Customer Reviews

Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 & 1947

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ricky Skaggs understands and respects tradition. Much of his work draws on the traditional sounds of Bluegrass music. He and his band are masters of this music, both understanding, respecting and reinterpreting it for our listening pleasure. Even with this, Skaggs is not stuck trying to reproduce note by note the sounds of Bill Monroe. He understands the need for interpretation and keeping the sound fresh. In this CD, he walks a fine line between slavish reproduction and interpretation. This is a very careful balancing act that could result in "all fall down, ashes ashes" if not done well.
The good news is it is done very well! From the reproduction of an old 78 on the CD face to the last track, this is a great listening experience and a valuable history lesson. "It's Might Dark to Travel" has always been a favorite of mine and this is an outstanding version. Joining this is "Little Cabin Home on the Hill" and "Why Did You Wander?" as great listening. The other nine tracks are excellent too. Each of us will have favorites that may or may not be mine.
I am a big Skaggs fan and automatically like his work. Having confessed, I will still maintain that this is one of the best CDs he has done.

I've been thinking for years that Ricky is the "musical heir" of the great Bill Monroe. This CD confirms my idea. Twelve tracks of which Bill would be proud! Mr. Skaggs knows and plays a whole lot of Monroe-Style, especially his early kind of playing. And he can sing with so much emotion in his voice, it reaches our "bluegrass-fanatic" heart.
The band is up to the job aswell, and upon all smilin' Jim Mills, plays one of the most convincig hard drivin' traditional banjo styles nowadays. Andy Leftwich abandons modern and progressive influences to embrace Chubby Wise style completely and perfectly, Mark Fain as solid as ever, Paul Brewster...what can I say, one of the best tenor voices out there today. Last but not least, Cody Kilby plays a solid rhythm, and does some solos, that could be considered a bit "out of place" in recreating Monroe's 1947 sound, but yet very enjoyable.
I recommend this, which I think will be one of the best real bluegrass albums of 2008.

Hey, the guy stays true to his roots, no gimmicks.
If you like bluegrass then you have to appreciate
the respect that Ricky shows for this roots music.
Roots music in general is dying out so this man is
a treasure to me. This guy is always worth listening to.

This is a very welcome addition to my existing CD collection. As a Ricky and bluegrass fan, this is a excellent tribute to both the past and the present. This venue allows me an opportunity to keep current on all new releases.

If you love traditional bluegrass music, you will love Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass, which is a Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder collection of songs that were originally recorded by Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, Every song on this cd is a winner. Ricky Skaggs has a wonderful "lonesome sound" voice and is an outstanding mandolin player. Kentucky Thunder is as talented and "tight" a bluegrass band as you will ever hear. As is evident on this particular Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass cd, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder are creating a series of cd's that pay homage to traditional bluegrass music, as was first recorded in the works of bluegrass founders such as Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers. I was only this morning listening to cd's recorded by Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. What is evident from that listening is that the overall sound quality of Ricky Skaggs bluegrass cd's, including Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass, is noticeably and remarkably better than the sound quality of Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, or Ralph Stanley cd's. Traditional bluegrass vocals and instrumentals have never in the past been recorded and reproduced as well as in the current work of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Ricky Skaggs has raised the recorded sound quality of traditional bluegrass music to a new and significantly higher level. Do yourself a favor, hear traditional bluegrass music better that you have ever heard it in a recorded performance by any other artist, and buy this cd. Once you've heard this cd, you'll want to make sure that you buy more cds by Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. (If I could get a message to Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, I would tell them to please record a follow-up cd to Honoring the Fathers that includes only songs that were originally recorded by Ralph and Stanley Carter.)

This was an excellent CD. I loved it, he Honored the Fathers of Bluegrass well.

This is another great album from Ricky Skaggs.
I did the Mp3 download so as to enjoy immediately.
Ron Ford

It is difficult to write about this cd, there really is nothing revelatory to discover. The songs are classics and performed by one of the, if not the, best bands in bluegrass.
For me , there is an added dimension. This is bluegrass, no questions, no need for arguements over newgrass and other labels, just great bluegrass. What could be better? Nothin, in my book.

As always, Ricky Skaggs plays beautifully and his song choices stand up well in a contemporary setting. This is a wonderful CD!

Woah, woah everyone. This album was given a few too many stars. This is a decent album. I think everyone gave it 5 stars because of what Skaggs has done. He went back to the first Bill Monroe , Earl, and Lester album that kicked off that type of music we now call 'BLUEGRASS" . And as a diehard bluegrasser ( it is in my blood) I can tip my hat to Ricky for doing this. Having said that, it's not like this album is playing 24/7 in my car. I much prefer his Live at Charleston Hall ( a GREAT album) . I would not give it more that 3/5 stars. I have listened to it a few times but it is not being played much in my car if you know what I mean. I think if he did it live, it would have had more energy. It doesn't seem to have alot of excitement for me, sounds a little too "studio-ish".