J.D. Crowe & the New South

J.D. Crowe and The New South | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: November 30, 1974
• Label: Rounder
• Total Length: 32:33
• Genres: Country/Alt-Country & Americana, Country/Bluegrass, Folk/Contemporary Folk
• ASIN: B0010V7A0Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,885 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Landmark Bluegrass Album, July 31, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: J.D. Crowe & The New South (Audio CD)

After twenty-five years, this album is as fresh and exhilarating as when it was first released. This is the first and only recording by this configuration of the New South. In addition to master banjo picker J.D. Crowe, you have Tony Rice, who is one of the best flat pick guitar players and bluegrass vocalists ever; bass player Bobby Slone, who also served a stint with the legendary Kentucky Colonels; a very young Ricky Skaggs on mandolin and fiddle, and an even younger Jerry Douglas (whose not included in the cover photo) on Dobro.

Whether it's traditional fare like the instrumental "Sally Goodin" or a cover of Fats Domino's "Im Walkin'" or Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne's (of the Dillards) "Old Home Place," these guys play like they've been performing together for decades as opposed to only months.

Highlights include "Old Home Place," "Ten Degrees" (one of two Gordon Lightfoot covers, a songwriter much admired by Rice), the plaintive "Summer Wages," and the gospel number "Cryin' Holy."

This is required listening for any fan of bluegrass music. If there's a downside, it's the 31-minute playing time. But that's a bit like complaining that da Vinci should have used a biger canvas when he painted the Mona Lisa. The important thing is the impact that art--whether it's music, or painting, or literature--has on your soul. This is music for the soul. ESSENTIAL

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For So Many Reasons . . ., April 28, 2004

By 

Gary Popovich "Retired Banjo Picker" (Chesterfield, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: J.D. Crowe & The New South (Audio CD)

. . . this CD belongs in ANY serious bluegrass collection - the selection of material, the timeless vocals, the phenomemal musicianship, or the convergence of talent - take your pick.

A great mix of the traditional (Flatt & Scrugg's "Some Old Day" & "Nashville Blues"), progressive (Gordon Lightfoot's "Ten Degrees and Getting Colder" and "You Are What I Am"), and semi-novelty (Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'), J.D. Crowe and crew (more on them in a minute) arranged the songs in a way that appealed to both hardcore and younger bluegrass audiences of the time. The vocal core of the group consisted of Tony Rice and Ricky Scaggs swapping leads, with Skaggs supplying high harmony and Crowe filling out the baritone. From the opening number, "The Old Homeplace" (a great tune that almost became bluegrass music's version of "Freebird," it was played so often), this vocal triumverate delivers arguably the best trio singing of the era.

And the picking! Rice gives a nice sampling of his guitar wizardtry throughout. Skaggs, of course, can hang with the best of them on a number of instruments, while Crowe, at least at that time, was far and away the best of the post-Scruggs style banjoists. Add to these guys a youngster by the name of Jerry Douglas, who merely re-invented resonator guitar (or "Dobro") stylings as we know them today - talk about a bluegrass dream team!

This is the only CD that this version of The New South ever recorded - it would have been impossible to keep this wealth of talent together - and certainly deserves the "Essential Recording" status it enjoys at Amazon.com and from virtually any other "Greatest" bluegrass list out there.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History was made on these tracks., December 16, 2000

By 

Mark J. Fowler "Let's Play Two!" (Jacksonville, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: J.D. Crowe & The New South (Audio CD)

J.D. Crowe had been off on his own for only awhile, but was already legendary in Bluegrass circles since his work as a teenaged banjo gunslinger with Jimmy Martin on tracks like "Train 45" and "Cripple Creek". Ricky Skaggs was also young, but as a teenager with Keith Whitley he had already developed the soulful tenor, staccato mandolin and fluid fiddle lines that would lead him to superstardom. Jerry Douglas was an unknown teenager, but showed the seeds which would make him the undisputed MASTER of his instrument. Tony Rice had replaced the legendary Dan Crary in the Bluegrass Alliance, then joined his brother Larry with an earlier version of J.D.'s band. During his "spare time" in Louisville with J.D. he was working out the most devastating acoustic guitar technique in the world, and he began to unleash it on this album. Tony's soulful lead vocals were a departure from the nasal "high lonesome" sounds that had dominated bluegrass for 50 years. The trio of Tony with Ricky's searing tenor and J.D.'s laser-accurate baritone made chorus's which affect how bluegrass is sung to this day, and if you don't think so, ask Alison Krauss or Dan Tyminski. The material is traditional AND original, respectful of past traditions AND chomping at the bit to break new ground. The performances are unsurpassed. It would not be difficult to argue that this is the best and most influential bluegrass album ever, but it is not important whether it is "the best" or not. It is only important that if you have ANY interest in bluegrass music, THIS recording is a "must have".