Customer Reviews

The Best of the Flatt and Scruggs TV Show, Vol. 1

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remember reading a review of the F & S Carneige Hall Concert by Richard Jones, and in it he stated that it was the best bluegrass album ever made. He also lamented that it was not available on DVD. Well, Colonel the best just got even better with these releases! What the good Colonel, and many others outside the small original broadcast area, may not remember is that Flatt, Scruggs, and FMBs used to bring us a Carneige quality concert each and every week.
And, man, were they ever great. These are, bar none, the finest bluegrass performances you will ever view - live, video, whatever. Plus, unlike the Carneige concert, you get Curly Secklers nonpareil tenor singing. It is all here - Josh Graves dynamite dobro playing, Paul Warrens fireworking fiddle, Jake Tullochs booming bass, Earls brilliant banjo, and last, but by no means least, Lester Flatts - the finest MC that ever fronted a band (OK maybe with the exception of Byron Parker) great guitar work. It is breathtaking.

By the time these fine shows were recorded, this band, which had pretty much been together for over six years, was at its absolute performing peak. It was unmatched by any other in bluegrass history - past, and probably future. They are likely housed somewhere in the NIST as a standard. The playing comes ringing through in these performances.

Kudos to the fine folks at Shanachie for FINALLY making these available - and brickbats to the bluebloods at the Country Music Hall of Shame for sitting on them for so long.

I got the two volumes that came out. and they are well worth having. I have seen some of the shows on 3rd or 4th generation videos, so to see them in good quality dvds is quite a treat. the music is great,the comedy is also good,and the martha white cooking segments are also fun to see.takes you back to a diffrent time. a must have

The music seems so sweet, so well done, the voices so warm, the comedy so fresh. Maybe, it is my nostalgia for the days and rather naive ways on television of a homefolks show like this from the early 1960s, but the nostalgia in these programs for me is almost as great and as the music. This may be a result of my antiquity since I've been a Bluegrass fan and sometimes guitar player since shortly after the time these videos were made. A lot of the Flatt and Scruggs recordings in the early 1960s were oriented to reaching into the Folk audience and thus contained fewer real Bluegrass songs and more "traditional" material. Sometimes, the studio albums sounded pretty bad as they were multi track recorded, and sound a bit fishy and underwater.

The sound here is good enough for my ears. The songs are a good mix of country songs and sacred numbers. On this DVD Paul Warren seems to be the hot person in the band besides Earl. I've always treasured Earl's guitar playing and I am that there are two guitar leads by Earl here including Jimmie Brown the Newsboy, one of my long time favorites. Both on guitar and banjo, the advantage here for the shade-tree musician like myself is seein exactly how Earl, Lester, and the others pick.

The notes supplied with this DVD are first rate, so good I have used it as a source in a serious research article I am writing.

But what I love is the fun and friendliness that the shown transmits. Of course, as others mention, the old 1950s commercials for Martha White's various self-rising flours, with the reminded that each dish does not take as long as it did before with non-rising flour brings back to me my grandmother making pies and pastries on Friday or Saturday night for weekend company and the explosion of bakin gin general back when self-rise came out.

Tony

I recently purchased The Best of Flatt & Scruggs Volume 1 & 2. The music on the DVD's is excellent. I have been a fan of country and bluegrass music since I was old enough to play a 45 RPM and the playing and singing by Lester & Earl and the Foggy Mountain Boys on these Martha White shows is the best I have ever heard. I love the way that only one instrument at a time backs up the vocals and how the members of the band back off and support the guy taking the lead break. This is true musical cooperation and coordination. Did you notice there are only two microphones on the set? I hope that a new volume will be released in the near future.

Goodness, gracious, sakes alive . . . they're good! I received my Flatt & Scruggs early shows DVD's this week and had a look at some of them last night. They are great. From the liner notes it appears that the publishers have tapes of around 36 of these broadcasts. The first two DVD's include two shows each. Hopefully the publishers will make more avaialable.

The DVD's include some of the Martha White "cooking tips" for biscuits, cornbread, "nick-nacks" (you'll have to see the show to understand what they are), etc. They are certainly a far cry from Emeril or Rachael Ray, but they are authentic and period and a great piece of Americana from the era of the shows.

The camera work on the shows is pretty good. This is a close as we're going to get to an Earl Scruggs instructional banjo DVD. For those who want to "see how Earl did it back then" this is the way to go. The interplay among and between the band members and the Martha White Mills master of ceremonies is terrific.

These are great DVD's. I highly recommend them and cast my vote for the release of further shows.

I purchased both volume 1 & 2. For bluegrass fans and banjo players this is probably the Holy Grail. Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys were at their peak during the time period these TV shows were recorded. The performances are a seminar in how it is done. The quality of the arrangements, the tightness of the band and the control over their instruments, as far as volume and not interfering with the singer or other soloist, are outstanding. These DVDs should be required viewing for any bluegrass musician who ever gets together to jam with other musicians. Get these DVDs and see and hear how it should be done. Great performances, one after an other, from the masters of the idiom.

This is a great series if you are trying to learn how to play a bluegrass instrument. The camera work is primative with no lap dissolves or pans so you just watch the band members play the song. I play banjo and this has helped me find the simpler way Earl played the breaks and backup licks. The song "Foggy Mountain Special" must have 20 different tab versions to play the same tune. You get to see the way Earl actually played it on Volume 2. One interesting thing about this video is that you get to see Earl get totally lost on his break in "Earl's Breakdown" That would never make the final airing on a show today. This is the real stuff.

I purchased both DVD's of the F&S TV shows and have been so pleased with them. I grew up learning banjo by listening to Foggy Mountiain Banjo by the band. I had never seen them live or on recorded media before except for short clips here and there. It has been so great seeing them at the top of their form here on these videos. The sound is good and the transfer to DVD was done with care. I just hope that more of these become available in the future. Highly recommended for Flatt and Scruggs fans.

I just received my dvd today. I'd been waiting for years to be able to get Flatt and Scruggs on DVD. This definately did not let me down. I hope they come out with more of them. I give this video the highest rating that it can have.

I really enjoyed getting to see Flatt & Scruggs ca. 1962, before they really hit the big time. Earl Scruggs, besides doing his normally amazing banjo work, does a lot of guitar playing on these sessions. I also especially enjoyed Uncle Josh & Cousin Jake's harmony duet on "Feast Here Tonight." Although the price seems high, this tape is definitely worth it for diehard bluegrass afficionados!