Search - Pioneers of Bluegrass :: Pioneers of Bluegrass

Good variety, Nice energy

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 07/29/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

""The Pioneers of Bluegrass" is a 20-track bluegrass sampler from the CMH label that includes tracks from Bill Monroe, Mac Wiseman, The Osborne Brothers, The Smith Brothers' Orchestra, Grandpa Jones, Don Reno and the Tennessee Cut-ups, Merle Travis, Jim and Jesse, The Seldom Scene, Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass, Chubby Wise, Don Reno and Bill Harrell, The Stoneman Family, The Masters, and Benny Martin. For a good value with over 50 minutes of bluegrass standards (and a few not so standard), you should enjoy this compilation and the variety it offers. Numbers like Jimmy Brown the Newsboy, Roll in my Sweet Baby's Arms, Wabash Cannonball, Sunny Side of the Mountain, The Prisoner's Song, Footprints in the Snow (offered here instrumentally), Will the Circle be Unbroken, Great Speckled Bird are the foundation of bluegrass. Intermixed with them are other songs not usually associated with the genre like Grandpa Jones doing "Are You From Dixie?," and Merle Travis performing "There Ain't a Cow in Texas." All in all, there's a lot of nice energy on this album. --Joe Ross, moderator/reviewer, Nwbluegrass"