Track Listing

1. Hornpipe Medley: Sailor's/Durang's/Ricketts'/And Fisher's Hornpipe - Buddy Spicher
2. Give the Fiddler a Dram - Fiddlin' Red Herron
3. Lee Highway Blues - Chubby Wise
4. Twilight Waltz - Johnny Gimble
5. Ramona's Choice: Chinkapin/Angeline the Baker/Ragtime Annie - Ramona Jones
6. Limehouse Blues - Fiddlin' Red Herron
7. Wabash Cannonball - Benny Martin
8. Fat Boy Rag - Johnny Gimble
9. Leather Britches - Mike Hartgrove, Don Parmley
10. Peacock Rag - Lester Flatt, Clarence "Tater" Tate
11. Dusty Miller - Paul Warren
12. Sunny Side of the Mountain - Buddy Spicher
13. Black and White Rag - Johnny Gimble
14. McMichen's Reel - Fiddlin' Red Herron
15. Sweet Bunch of Daisies - Benny Martin, Buddy Martin, Buddy Spicher
16. Grey Eagle - Paul Warren
17. Beaumont Rag - Johnny Gimble
18. Bonaparte Crossing the Alps - Ramona Jones
19. Arkansas Traveler - Fiddlin' Red Herron
20. Barefoot Fiddler - Johnny Gimble
21. Georgiana Moon - Benny Martin, Buddy Spicher
22. Scotland - Randall Collins, Jerry Moore, Pinnacle Boys
23. Soldier's Joy - Benny Martin
24. Jole Blon' - Johnny Gimble
25. Fire on the Mountain - Fiddlin' Red Herron
26. New Five Cents - Paul Warren
27. Forked Deer - Wynn Osborne, Buddy Spicher
28. Sweet Georgia Brown - Fiddlin' Red Herron

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #183746 in Music
• Released on: 1995-04-16
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

TOP-NOTCH FIDDLE!
If you are looking to study the wide range of traditional American fiddlers' abilities, you could start right here. There are 28 tracks of just about every genre appropriate for fiddlin'. It isn't all country or all bluegrass - aside from the fiddle and banjo combinations, there are also old Western swing pieces from the 1930's, as well as jazz pieces such as Ben Bernie's SWEET GEORGIA BROWN and Fletcher Henderson's LIMEHOUSE BLUES, both smoothly delivered by Fiddlin' Red Herron. My favorites: the Paul Warren tracks, where his artistry gives him away - Warren was the lead fiddler with Flatt and Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys from 1954-1969. His best piece here is GREY EAGLE, difficult to perform for any fiddler but put right out there by Warren. (Warren made the most famous recording of "Orange Blossom Special", an absolutely flawless performance that that was released only once, on the Flatt & Scruggs 1972 album "The World of Flatt & Scruggs"). But I digress - Listen to him right here on 3 tracks, and don't overlook the single piece with incredible banjo player Wynn Osborne (whose trademark renditions of "Foggy Mountain Breakbown" are unsurpassed to this day). Osborne picks alongside fiddler Buddy Spicher on Track 27, in a piece derived from Native American song, FORKED DEER, a very unique old, haunting tune. Since this compilation includes pieces that go far back beyond bluegrass, it is a good course in American traditional fiddling, most enjoyable.

good overview
The fiddling on this album is top notch. However it covers a range of styles performed mostly by little known players so if you are expecting a purely bluegrass or country album you may be dissapointed. There are also western swing tracks and rags and a fun "story" track where the performer mixes playing and sound imitations (train, dog etc.). As an introduction to different popular American fiddle styles the cd does a good job and I also value hearing the playing of people (most now deceased) who were good entertainers and respected musicians but who never became widely known.