| Subject: | Re: [RESOGUIT-L] Best CDs? | | Date: | Monday, January 21, 2008 06:57:59 (-0800) | | From: | Betty Wheeler <bettywheeler @.....com>
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Carl and all:
Assuming the Resoguit archives are fully searchable, there are at least two
past threads with great responses on this topic that I would recommend
finding: one called "CD List" that was a 2005 thread started by Wayne
Langdon, and one called "Albums that give great dobro". Here's my own list
of "20 best" from the "CD List" thread, with a few update notes:
Any "must have" CD list is going to have egregious omissions, but here's my
list of classics, largely but not entirely bluegrass:
Josh Graves: [Note: If you can afford it, get the Bear Family boxed set of
Flatt & Scruggs 1948-1959. I would also highly recommend Marty Stuart's
Live at the Ryman CD which captures Josh playing late in life, with a
spectacular version of Great Speckled Bird plus a few other songs.]
1. Flatt & Scruggs, "Foggy Mountain Jamboree" (now out with 3 bonus
tracks on Columbia/Legacy) (originally released 1957, with recordings
from 1951-57; Uncle Josh is on 6 of the tracks). This is a superb
album -- almost unbelievable how many F&S classics are on this
release. Some great dobro stuff on this one!
2. Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall (recorded live in 1962;
re-released on the Koch label in 1998).
3 & 4. Kenny Baker & Josh Graves, "The Puritan Sessions" (with Kenny
Baker mostly on guitar, not fiddle; originally released as two CDs --
"Something Different" and "Bucktime!"; recorded in 1972 and 1973).
Mike Auldridge: [I second the Eight-String Swing recommendation; plus:]
5 & 6. "Dobro" (1972) and "Blues and Bluegrass" (1974); these two are
available one one CD labeled "Mike Auldridge - Takoma-Plus One," and
can be ordered from Mike Auldridge's web site, along with many other
of Mike's fine CDs.
7. Mike A. with the Seldom Scene -- lots of CDs to choose from here,
but for this list, I'm picking "Live at the Cellar Door." (Rebel
1103, released 1975)
Mike has lots of list-worthy recordings in more recent times, but
these are classics.
Jerry Douglas:
8. J.D. Crowe & the New South (Rounder 0044, released 1975; also
available with an extra track on Cracker Barrel's label, CB103). A
good case can be made that this record changed the world.
9. Boone Creek, "One Way Track" (1977 release, reissued as Sugar Hill
3701).
10. The Tony Rice Unit, "Manzanita" (Rounder 0092, recorded 1978,
released 1979). Another record that changed the world, in my opinion.
And worth buying just for the band photograph.
Note: although I highly recommend Jerry's "Fluxology" (1979) and
"Fluxedo" (1982),available on a single CD as "Everything Is Going to
Work Out Fine," the difficult-to-find "Changing Channels" and "Plant
Early," and also "Snakes Alive" by The Dreadful Snakes (1983, Rounder
0177) I'm leaving them off this list in favor of:
11, 12 & 13. The Bluegrass Album Band, Vol. 3 (1983), Vol. 4 (1985) &
Vol. 5 (1989). Two decades later, these still set the standard for
contemporary bluegrass excellence (in my opinion, of course). (Jerry
isn't on vols. 1 or 2, and I'm not sure how much he plays on Vol. 6,
which is all-instrumental.)
14. "Slide Rule," Jerry's 1992 release.
15. Alison Krauss & Union Station: lots to choose from here, but I
would pick one of these three: "New Favorite," "Forget About It," or
the "Live" CD (or better yet, the DVD). Dream pairing of voice
(Alison) and dobro.
16. And finally for my Jerry list, I would at this moment choose
"Lookout for Hope" over "The Best Kept Secret," but that's probably
because it's had longer to grow on me...
And yes, I realize my list includes 9 CDs with Jerry, but looking at
it another way, that means I left off about 1491...
Rob Ickes [Note: I would have to add Three Ring Circle AND the
Merle Haggard "Bluegrass Sessions" CD to this list, both of which
came out after I compiled this list, and also Blue Highway's Wondrous
Love, Marbletown, and the forthcoming Through the Window of a Train,
release date Feb. 12]:
17 and 18. Of the solo CDs, I would pick "Hard Times" and "What It
Is" but would probably sneak in "Big Time" also.
19. Blue Highway: Lots to pick from here, so perhaps I would pick
"It's A Long, Long Road" from the 20th century, and "Still Climbing
Mountains" from the 21st. If I were limited to one, I'd have to go on
Rhapsody and make my own compilation from a lot of different Blue
Highway albums.
20. And for my 20th and final pick, I'm going out on a limb and
choosing one that isn't out yet -- The Missy Raines Band, featuring my
favorite dobro player, Michael Witcher. What I heard at IBMA was
stunning, to borrow the word everyone around me was using. [NOTE: It's
almost unbelievable to me that this listing STILL doesn't
need updating, more than 2 years after I wrote it. Missy, get that
CD released NOW! I've heard the promo tracks from it, and it's
awesome...some of them are on Missy's MySpace page]
This is a highly subjective list that omits lots of excellent dobro
players, but I can't include them without making the list too huge,
and the young ones have their best recordings ahead of them.
Betty
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