nearly flawless. Disc one starts off by establishing the musical context from which Monroe emerged with wild, fun tracks from string bands like Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, and the Coon Creek Girls placed alongside the stoic beauty of the Carter Family, Roy Acuff, and the Bailes Brothers. It then shows what Monroe made of those influences, containing Monroe's most essential 1940s sides, including his signature composition "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Disc two, with one glaring exception, manages to accurately represent the diverse first generation of bluegrass performers who put their own stamp on Monroe's creation. The mournful intensity of Carter and Ralph Stanley, the polished virtuosity of Flatt and Scruggs, and the smooth harmonies of Jim and Jesse McReynolds are all here, as are nearly forgotten names like Molly O'Day, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, and Carl Story, whose band fused bluegrass with gospel. The unforgivable omission is that of Don Reno and Red Smiley, one of the most popular and innovative groups of the 1950s. Some of Don Reno's mind-blowing banjo work as a solo artist and with other bands appears on discs three and four, but that just doesn't cut it. (It's like leaving the Who off of a history of British rock while including some solo from Pete Townshend to try and make up for it.) | |
|
