1 comments about Shout! 2002.

1. If you like Southern Gospel music and the message of hope that it brings, this album is a must-have!

4 comments about E.C. Ball with Orna Ball & the Friendly Gospel Singers.

1. Ball is a phenomenal flatpicking guitarist who sings old-timey gospel songs with his wife. It's all 100 percent genuine and extremely well-played, very Doc Watson-like. Orna's vocals add a special something that puts this stuff over the top.



2. E.C. Ball can pick as good as Chet Atkins or Doc Watson. Had he made more recordings perhaps he would be better known. The instrumental pieces "Chow Time" and "Raggin'The Wires" use harmonics and far-out chord progressions with a technique that amazes without being flashy. This is honest, home-made, enduring music by a married couple with deep faith. They read the Bible literaly; the opening track simply and plainly relays the peaceful respite afforded the believer while the rest of us endure a horror-show phantasmagoria of the end times, yet somehow it isn't preachy. Even though "Do You Call That Religion" is about throwing the ill-mannered out of church, the song fails to offend perhaps due to the understated delivery, or the whimsical, almost pop-rock licks E.C. throws in. Speaking of licks, "Ain't No Grave" by itself makes this album worth buying. I would like to see Rounder release the second album, "Father's Have A Home Sweet Home" on CD. That one has a spine-tingling version of "Pretty Polly" with just EC and banjo, as well as a great version of "Jubilee."



3. You know that Bible Belt rhetoric aimed at converting the listener? This ain't none of that. What you got here is people singing plain. Nothing in their voices gives any indication of being tinged with anything other than exactly what is in them. It's classifiable nowadays as music from an historial cultural period. But it can also be listened to as if you just liked it.



4. This album is as authentic as any field recording by Lomax - a quiet Mountain Gospel style. E. C. Ball"s guitar style is his own i.e. while showing similar influences to the Carter Family, he developed a style rather than copied. His singing is straight-forward with excellent harmonies provided by his wife. Some of the tracks that stand out:

   Give Me Just a Little More Time - a gem also available on a Wiregrass shapednoted note album. Here this gospel song is sung as pure gospel with notable tempo changes. However, while it doesn't sound rushed, try singing along - the tempo is fast but unhurried.

   The Parting Hand - a common closing hymn for Sacred Harp conventions is here sung as gospel. The gospel harmonies work every well providing a different and excellent unusual arrangement to the hymn.

   If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again - bet you have to sing along. Simply an excellent rendition that trusts the music itself and "reduces" the performers to invisible channels of the music.

   Listen closely to the words of John the Baptist ... voice like a what! The net result of the album is that you feel in the presence of warm, welcoming performers who sing out of love of the music.

No comments about Legends of the Grand Ole Opry.

2 comments about Hymns By Johnny Cash/Sings Precious Memories.

1. Although a lot of the instrumentation on this is not "my style" (o, the dreaded string section!) and it's not my favorite gospel album, I still think it deserves five stars. One gets the impression that Cash really knew these songs (probably grew up with them) and took them seriously. They are treated very respectfully; he doesn't mess with the timing or try to make the interpretations too "artsy" and egocentric the way a lot of newer recordings seem to do.



2. The legendary Johnny Cash has put out many religious albums over the years. This disc features his very first "Hymns by Johnny Cash" from 1959 and "Johnny Cash sings Precious Memories" from 1974. A mixture of standards and originals that make for a very good collection. I would grab this one!!

No comments about The Man in Black: 1959-1962.

No comments about K-Tel Country Gospel.

2 comments about Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer.

1. Playing Time - 71:47 (CD#1); 68:37 (CD#2) -- It's easy to see how this 2-CD album has become one of bluegrass music's top ten releases in 2006. Drawing material recorded live at the 2000-2005 Musicians Against Childhood Cancer (MACC) Festival in Columbus, Ohio, the project was inspired by executive producer and musician Darrel Adkins. He and his wife Phyllis' beautiful 22-year-old daughter, Mandy, lost her battle to cancer (brain cell tumor) in 2000. The non-profit MACC was formed, and the festival was launched to raised funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tn. where treatment is dispensed for children with terminal illness. Volunteering to play the July festival, 136 artists are featured here. Most all of the big names in bluegrass are featured - Rhonda Vincent, Grascals, Keeny & Amanda Smith Band, Wildfire, Lost & Found, Larry Stephenson Band, Cherryholmes, Doyle Lawson, Tony Rice, J.D. Crowe, 3 Fox Drive, Marty Raybon, Blue Highway, Alecia Nugent, Lonesome River Band, Seldom Scene, and many more. Liner notes clearly lay out the pickers and singers on each song.
   
   There are some entertaining pickup groups featured too. A 7-minute version of "Freeborn Man" features Dan Tyminski, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, Doyle Lawson and Barry Bales. Of similar length, a bluegrass instrumental version of Gershwin's "Summertime" stars Bryan Sutton, David Talbot, Ashby Frank, Terry Smith, Aubrey Haynie and Randy Kohrs. Tony Rice introduces and dedicates his 11-minute solo and reflective rendition of "Shenandoah," with a declaration that "every musician is right here exactly where we are supposed to be doing this."
   
