Complete Mercury Sessions

Flatt & Scruggs | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001DW4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,283 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Fresh off their pioneering stint with Bill Monroe, guitarist-vocalist Lester Flatt and banjo master Earl Scruggs waxed these 28 seminal cuts for Mercury between 1948 and 1950. The duo and their Foggy Mountain Boys attack the music with an urgency that even Monroe's Blue Grass Boys were hard-pressed to equal. Scruggs's three-fingered banjo technique is as important to bluegrass as any other innovation, possessing a rolling quality that keeps the songs moving. "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "Farewell Blues" are banjo tour de forces that will never be matched. Original gospel numbers find Scruggs applying his fingerpicking technique to guitar, à la Merle Travis, and feature sharp group harmonies. Most of the original secular songs have become bluegrass standards, even though the pair refused to call their refined mountain music bluegrass. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best bluegrass collection on one volume, July 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Mercury Sessions (Audio CD)

For anyone seeking an intro to bluegrass music this is an essential primer. The work of Scruggs in particular is regarded by the banjo people today as the model of excellence. all of the cuts are first rate. What a bargain!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your feet will be tapping from the start, April 11, 2000

By 

"rjgrib" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Mercury Sessions (Audio CD)

It's a shame most people can only associate Flatt & Scruggs with the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme song. The rich flavor of their music is a joy to hear. Scruggs banjo is the best there ever was and the strings must have been smokin' after he played "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". This is simple honest and pure music that our American ancestors danced to at the Saturday night barn dance. The singing and harmonies are also top notch with the unmistakable bluegrass heritage. This song packed CD will get alot of playing time on your music box, and you'll wear out a few pair of shoes dancin' to it!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive, Prototype Bluegrass, August 23, 2002

By 

LtCol Richard L. Jones (USAF-Retired) (Warner Robins, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Mercury Sessions (Audio CD)

Flatt & Scruggs were the first group to apply tight arrangments, precision, and polish to the genre. This CD contains the start of that process and is a must have for bluegrass fans. I personnally like the "gospel" numbers where Earl Scruggs plays guitar with his three finger style and the group sings gospel 4 part harmony. In the early 60's they had a black and white 30 minute TV show which played on our local station Sunday night. They ended each show with what Lester Flatt would call "our Sacred number", where they would remove their white cowboy hats and Earl would pick up the Guitar. The cuts on this CD remind me so much of those shows, which I would pay a huge price for if anyone would put them out on DVD. If you want to hear the beginnings of what would become the greatest bluegrass band ever, get this CD.