Customer Reviews

Manzanita

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Back about the late '70s 7-up had an advertising slogan calling itself the "un-cola". Mandolin Minor Deity David Grisman adopted this slogan calling his instrument, the mandolin, the "un-banjo". The idea was that the heavenly genre we call "Bluegrass" was thought of as "hick" music outside of it's core practitioners and followers - hick music which was instantly identified by the ring of a banjo. Grisman's "Dawg" albums (almost all of which feature Tony Rice) and Rice's "SpaceGrass" albums all applied the "banjoless" approach to string music. (Except Grisman's "Dawg Grass/Dawg Jazz" which featured no less than Earl Scruggs on the "Dawg Grass" side.)

Manzanita is a land-mark album from the "unbanjo" era. It includes complicated and lightning fast "Dawg/SpaceGrass" instrumentals such as the title cut, inventive orchestrations of traditional fiddle tunes like "BlackBerry Blossom", insightful sparse arrangements of contemporary folk classics like "Old Train" and "Home From the Forest" and Bluegrass classics like "Hold Whatcha Got", all sans banjo. Tony's vocals are from the era when his voice was strongest and most passionate, and the harmonies are Everly-Brotherlike-Tight from Ricky Skaggs and others. The other instrumental gunslingers include Grisman, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas.

In the liner notes to "Cold on the Shoulder" - another brilliant Rice collection - Tony says that he considered COTS to be a follow-up to Manzanita. I recommend that album highly as well. The style is similar, differing only in that the "unbanjo" approach was abandoned with the appearance of 5-string wizard Bela Fleck. Bela adds banjo to the sequel to the "unbanjo" project.

This album is "desert island" material. When Allison Kraus won 4 CMA awards the year of her breakthrough album "Now That I've Found You" she specifically cited Rice and Skaggs as major influences in one of her acceptance speeches. Manzanita MUST have been one of those influential recordings.

Saying that Tony Rice is "one of the best bluegrass guitarists around" is like saying that Coke sells a popular soft drink. Tony Rice is one of those rare musicians whose gift is so spectacular that he transcends categories. Though this is not Ralph Stanley-style bluegrass, if you like bluegrass you'll like it. Even if you don't, get it if you would like the tightest acoustic music ever, accompanied by his fantastic (and now sorely-missed) baritone vocals. If you think Nickel Creek and Union Station are good (they are), get Tony's CD's to hear how the ground was broken and standards were set for "new acoustic" music.

The first time I heard Tony Rice was 1987 at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. The crowd kept asking him to play Manzanita. Once he played it I was hooked. It took me about a year to find the album. It goes everywhere with me. A great combination of songs and talent, this is by far my favorite collection of his work. The collaboration of Ricky Skaggs and David Grisman enhance Rice's superb guitar talent. Every time I listen to the first few notes of Old Train, I still get chills. The intro is so clean and crisp, no one, in my opinion, comes close to Rice's talent. The album is a fabulous collection of vocal and instrumental pieces, and if you like the songs of Gordon Lighfoot, you will love the arrangement of Home from the Forest.

This is one of the greatest albums of all time.
Among the players are Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Ricky Skaggs, David Grisman and a few more plus the super guitar work and great vocals by Tony Rice.
Great selection of songs, this is one of my top 10 albums.
A must have.

This 1978 album is one of the best distillations of the '70s "new grass" scene... At the time, guitarist Tony Rice was still a member of the David Grisman Quintet; Grisman and other prominent newgrassers such as Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas pitch in on this set of reinterpeted classics and bluegrassed-up ballads (including a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Home From The Forest"). It's a gorgeously melodic, bouncy album, with a few elegant instrumentals and a slew of songs that are a lot of fun to sing or pick along to. Highly recommended!

Tony Rice is the same to bluegrass guitar as Hendrix was to rock guitar or Charlie Parker was to jazz saxophone. An innovator. A genious. I cannot recall hearing more talent in any bluegrass album I've ever heard. Scaggs, Grisman, and Rice all in the same band? Whoa! This is the ULTIMATE bluegrass cd. The ULTIMATE. I don't even need to go over the songs one by one because every single one is true perfection. Rice plays so fluidly, never missing a note, I am floored every time I listen to this cd. Five Stars.

This album must have blown the bluegrass scene out of the water when it was released in 1979. It is often cited as a major influence by bluegrass musicians and one listen will tell you why. Manzanita is perfect. Not only is Tony performing at his finest, but you'll be rubbing your eyes with dibelief at the members of the original Tony Rice Unit, which includes, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, David Grisman, and, no surprises here, Jerry Douglass.

For people used to listening to more recently recorded bluegrass, Manzanita may sound somewhat traditional. But in its time, it was breakthrough. To start with there is no banjo. And the title track was like nothing ever heard before, at least not nestled amongst such classics as Nine Pound Hammer and Little Sadie. And it works. Manzanita is a complete vision. Every listen will take you on a new journey, with twists and turns you didn't realize were there the last time you listened.

So jump on board, hold tight to the railings, close your eyes, and take the bluegrass ride of your life.

This is one of the best cd's I have ever heard, simply put, Tony Rice is to the guitar world as Elvis is to Rock, THE KING!

I've had this album forever. It's what got me into acoustic music. The band is made up of the all-stars of acoustic/traditional music. This disk is worth the price, just for the picture of Ricky Skaggs on the back. He looks like he's 15! One guitar magazine had a cover story on Tony Rice years ago with the title "Super-Picker on Overdrive", which may actually be an understatement. On both original songs, and re-arrangements of traditional songs this group has it all. Tone, technique, style, class, and some of the best bluegrass vocals you will ever hear. What more do you want?

Tony Rice is without question the most influential flatpicker alive. I heard a famous rock guitarist say of Eddie Van Halen that he was influential, and everyone either wanted to play just like him or had to work hard to play DIFFERENT. The same can't be said of Rice. EVERY flat-picker wants to get that lustrous woody tone, that blistering fiery speed, those IMPOSSIBLY twisted notes. All you need to know about his singing is that on the half dozen albums or so he has done with Ricky Skaggs, Skaggs sings harmony... Surround that talent with Skaggs, Bush, Grisman, etc. and you have the ONE CD I'd take with me to a deserted island. He's the Michael Jordan of this music.