Whiskey Women & Death

Earl Brothers (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 16, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: CDBY
• ASIN: B000JO8QPI
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,258 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Earl Brothers, based out of San Francisco, CA, perform Original Mountain Bluegrass Music. The band's "less is more" approach to songwriting, singing, and musicianship will make you stop whatever you're doing and take notice. For those who remember the first time they heard the high-lonesome sound of Bill Monroe or the otherworldly harmonies of the Stanley Brothers, that same thrill of discovery is being created again by the Earl Brothers. Unlike other traditional bluegrass bands that seek to re-create the music of the original bluegrass masters, the Earl Brothers are blazing their own trail, extending the genre, while staying within the gritty tradition that started in the 1940s and 50s. Listeners are left with a mix of exhilaration and bewilderment upon their first exposure to this new-yet-old form of music. In the short time since the release of their third album, Moonshine (the eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2006's Troubles to Blame and 2004's Whiskey, Women & Death), The Earl Brothers have received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from music-lovers, festival promoters, radio DJs, and music journalists across the country and abroad. CD orders and radio requests have been tumbling in from such far-flung locales as Australia, Belgium, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and even New York City!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rustic, authentic bluegrass, November 25, 2008

By 

J. Mix "wallofsleeep" (wallofsleeep) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whiskey Women & Death (Audio CD)

If you're sick and tired of new "bluegrass" and yearn for that old-time mournful sound before bluegrass bands started sounding more and more like super-polished boy bands, this is for you. I am very selective about bluegrass. I like it rustic. I like it dark and troubled. Too bad this album is priced so high. It's worth it, though. There were weeks at a time when this was all I would listen to. It's good to drink to, by yourself, with friends, with that girl you're courting, driving through the country, the highway, the woods.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic - Buy it!, January 30, 2008

By 

T. Lalley (washington, d.c.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whiskey Women & Death (Audio CD)

I'm a pretty ardent bluegrass and old time music fan and this album is as good as it gets. It really captures the Earl Brothers at their best. The banjo playing is remarkably soulful and the singing - particularly the interaction between the high and low voices - is exceptional. I also love the themes of drinking, misery and lost love. The more mournful the better in my book. If you doubt how good this is, check out the reviews on cdbaby.com. Everybody raves about them. I listened to this disc obsessively. It's that good. Get it!

4.0 out of 5 stars Honky tonky bluegrass, August 26, 2011

By 

J. Ross "a-music_fan" (Roseburg, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whiskey Women & Death (Audio CD)

With the exception of the traditional "Cluck Ol' Hen" which has been arranged and adapted with new lyrics, the cuts on "Whiskey, Women & Death" are originals that showcase the Earl Brothers' brand of honky tonky bluegrass. While playing original material, the Earls arrange and play their music within the parameters of a dogmatic traditional style that shares banjo and mandolin breaks. While I miss hearing a fiddle in this context, a defining character of The Earl Brothers is that their guttural singing is some of the "lonesomest" around. At times, they have a unique edginess that sends chills up your spine. "Hard Times Down the Road," for example, speaks of cruising down town, drinking Governor's Train, listening to the radio, and meeting girls. "Whiskey Bound" states: "I had it coming/Sorrow I've found/Long neck bottles/And I'm whiskey bound." This is clearly a thematic concept album that focuses on some of vices of our society.

The Earl Brothers are John McKelvy (guitar), Robert Earl Davis (banjo), Steve Pottier (mandolin), and Pat Campbell (bass). Bobby and John sing the leads with a rustic, mountain sentience. Some of the cuts, like "Broken Motor," seem to indicate the singers have an affinity for a more Dylanesque bluegrass sound. Without any unnecessary flash, the band can also tear up a raucous original instrumental like "Mountain Rumpus." I can almost hear them chuckling in the background.

From Virginia, Bobby Earl took up banjo in the 60s and played weekly on the New Dominion Barn Dance with The Virginia Gentlemen. John McKelvy, from Florida, is a self-taught guitar picker who has been inspired by such disparate artists as Jimmy Martin and John Prine. Mandolinist Steve Pottier has played bass with Frank Wakefield, Johnson Mountain Boys, and Laurie Lewis. Pat Campbell has recorded with the Good Old Boys (on their 1975 "Pistol Packin' Mama" album with Don Reno, Chubby Wise, Frank Wakefield and David Nelson), as well as with John Herald of The Greenbriar Boys. Since the release of this album, Pat has moved on to other endeavors, and Josh Sidman is now the bass player with The Earl Brothers.

If these songs have any truth to them, I'm darn surprised that The Earl Brothers are still alive. After hearing their hard luck stories of boozing, cruising, rambling, gambling and womanizing, I'm left with a ecstatic feeling of relief that such misfortune is there's and not mine! (Joe Ross)