Legends of Bluegrass

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 31, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Time Life Records
• ASIN: B0002M5TI4
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,647 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Blue Moon of Kentucky - Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys

2. Old Salty Dog Blues - Earl Scruggs

3. Angel Band - The Stanley Brothers

4. Sophronie - Jimmy Martin

5. Roll Muddy River - The Osbourne Brothers

6. Wabash Cannonball - Mac Wiseman

7. A Voice from on High - The Stanley Brothers And The Clinch Mountain Boys

8. Uncle Pen - Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys

9. Doin' My Time - Earl Scruggs

10. Widow Maker - Jimmy Martin

11. Rocky Top - The Osborne Brothers

12. Shackles and Chains - Mac Wiseman

13. Nine Pound Hammer - Bill Monroe

14. Don't Give Your Heart to a Rambler - Jimmy Martin

15. I Long to See the Old Folks - The Stanley Brothers

16. Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Earl Scruggs

17. Walk Softly on My Heart - Bill Monroe

18. Sweet Thing - The Osborne Brothers

19. There's More Pretty Girls Than One - Jimmy Martin

20. Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die - Mac Wiseman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Compilation Featuring Bluegrass Pioneers, December 12, 2004

By 

Todd A. Gracyk (Petaluma, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legends of Bluegrass (Audio CD)

Of the many, many bluegrass compilations out there, this is one the better ones. Here are 20 tracks from 6 pioneers of bluegrass music: Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs; the Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, and the Osborne Brothers. There are 4 tracks by Monroe, 4 by Martin, and 3 each by the others, spanning the years 1949 to 1969.

There is a good balance of material here; tragic tales, laments for the old home, heart songs, a train song, a truck driving song, incarceration songs, inspirational songs, and an instrumental. There is a nice 8 page booklet here with notes by Eddie Dean. Release years are given and song credits are listed, but musician information is missing.

I'm sorry that Don Reno & Red Smiley and that Jim & Jesse are not included in this collection. Too bad that Monroe's seminal work with Flatt & Scruggs is missing and that the Osborne Brothers' seminal work with Martin and then with Red Allen is missing. I would have liked to have seen a couple of the Stanley Brothers' spookier numbers from the 1940s. But overall this is a carefully prepared, thoughtful collection of essential bluegrass music.