Customer Reviews

At Carnegie Hall!

5 star:		(12)
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If I could only own one Bluegrass Album, this would be the one. I bought the LP record many years ago when it first came out, and still treasure it, but it doesn't have the complete concert on it. The CD version is the complete concert, with additional material, including an encore of Flint Hill Special, the tune made possible by the famous "Scrugg's peg" tuning devices Earl Scruggs invented for his banjo. Josh Grave's dobro work on this number, imitating the banjo licks, is great, also.
With the New York audience hollering for "Martha White!!" , the theme song of the group's sponsor down in Nashville, Flatt & Scruggs delivers the tightly arranged and precisely executed performances that elevated bluegrass to a level that has never been exceeded and only rarely reached by any group since. You don't play this CD while you are washing the car or reading the newspaper. You sit back, close your eyes and--it's 1962 and you are in Carnegie Hall listening to the best bluegrass band ever. It's a shame they didn't film this concert so we could have a DVD of it now, like they did for "Down From the Mountain". This CD is an absolute must have for anyone who likes bluegrass. I bought two, and keep one in my bank safety deposit box.

This is an essential bluegrass recording, documenting Flatt & Scruggs in top form before an appreciative, surely awe-struck, Carnegie Hall audience. I've heard it said that if you want to know what Bluegrass is all about, you've got to hear it, and see it produced, live. This recording, along with the Bill Monroe (et al) recording "Bean Blossom", captures the excitement and the fiery musicianship one finds at such events, along with a healthy dose of corn-ball humor. Get off you high horse and give this one a listen, and you may never go back to the city again.

Just sit back, close your eyes, and your in Carnegie Hall with a rowdy NY crowd listening to some of the best live bluegrass ever.
Flatt and Scruggs at their finest. Lester's voice and guitar, Earl's banjo (and yes, guitar). Paul Warren on the fiddle. You just can't go wqrong.

Lester and Earl has brought the south up north in this cd. There is comedy but more importantly some of the finest bluegrass that can be produced. What more would you expect from two legends? The foggy mountain boys are an excellent compliment to Lester and Earl. This is a must for true bluegrass music lovers.

Buy this CD! If you are a fan of bluegrass and in particular Flatt & Scruggs, this is the best CD available. When I was a child we used to watch and hear Flatt and Scruggs in the Nashville area on late Saturday afternoons. This one will really take you back. It takes me back to my Grandmother's living room where we all sat and tapped our feet. You will listen to it over and over. If you can only have one, make it this one.

Well, I was only 16, and didn't know much about country music yet, being from Brooklyn and Long Island, but a friend took me to this, and it was an astounding show. I'll tell you the most astounding thing: it was all on one microphone. There in Carnegie Hall, hanging from the proscenium arch, one microphone hung down on a fifty foot wire, down to just below head level onstage. The men all stood around it in a semi-circle, and when it was time to take a solo, or sing, they'd step forward. Then they'd step back. It was beautiful, and I'll never forget. You heard every note perfectly. I am grateful that I was there. And that it was recorded for us all. Enjoy.

I've had the Columbia LP for years and it has to be one of the best live bluegrass recordings available, even though it includes only a fraction of the concert. It's an absolute "must have" for any student of Scruggs. This CD contains the complete 1962 concert and it's absolutely tremendous. It includes all of Lester Flatt's intros and his low-key humor. If you're a fan of Flatt & Scruggs, you gotta have this CD.

I used to have a double cassette of Flatt and Scruggs early '50's work on the Mercury label, and while it was good, it did not have the mass appeal the group achieved in the early '60's, when doing the theme song for the hit TV comedy "Beverly Hillbillies" introduced Bluegrass to many millions. Something about this particular assemblage of pickers, and the material they recorded for Columbia, just plain clicked. Personally, as only a casual fan of Bluegrass, I would say this concert is a four-star event, musically, here in the new century. However, it was an historical moment when their Appalachian sounds were offered from the stage which had hosted every famous classical performer of the 20th century. So add a star because the mountains battled Manhattan on that December night in '62, and the mountains won.

There is not such a thing as a bad Flatt & Scruggs record, but with so many great musical artists to fill our collections scrutiny is required for budget purposes. This is a gem, complete with comical moments and the Martha White theme song. I bought it for "Down the Road", which I sorely missed when my complete Mercury recordings cassette got ate up. These two collections, along with "Tis Sweet to be Remembered" give the listener the spectrum of their long career. "Durham's Reel", "Big Ball in Brooklyn", "Hot Corn, Cold Corn" & "Footprints in the Snow" start out the first twelve with fine examples of Earl Scruggs spanking of the banjo and Lester Flatt's soulful singing. Then there are 20 more classics. Plenty of entertainment for the price, buy it, and have some "corn" with it.

This is not only the best live bluegrass or country album ever, it is the best live album ever recorded of ANY genre. "Flint Hill Special" is an absolute classic gem. Other highlights include "Salty Dog Blues" and "McKinley's Gone".

An absolute MUST HAVE.