Customer Reviews

California Autumn

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California Autumn is a bit of a sleeper in the Tony Rice catalog. The album presents many different sides of Tony, as he was defining his style in the mid 1970s. We hear the singer-songwriter ("California Autumn"), the interpretive singer ("Georgia on My Mind"), the traditional bluegrass artist ("Good Woman's Love," "You Don't Know My Mind"), and the innovative flatpicker ("Red Haired Boy"). Tony has rarely sang better than he does on this album and his talents as a vocalist more than make up for his limitations as a songwriter. I think the album's biggest flaw is that it simply doesn't flow very well.

The guitar playing on California Autumn is as solid as you would expect, though John Starling's production is rather flat when compared to the production of Tony's later albums. I think the instrumental with the best picking is probably "Red Haired Boy," which includes many of Tony's trademark licks and is a staple of his live performances. Side A of the original LP ends with an excellent cover of Bill Monroe's "Good Woman's Love," which features nice harmony vocals from Ricky Skaggs and a slight change to the melody that suits the song well.

Tony is backed on this recording by Seldom Scene members Tom Gray, Mike Auldridge, and Ben Eldridge, and this gives it a bit of a Seldom Scene vibe, particularly with the distinctive Dobro playing of Mike Auldridge ringing throughout each tune. Despite the fact that Tony recorded better music with super-pickers like Sam Bush, David Grisman, and Jerry Douglas, this line-up is intriguing for its uniqueness when compared to the rest of Tony's albums. Basically, California Autumn sounds like Tony sitting in with the Seldom Scene and the overall feel is softer and less jazz-oriented than a session with Bush, Douglas and/or David Grisman would have been. Regardless of the fact that Tony achieved greater heights a few years later, California Autumn is an enjoyable listen and is well worth owning.

I can no longer sit and read the other reviews of this CD, I have been a Tony Rice fan for as long as I can remember and this CD is a true gem. Sure it may not be as good as Manzanita, Me and My Guitar, or Cold on the Shoulder, but it is an overall great CD. Tony's singing is top notch on this album and his version of Good Womans Love is hands down the best version you can find. There are some great fiddle tunes on here as well, Billy in the Lowground, Red-Haired Boy, and one of the best tracks Bugle Call Rag, also be sure to listen to You Don't Know My Mind. Please do not over look this CD, if you are a true TR fan you will surely enjoy this CD. Top notch musicians and Tony's vocals are nothing short of perfect. This CD will not dissapoint any fan of bluegrass/flok music

Although I count myself a big Tony Rice fan, this is not one of his more even albums. Some of the selected tunes can seem dreary, the kind of background music you have when you're boiling legumes and puttering around the house on a cold fall day in upstate NY. The incendiary licks are still here, though (Bullet Man, Red Haired Boy), and it's always nice to hear Tony's casual vocals drifting through the living room.

This isn't among Tony Rice's best, but below-average Tony Rice is still fine music. Tony's picking is, as usual, both tasteful and astonishing in its virtuosity. He's joined by his brother Larry and by Tom Gray, Mike Auldridge, and Ben Eldridge of the Seldom Scene on most of the tracks, and their picking is also as fine as can be, as are the picking and singing of Ricky Skaggs, John Starling, J.D. Crowe, and Jerry Douglas on a track or two.

I personally don't think that Georgia On My Mind and Scarborough Fair fit in very well here, but the rest of the songs fit together well, and the playing is sublime on all the tracks.

Flatpick guitarist Tony Rice is one of bluegrass music's most brilliant and influential stylists, having introduced a blues-inflected bent-note technique into the repertoire (borrowed from rock'n'roll, but it sounds mighty fine played acoustic...) Rice made his reputation playing in the jazz-oriented David Grisman Quintet, although he had, obviously been playing around for some time before Grisman scooped him up. This was his first solo album, and has been dutifully reissued and kept in print ever since. But, if the truth be told, it's hardly his strongest effort. Both the performances and engineering are a bit wobbly and uneven; you can hear Rice working out some of the musical ideas that would become familiar staples of his sound, but he also make a lot of mistakes and missteps. This sounds very much like an album produced on the cheap, with not enough money or time to go back and fix things up. Interesting for fans who want to check out Rice's early development, but it's not really the kind of record you'd want to hang onto or revisit frequently.