Customer Reviews

New Grass Revival

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

 

 

At one time I possessed every single New Grass album, and I have always felt this to be my favorite (with Barren County a close second). In freshness and originality the only thing that comes near it would be Aereoplane by John Hartford. I still listen to it all the time. There is a spirit in the songs on this record that I'm not sure they ever reached again on record (no problem with that - their musical and technical genius just got greater and greater over time). I wasn't around at the time, but I think it must capture the magic of the convergence of the traditional bluegrass and young hippy worlds that New Grass represented in the early days. Prince of Peace has always been my favorite song on the album, and Whisper My Name is one of those classic hard-driving why-in-the-hell won't you love me kind of songs. These songs will stir you to the deepest reaches of your heart, they have the rich rumbling drive that characterizes Tony Rice at his hottest, coupled with a youthful exuberance and idealism that just hasn't existed since the early seventies when this album was made. This record is a must for New Grass freaks as well as anyone interested in the history and evolution of bluegrass music.

It is ironic that this latest release on CD from the great New Grass Revival was actually recorded with the band's first line-up....the New Grass's founding members from the New Grass Alliance....Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, and Curtis Birch. This release causes some minor confusion in that the CD is simply entitled "New Grass Revival" ("Today's Bluegrass" by some references), which NGR fans will recognize as the name of a subsequent release introduced some 14 years later and recorded by a different NGR line-up with Sam Bush as the only musician to appear on both. Following this earlier "New Grass Revival" release, Ebo Walker left the band and was replaced by John Cowan. The line-up of Bush, Johnson, Birch, and now Cowan went on to release 5 more NGR albums before Birch and Johnson left the band. At that point, enter Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn, extraordinary players and writers who would help catapult the New Grass Revival to new horizons where the band would raise the bar to a new standard for bluegrass, or for a genre they created called "newgrass". The second of this band's four releases was also entitled "New Grass Revival". An Emmy nominated work originally released on Capitol in 1986 and rereleased on CD in 1994, it probably stands as their best ever and stills rivals anything coming out of Nashville today. Unfortunately, it, along with their last two albums, "Hold To A Dream" and "Friday Night In America", are now apparently out of print.

Now with history put in order, it should be mentioned that the first "New Grass Revival" release probably had even more impact on bluegrass than the latter. I would liken NGR's impact on the bluegrass scene in the 70's to the Beatles impact on rock'n roll in the 60's....the Fab 4 of Bluegrass! And, no one has ever equaled NGR either. Both groups somehow managed to split up while maintaining high popularity with the public demanding more. "New Grass Revival", initially released in 1972, must have knocked the country/bluegrass world on its ear....to see bluegrass musicians wearing long hair and incorporating rock, blues, jazz and other influences in their music was a concept that traditionalists were slow to tolerate. But the New Grass Revival was no ordinary band. They not only would put a twist on bluegrass, as they did with Jerry Lee's "Great Balls Of Fire", they were equally adept in their souped up delivery of traditional bluegrass numbers such as "Lonesome Fiddle Blues".

All the tunes on this album are very good. Preferring not to recognize any potential standouts, all of the tunes work together to create a musical statement....bluegrass on the cutting edge....the mark of the New Grass Revival. This is simply the first effort of its kind....to be cherished, a benchmark in the history of bluegrass and music. For us fans, the New Grass Revival has continued to fill, what would otherwise be, a musical void for almost thirty years now. Here's hoping that this great band will come together again to create and build upon their legacy.

This album displays some of the greatest stringed instrument virtuousity in recording history. However, the album does not reflect how much better this group sounded and played live.

This band changed my life.
Sam and Courtney, what a great combination.
A must have, I miss them so much.

NGR, as you can read almost everywhere, was a GREAT band, and this album is among their best -- they also have albums on Flying Fish and Sugar Hill that measure up to this one. The "Best of" is also excellent. This band gave Fleck the room to be the astonishing and thoughtful musician that he is, but also anchored him more strongly than his present band does (imho). Cowan is one of the premier voices in music regardless of genre. Sam Bush is remarkable, and Pat Flynn's guitar is excellent. If you can catch Bush and Cowan on tour -- DO IT. But buy this album.