"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 12/2/2012

On Sunday's radio program, we celebrated "Josh Graves Day" in a big way, as there was lots of great music from "vintage" Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys.  Why so much Dobro music today?  Why not?  In September, the University of Illinois Press published a memoir by the late Burkett Howard "Uncle Josh" Graves (1927-2006) -- Bluegrass Bluesman.  The book is written in Josh's voice and drawn from different interviews he did over several years.  Fred Bartenstein -- the noted Bluegrass historian, DJ, performer, author, and promoter -- was charged with putting the book together, and he joined us via telephone on the show today as a special guest to talk about the process of editing the book, as well as to share several anecdotes about the life and musical career of Josh Graves.  If "Uncle Josh" hadn't played the Dobro, would it have become accepted as the "sixth Bluegrass instrument?"  That's probably open for some limited debate, but there's no questioning the fact that Josh Graves is considered the King of the Dobro to a whole lot of folks.  He was also a terrific songwriter, and we heard a few of those songs on  Sunday, including "Come Walk With Me," "Roustabout," "If You're Ever Gonna Love Me," and the Grammy Award-winning instrumental, "Fireball."  The life story of Josh Graves was fascinating -- check out the book, if you're able to do so.  Big thanks to Fred for joining us on today's show...

We also gave away a copy of Bluegrass Bluesman on the radio on Sunday.  If you didn't get a chance to win, but would still like to read the book -- and you really should want to read it if you have even the slightest interest in the history of Bluegrass music -- you're invited to visit Fred Bartenstein's website, or the University of Illinois Press website sometime soon.  If you're looking for gift ideas during this month of giving, this book might be a good option.  (Another possible gifting option for the BG lover in your life:  any or all of the 10 volumes of the "Flatt & Scruggs Show" released by the Country Music Hall of Fame over the last few years.  These shows mostly feature the core band of Flatt & Scruggs, as well as "Uncle Josh" Graves, Paul Warren on the fiddle, Curly Seckler on the mandolin, and "Cousin Jake" Tullock on the bass.  Great stuff, and essential viewing).

As it is December 2nd, we broke out a few Christmas tunes to play today.  There are so many Christmas-themed Bluegrass records now that it's hard to play all of them during the month of December.  In addition to older Christmas material from the likes of Tim O'Brien, the Stanley Brothers, Reno & Smiley, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, Rick Lang & Friends, and the Johnson Mountain Boys, we also played a tune from a 2012 Christmas release from North Carolina-based all-female band, Sweet Potato Pie.  Their Mountain Fever Records project is called "Home Grown Christmas."  Expect to hear more from this project during December.

While the concentration today was on the music of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs featuring Josh Graves, there was also music from a few newer recordings released during 2012.  Those projects came to us from Chris Brashear, Robert Hale, David Peterson, the Spinney Brothers, Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass, and Nu-Blu.  One brand-spanking new CD came from Darin & Brooke Aldridge, who have a new live recording on Mountain Home:  "Live At Red, White & Bluegrass" -- an annual festival held in Morganton, North Carolina.  


Hope you enjoyed the show, and please remember to tune in the Bluegrass Cafe again next Sunday when Jim will be with you for lots more of the best in BG.  

Amy



Requests are RED.

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• Randy Lynn Rag / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1952-1955 / JSP Records
• On My Mind / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1952-1955 / JSP Records
• Baby Quit That Noise / Uncle Josh & Cousin Jake / from live broadcast
• Just Joshin' / Josh Graves / Josh Graves / Rebel
• Making Plans / Tim O'Brien / Sugar Plums / Sugar Hill
• Christmas Is Near / Stanley Brothers / Christmas Time's A-Comin' / Time Life
• Christmas In Dixie / Sweet Potato Pie / Home Grown Christmas / Mountain Fever Records
• Jingle Bells / Reno & Smiley / Christmas Time's A-Comin' / Time Life
• If We Make It Through December / Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum / Winter's Grace / Dog Boy Records
• Tell All My Pickin' Friends Goodbye / Chris Brashear / Heart Of The Country / Dog Boy Records
• Waves Of Sorrow / Robert Hale / Pure & Simple / Pinecastle
• This Morning At Nine / Country Gentlemen / Folk Session Inside / Copper Creek
• Come Walk With Me / Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys / One Morning In May / Rounder
• Roustabout / Fred Pike, Sam Tidwell & the Kennebec Valley Boys / The Last Log Drive / Revonah
• If You're Ever Gonna Love Me / Kentucky Colonels / Livin' In The Past / Sierra
• A Hundred Years From Now / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1955-1959 / JSP Records
• **Conversation with Fred Bartenstein about Josh Graves & Bluegrass Bluesman**
• Foggy Mountain Rock / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Flatt & Scruggs At Carnegie Hall! / Koch Records
• Fireball / J.D. Crowe & the (Almost Original) New South / Bluegrass:  The World's Greatest Show / Sugar Hill
• Train 45 / Marty Stuart & the Fabulous Superlatives featuring Josh Graves / Live At The Ryman / Superlatone Records
• Lonely Ends Where Love Begins / Darin & Brooke Aldridge / Live At Red, White & Bluegrass / Mountain Home
• Making Plans / Darin & Brooke Aldridge / Live At Red, White & Bluegrass / Mountain Home
• The Season Of My Heart / Rick Lang & Friends / The Season Of My Heart / Haley Anna Music
• What A Wonderful Life / Spinney Brothers / Memories / Mountain Fever Records
• Hobo Bill's Last Ride / David Peterson / Simplicity / Self-Produced
• Open Up Your Heart / Terry Baucom with Gibson Brothers / In A Groove / John-Boy & Billy, Inc.
• Hard Rock Mountain Prison ('Til I Die) / Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out / Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out / Rural Rhythm
• Cotton Dice / Patuxent Partners / Seven Or Eleven / Patuxent Music
• That's What Country Folks Do / Lost & Found / Love, Lost & Found / Rebel
• Joy Bells / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1955-1959 / JSP Records
• I Heard My Mother Call My Name In Prayer / Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass / Road Into Town / Patuxent Music
• Man From Galilee / Nu-Blu / Nail By Nail / Pinecastle
• I Can Call Jesus / Lynn Morris Band / Mama's Hand / Rounder
• Lord, Don't Leave Me Here / Hagar's Mountain Boys / Forever Yours / Mountain Fever Records
• It Won't Be Long / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1952-1955 / JSP Records
• The Friendly Beasts / Johnson Mountain Boys / O Christmas Tree / Rounder
• Christmas Story / Nashville Bluegrass Band / Tinsel Tunes / Sugar Hill
• Gone Home / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Cuts, 1955-1959 / JSP Records
• Black Mountain Blues / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder