High Lonesome and Blue is part of Rounder's 30th-anniversary 30-volume Heritage series of best-ofs compiled by label boss
Ken Irwin. As such, it covers the living
bluegrass legend
Del McCoury's tenure with the label from 1987's The McCoury Brothers debut through to 1996's Cold Hard Facts. There are 16 cuts here, originals by
McCoury's sons and bandmates as well as
country classics (an amazing read of
George Jones' "Don't Stop the Music" closes the album),
bluegrass staples (
Bill Monroe's "The Bluest Man in Town"), and tunes by contemporary writers such as
Steve Earle ("If You Need a Fool") and
David Olney ("Queen Anne's Lace"). This is a solid overview of a band that changed the face of
bluegrass by using traditional means to approach the entire
country music canon, fueled by the truly gifted musicianship of
McCoury's sons,
Ronnie and
Rob, and
Del's own singular voice. Musically, this is solid from top to bottom, and
Del's own comments on the songs are a great bonus.
Jon Weisberger's liner notes offer a decent thumbnail sketch of
McCoury's biography, but his fawning comments about Rounder's vision and promotional strategies are irksome; they read like they were written by its marketing department. After all, isn't the label already paying tribute to itself with this series? Still, it's a fine compilation and a great introduction to the early genius of
McCoury. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
