This is a great time for lovers of classic bluegrass. Rural Rhythm Records has released three more projects in their Heritage Collection, which is their series of reissues from their early catalog of LPs from the 1950s and ’60. Each re-release uses the original artwork from the LP as the CD cover art, and the liner notes as well.
Recently added are fabulous early releases from Hylo Brown, Red Smiley and The Blue Grass Cutups, and Mac Wiseman, offered as both audio CDs and digital downloads.
Hylo Brown & The Timberliners was first issued in 1967, after Brown had made a name for himself singing with Flatt & Scruggs during two stints with the band. It features 20 popular folk and bluegrass songs, with assistance from Jack Casey on guitar, Ross Branham on banjo, John Maultbay on fiddle, and Danny Milhon on reso-guitar.
Tracks include:
Picture From Life’s Other Side
Little Bunch Of Roses
Great Historical Bum
Banjo Signal
Bring A Little Water Sylvie
Blue Tail Fly
Weeping Willow
Wednesday Night Waltz
Ground Hog
Lonesome Road Blues
The Picture On The Wall
Left My Gal In The Mountains
Sweet Fern
Banjo On The Mountain
Same Old Tale
Brown Eyes
Walking Cane
Five String Rock
Handsome Molly
The Hobo Sweetheart
Also from ’67 comes Red Smiley and The Blue Grass Cutups, with Red and one of his classic lineups. Billy Edwards is on banjo, Tater Tate on fiddle, Gene Burris on mandolin, and John Palmer on bass. It’s the first of three Rural Rhythm albums Smiley recorded for the label after he and Don Reno split up, and among the final projects he cut before he passed away in 1972 at only 47 years of age.
Track listing follows:
Roll On Buddy
Summertime Is Past And Gone
Big Sandy
Take This Hammer
Wreck Of The Old No. 9
Let The Church Roll On
Short Life Of Trouble
Shady Grove
Little Maggie
900 Miles
Silver Bells
Oh! Mona
Tupelo County Jail
Black Eyed Susan
Fallen Leaf
Something Got Hold Of Me
Little Birdie
In The Pines
Darlin’ Corey
Working On A Building
Somebody Touched Me
Mac Wiseman Sings Old Time Country Favorites is just as the title suggests. It’s Mac with an understated rhythm section laying down 21 songs that would have been familiar to just about everyone when the LP first released in 1966. Mac’s voice is out front, with only rhythm guitar and Dobro accompaniment. This album came during an extremely productive time for Wiseman, during which he cut 56 sides in roughly 30 days. Mac’s fans will love this collection.
Track listing follows:
I Saw Your Face In The Moon
More Pretty Girls Than One
The Georgia Mail
Mary Of The Wild Moor
Wreck Of The Old ’97
Little Mohee
How Many Biscuits Can You Eat
Sittin’ On Top Of The World
Rovin’ Gambler
Corina Corina
Little Blossom
Just Over In Gloryland
Grandfather’s Clock
Turkey In The Straw
The Waltz You Saved For Me
I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight
Midnight Special
When They Ring Those Golden Bells
The Black Sheep
Sourwood Mountain
Wildwood Flower
As the saying goes, no bluegrass education is complete without an understanding of the music of the 1960s, and these three CDs offer a nice glimpse of the time. Rural Rhythm offers them at a budget price of only $6.00 online.
Radio programmers can find them all at Airplay Direct.
In keeping with their commitment to continue re-releasing quality recordings from their deep archives of classic bluegrass, Rural Rhythm Records has announced three more digital titles in its Heritage Collection. Included are resurrected titles from the late 1960s by Jim Eanes, Hylo Brown, and Earl Taylor & Jim McCall.
And just like the earlier editions in the Heritage Collection, these re-releases reproduce the original cover art from the original LPs in the CD packaging, offered on the Rural Rhythm site at discount pricing.
Kentuckian Frank Brown picked up the nickname Hylo because of his tremendous vocal range, and his ability to sing both high and low. He worked as a singer with a number of popular groups in the 1950s and ’60s, including Flatt & Scruggs.
His album, 20 Old-Time Favorites, was recorded in 1967 with the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys: Roy Ross on mandolin, Dale Brotheingon on banjo, Charlie Ross on bass, and Sid Campbell on reso-guitar. Hylo sings and plays guitar.
The songs chosen for this record were drawn from the many older folk and mountains songs becoming popular during the ’60s folk boom, like Frankie And Johnnie, The Intoxicated Rat, Darling Nelly Across The Sea, Trouble In Mind, and many others. Lee Sutton produced.
Similarly, Blue Grass Favorites from Earl Taylor & Jim McCall was recorded in 1967, and features 20 songs well-known to the bluegrass audience of the time. McCall played guitar with Taylor on mandolin, and Vernon McIntyre on banjo, Moon Mullins on fiddle, and “Boatwhistle” McIntyre on bass.