   This album has a ton of first-rate and captivating variety from the bluegrass community, but I took special note of each and every song that conveyed sentiments that could be construed as tributes to the memory and inspiration of Mandy Adkins. Alan Bibey made a point of dedicating his own "Side by Side" to Mandy. As Kenny & Amanda Smith sing, "I know this love will last forever, I know where loves lives, someday we'll always be together, living in Him." Kudos to Jack Campitelli and Bob Kelley for a fine job of recording, mixing and mastering the 37-tracks of absorbing music without any significant audience applause or background noise. Mandy would be very gratified by the result, and bluegrass music and this festival will just grow even stronger. Why? In "The Healing Kind" written by himself and Greg Luck, Ronnie Bowman sings "the pain just grows stronger everyday, I think of you and I'm on my way, down memory lane with your hand in mine, `cuz I'm just not the healing kind." (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)



2. I bought this only because it won the IBMA Album of the Year award for 2006, and being a bluegrass musician,I thought it sounded like a pretty good lineup of music. Man oh man, was I ever right! This is one fantastic collection of musicians and songs! If you like bluegrass music at all, run--don't walk--and get this CD set!

1 comments about Dust on the Bible.

1. OK, you've enjoyed the bluegrass romps on "Delusions of Banjuer" and "Hogs On The Highway", been baffled yet grown to love the experimentation of "Blood & Mood" and "Industry & Thrift" - What next?

   Time to go to church!

   Originally recorded in 1991 as a Christmas present for Danny Barnes's folks, this was later sold on cassette at their gigs. As more and more people requested it, eventually they went ahead and dropped it on CD. The result- 10 (or 13, depending on how you count the medley) excellent gospel tunes, ranging from the obscure ("Jesus Is On the Mainline") to the very, very familiar ("I Saw The Light", "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"). A surprisingly reverent album, and a joy to listen to.

   It's a real treat to have around when the grandparents are over, you have a Bad Livers jones, and you don't think that they would appreciate hearing "Pee-Pee The Sailor".

   I also highly recommend swinging by the Bad Liver's website and picking up the CD "AKA Mad Cat Trio", for a great set of Bluegrass and Ragtime tunes. As far as I know, that's the only place to pick it up, although it is certainly as good as any of their "major label" releases. (Which of course means that it is excellent!)

4 comments about Cryin' Holy Unto the Lord.

1. According to Joe Sixpack's online discography, this was the next-to-last album of Monroe's life, and no one can say his devotion to gospel faltered at the finish, because its Appalachian authenticity is exemplary, and "Gloryland," "Not My Home" and "Lost in Sin" are as galvanizing as anything he ever recorded. "Saint Peter's golden mandolin is reserved for Bill Monroe."



2. A fine bluegrass gospel release, with strong ensemble work from Clarence Tate, Tom Ewing and Blake Williams, who formed the core of the Blue Grass Boys at the time, as well as numerous guest stars and contributors, such as Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Jim & Jesse and Mac Wiseman. The sound of the record is much softer than Monroe's typical "high lonesome" sound, and Bill himself seems somewhat subsumed by all the flurry of other musicians, but it's still a fine album, regardless. Mighty fine! Recommended.



3. This album is neat because it features quite an excellent cast of musicians singing with Bill Monroe. Ralph Stanley does a beautiful and haunting job singing lead on "Harbor of Love." That cut is definitely the best on this album. Ricky Skaggs and the Osborne Brothers are also featured on this album to name a few. The selection of songs are wonderful, and the harmonies and instrumental really stand out as being impressive. Bill Monroe's voice sounds excellent, and he really picks up the pace on a number of the tunes. The reason I like this Monroe album is because of that beautiful rendition with Ralph Stanley and the fact that the album features different lead singers to compliment Monroe. This is pure traditional bluegrass gospel from not just Bill Monroe but a host of talented bluegrass artists.



4. This Blue Grass gospel CD is a unique experience. Rousing Blue Grass mandolin rifts and harmonies with biblically instructive lyrics. 'I'm a gonna shine' is great for listening while doing chores! 'He'll let you in' is an encouraging message to the downcast. Don't miss this excellent part of our American Evangelical heritage.

1 comments about American Legend.

1. In about 1956 I was at a Dance Hall where Country Western music was played by a young group just starting out. My girlfriends twisted my arm to come and I could hardly wait to get out of there. It was a very warm night and I wanted to cruise up University Ave. ( St. Paul MN.) in my 49 Mercury. Before I left I walked up to the Band and asked one of the guys to play a song. Here's how I asked him. " Do You Know...You Are My SunShine?" The guys at school called me Sunshine and that seemed like a fun song. Somehow I didn't wait for it to be played. And I heard later that the fellow in the band was looking for me and actually ran outside to see me taking off in my 49 Mercury. I always wondered when I heard the two songs if there was any connection. The two songs being. Crazy about a Mercury and Do You Know You Are My Sunshine. The very simple You ARE My Sunshine was all that I had asked for. I was sixteen at the time. My girlfriends told me the fellow took off after he was through playing to look for me up and down University. They didn't dare tell him my name or where I lived because they knew I would really not appreciate that at all. Now I love those song because it brings back favorite memories of crusing in my Mercury and how much fun it was to be so independent. The Statler Brothers ..... ( Do You Know.. ) is great and so lively its a fun song for all ages.