Customer Reviews

J.D. Crowe & the New South

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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

. . . 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.

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".

J.D. Crowe's New South has been a launching pad for many up and coming bluegrass artists. Through the years the makeup of the New South has changed but, it is this lineup that was the very best. Arguably, this could have been the best bluegrass band ever assembled. Crowe, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Bobby Slone and Jerry Douglas have captured the heart of bluegrass music on this album, the first for Crowe and his New South. This album tackles the traditional tunes with a subtle leg lock of contemporary style. Opening with the "Old Home Place", Rice shows his simple vocal style can shine even above an amazing banjo run by Crowe himself. Ricky Skaggs set the table for his future with his strong mandolin work and his tenor vocals, along with Crowe's baritone, walk hand in hand with Rice all the way. Skaggs also shows his diversity with his fiddle work on "Sally Goodin". Jerry Douglas was a mere pup as he recorded his dobro tracks. Even then, he kn! ew just how to place a dobro in a bluegrass song so that he was neither overpowering nor left behind. "Some Old Day" proves that Douglas has a feel for music that is unmatched by any other Dobro player in the world. With the bass, in my view, the absolute most important part of any music with which it is a part of, Bobby Slone shows he knows how to drive a rhythym. He is a solid foundation for all the stars to shine. "Rock Salt & Nails" is a haunting, yet amazingly beautiful tune that makes us long for the good old days when Tony Rice still had his voice. With Rice being the only guitarist on the album, we get a taste of what is to come in the future from him. He certainly takes a backseat to no one with his guitar, and with the cover of two Gordon Lightfoot tunes ("Ten Degrees", "You Are What I am"), Rice may have been trying to send us a message. This album grabs you with the very first note of "Old Home Place" an! d after toying with your emotions for eleven songs, it fina! lly lays you to rest with the traditional gospel tune "Cryin' Holy." What a band, what an album!!!

All too often, bands made up of big-name musicians don't work out that well (remember Blind Faith in the late 1960s?). The 1975 edition of the New South is a happy example of such a band that worked wonderfully. With J.D. Crowe as the leader and banjo picker, Tony Rice as the lead singer and guitarist, Ricky Skaggs on tenor vocal, mandolin, fiddle, and viola, and Jerry Douglas on dobro, this edition of the New South had four legendary performers (Bobby Slone is no slouch, either; he just isn't a legend). The result is one of the greatest bluegrass LPs (at the time) or CDs (now) ever, covering lots of ground, much of it previously unexplored.

Old Home Place starts out with J.D. playing the melody in a style thoroughly grounded in Earl Scruggs's playing, yet with a drive and invention that is J.D.'s own. Summer Wages, by Ian Tyson, is a moderately slow ballad from a songwriter in the folk, rather than bluegrass tradition, and it's a knockout, from Tony's singing to his tasteful guitar playing (even at age twenty-four, he understood that virtuosity doesn't consist of playing as many notes as you can) to Ricky's wonderful viola solo. Utah Phillips's mournful, waltz-tempo Rock Salt and Nails and a great version of Fats Domino's I'm Walkin' are two other examples of tunes that very few bluegrass bands would have tackled in 1975.

J.D.'s insistence on the highest levels of musicianship from everybody in the New South is legendary; he couldn't have asked for more than everybody displays here.

I could go on and on, but you'll understand a lot better if you buy the CD and listen.

One of the greatest blugrass recordings of one of the greatest bluegrass bands ever assembled. Skaggs' exuberant mandolin playing, Tony Rice's groundbreaking guitar licks, and tight vocals throughout. This recording rides that line between traditional and progressive bluegrass in a way that's so difficult to do with success. It's also a great historical point of reference within the incredible catalogs that Skaggs and Rice have put together. It belongs in every bluegrass fan's collection.

i beleive this album is arguably some of the best bluegrass ever recorded...not only does it consist of a superb lineup of musicians but its just an album that u can throw on from the begining and just let play without skipping a track...i beleive this is the best album with the seldom scene's "old train" a close second...i suggest listening to both of these albums

This is one of the more solid albums of any kind I have purchased. I believe it's now considered a bluegrass classic. Check it out!

The powerful voice and guitar playing combined with the unending talents of Crowe on the banjo make this CD timeless. No "true" bluegrass fan has a music collection without this one.

Among other things, this album is a great intro to bluegrass (thanks to its fuzzy edges, blending into newgrass) for folks who are new to it. The songs are front and center for this band, but the instruments and their blends are as tasty as it gets: this band COOKS. If you want to hear how alive J.D. is on the banjo, play this version of Sally Goodin a few times. Once they get rolling, he makes the old fiddle tune jump like it never has. Careful, though--if you don't play the banjo, you may run out and buy one!