Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Old Home Place - J.D. Crowe & the New South
2. Along About Daybreak - Joe Val
3. High on a Mountain - Del McCoury
4. Barrel of Fun - Country Cooking
5. West Virginia, My Home - Hazel Dickens
6. Blue Eyed Boston Boy - The Bluegrass Cardinals
7. Old Swinging Bridge - Ted Lundy
8. Golden Ring - Dry Branch Fire Squad
9. Things in Life - Don Stover
10. Last Old Shovel - Phyllis Boyens
11. Sourwood Mountain - Allen Shelton
12. When Someone Wants to Leave - Allen Brothers
13. I Ain't Broke (But I'm Badly Bent) - David Grisman
14. Take Me Back to Happy Valley - The Bailey Brothers
15. Home Is Where the Heart Is - Backwoods Boys, Connie & Babe
16. Drifting Too Far from the Shore - Boone Creek
17. Montana Cowboy - Hazel & Alice
18. At the End - Buzz Become a Buzz, Leon Morris
19. You Tried to Ruin My Name - Wilma Lee Cooper
20. I'll Be That Good Road Someday - Butch Robins
21. Crazy Creek - Bill Keith
22. When Springtime Comes Again - Vern Williams
23. Old Train - Tony Rice
24. Ragtime Annie - Byron Berline
25. Blue Days, Black Night - Tasty Licks
26. Model Church - The Bluegrass Album Band

Disc 2:

1. Leavin' - James King
2. Lonesome River - Here Today
3. Hard Hearted - Jim & Jesse
4. My Better Years - The Johnson Mountain Boys
5. Second Wind - Claire Lynch
6. New Faces in the Field - Illrd Tyme Out
7. New York Chimes - Tony Trischka
8. Is the Blue Moon Still Shining? - Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis
9. Flop Eared Mule - Mike Compton, David Grier
10. Every Time You Say Goodbye - Alison Krauss
11. Cold on the Shoulder - Tony Rice
12. Who's That Knocking at My Door? - Dreadful Snakes
13. Mr. Engineer - J.D. Crowe
14. You'll Get No More of Me - Lynn Morris
15. Every Humble Knee Must Bow - The Nashville Bluegrass Band
16. Mama's Hand - Hazel Dickens
17. Sleepy-Eyed John/Tom and Jerry - Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum
18. Whitewater - Béla Fleck
19. You're That Certain Someone - Warrior River Boys
20. I Feel the Blues Moving In - Del McCoury
21. When God Dips His Pen of Love in My Heart - The Cox Family
22. River of Jordan - Ricky Skaggs
23. We Believe in Happy Endings - Dry Branch Fire Squad

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25824 in Music
• Released on: 1995-09-19
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Amazon.com
Rounder compiled this superb 50-song set to serve as an introduction to bluegrass in general and to their own catalog in particular. Obvious marketing motives aside, the collection has few weaknesses and offers a broad look at the ever-morphing genre. Perhaps more than any other label, Rounder gave exposure to the renegade progressive and "newgrass" musicians who worshipped the style despite the fact that they weren't from the mountains. Folks like David Grisman, Bill Keith, Tony Trischka, and Bela Fleck push the music in new directions while others such as Del McCoury, Don Stover, James King, Jim & Jesse, and Vern Williams represent more-traditional concerns. Still others--Tony Rice, David Grier, J.D. Crowe, Nashville Bluegrass Band among them--adeptly fuse elements of tradition and innovation. This collection also highlights the important contributions of female artists including Hazel and Alice, Laurie Lewis, Claire Lynch, and Alison Krauss. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Excellent bluegrass sampler
Rounder have priced this very competitively, hoping that people who buy this will think it is so brilliant that they will buy some of the albums from which the tracks are taken. To encourage this, the extensive liner notes give all the relevant information required to track down whichever album contains your favorite tracks. But although you might end up spending more money on Rounder albums, this compilation stands on its own merit.

What you get here, are 49 tracks recorded for one of the most important - perhaps the most important - bluegrass labels around. (Of course, Rounder do a lot more than bluegrass, but that's not relevant here.) Bluegrass music is generally upbeat, good-time music and that is the overall feel of this collection.

Among the 49 tracks, every aspect of bluegrass music is represented from traditional to contemporary and including all types of song that you might find on a bluegrass album. With such notable artists as J D Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, Claire Lynch, Alison Krauss, David Grisman, Tony Rice, Jim and Jesse, Del McCoury, Hazel Dickens, the Johnson mountain boys, Lynn Morris and Laurie Lewis represented here, this is a star-studded line-up. And I didn't name all the stars.

Famous songs are notable by their absence although some songs here are better known than others. Drifting too far from the shore (Boone Creek) is a traditional gospel song. When someone wants to leave (Allen brothers) is a cover of a Dolly Parton song from her Jolene album. Golden ring (Dry branch fire squad) is a cover of one of the classic duets by George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Sourwood Mountain (Allen Shelton) is a cover of a traditional folk song.

As an introduction to bluegrass music, this is brilliant - it is one of the best there is for that purpose. Appalachian stomp (two volumes) and the various O sister compilations are other great alternatives.

+ 1/2 stars...Stellar Bluegrass Collection
Whether you like your bluegrass traditional, progressive or genre-bending; there is plenty to enjoy on this 49-track, two and a half hour collection from one of the most influential labels in bluegrass music.

This two-CD set reads like a who's who of bluegrass. JD Crowe, Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, David Grisman, Alison Krauss, Tony Trischka...the list goes on and on. And when you look at the price, this becomes a no-brainer. Enjoy! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Great introduction to bluegrass
I think this CD is absolutely the best buy for your dollar. On it are a variety of bluegrass songs, something for everyone. If you are, like me, not familiar with some of the band/performers names that you see in the music store, these CD's will help you decide which artists you like enough to buy the whole CD's. One of my favorites is Blue Eyed Boston Boy, just love the harmony and the fact that the instrumental portions of the song are sparse, letting you concentrate much more on the lyrics. River of Jordan has always been a favorite of mine, and there are several others. There are a few, but only a few, cuts on the CD's that are hard to listen too (some of the vocals) but the instrumental parts of the songs are amazingly done. Some of my very favorites: Ricky Skaggs, Lynn Morris, Laurie Lewis, Claire Lynch, Tony Rice and Allison Kraus are featured on these CD's. Really, it's a great introduction to bluegrass or a nice addition to any collection.