The songs are typically sung as duets between Taylor and McCall, and was produced by Lou Ukleson.
Selections consist of true favorites like Little Maggie, Cripple Creek, John Hary, Pretty Polly, Wondering Boy, Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms, and Old Joe Clark among others.
Singer and songwriter Jim Eanes also got his start performing as a featured vocalist with Flatt & Scruggs, and taking a job with Bill Monroe before launching a solo career in 1949.
By the time he cut Jim Eanes with Red Smiley & The Bluegrass Cut-Ups in 1968, he was well-established as a country and bluegrass artist, and a popular radio DJ in Virginia and West Virginia. The album was recorded with top Virginia pickers like Billy Edwards on banjo, Clarence “Tater” Tate on fiddle, Gene Burris on mandolin, John Palmer on bass, and Peggy Peterson on reso-guitar.
Getting to hear Eanes sing with Red Smiley is a real treat on another 20 numbers mixing new and classic songs. Jim includes Yum Yum Blues, I Ain’t Got Nobody, Time Changes Everything, Whistling’ Rufus, Sally Goodin, and several more.
These three re-issues are available on CD directly from Rural Rhythm, or wherever bluegrass discs are sold. You will also find them at top download sites like iTunes and Amazon.
Radio hosts can download the tracks at Airplay Direct.
Bluegrass pioneers Hylo Brown, J.E. Mainer and Mac Martin are the subjects of four new reissues in the Heritage Collection Series from Rural Rhythm Records. Since launching this line of archival recordings in 2013, the label has now brought nearly two dozen vintage LPs back in a digital format, with the original cover art and liner notes.
First up is Legends & Tall Tales from Hylo Brown, with 20 country, bluegrass, and mountain favorites. Originally released in 1967, it was the third of seven albums he had cut with Rural Rhythm after his very successful stint with Flatt & Scruggs which had led to a contract with Capitol Records.
From 1968 comes the fourth Rural Rhythm album from noted North Carolina fiddler J.E. Mainer and his Mountaineers. Titled Legendary J.E. Mainer, Volume 4, it contains 20 popular fiddle tunes from its time, recorded with Morris Herbert, Bill Deaton, Earl Cheek and Jerry Cheek.
Completing this batch of four reprints are a pair of records from Mac Martin & The Dixie Travelers. Mac, born William Colleran, the son of Irish immigrants, was a native of the Pittsburg area where he lived his entire life other than serving in the Pacific theater during WWII. He formed The Dixie Travelers in 1957 with Mike Carson and Billy Bryant.
With The Travelin’ Blues was their first Rural Rhythm release in 1968, and features 20 classic bluegrass instrumentals. Goin’ Down The Country came a year later, with 20 familiar old time, bluegrass, and folk songs with the same band.
All of these new reissues are available digitally from the usual sources, and on CD directly from the label. You can get more details on all the Heritage reprints online.
Due up next in the Heritage Collection are reissues from Earl Taylor & Jim McCall with The Stoney Mountain Boys, Jim Eanes with Red Smiley & The Blue Grass Cut-Ups, and Hylo Brown & The Blue Ridge Mountain Boys.
Further to our recent report regarding the establishment of Rural Rhythm’s Heritage Collection Series, we have confirmation of the release of two more CDs in the series.
The first two titles were released last week (September 24); one by Red Smiley & The Blue Grass Cut-Ups – Red Smiley & The Blue Grass Cut-Ups, originally released in 1967, and the other Curly Fox – Champion Fiddler, Volume One, originally released in 1972. Both of these albums are available on the CD format for the first time.
Additionally, two more titles are scheduled for release on October 22, namely Hylo Brown & the Timberliners, originally released in 1967, and Lee Moore – Sings Radio Favorites of Country Music, originally released in 1966. Neither of these titles was ever available previously on the CD album format.
Each of the four albums will be available, coincidentally, for digital download.
Also all four titles are currently accessible by DJ’s on AirPlay Direct:
DJ’s should receive all four titles in the mail very shortly.
The Rural Rhythm Heritage Collection Series is offered through eOne Distribution, and available wherever digital and physical CD music is sold.
The masters for this series stem from recordings made during the label’s first two decades after Uncle Jim O’Neal started Rural Rhythm Records in 1955.
Many legends and pioneers released albums during this period including Mac Wiseman, Don Reno & Bill Harrell, Red Smiley, Jim Eanes, Vassar Clements, J.E. Mainer, Earl Taylor & Jim McCall, Raymond Fairchildand many more.
Rural Rhythm Records has announced the launch of theHeritage Collection Series, which features material taken from the label’s archives, re-packaged in CD format. These so-called “classic album reissues” will help to keep traditional roots music alive and preserved for future generations.
The new archival series will include authentic old-time country, bluegrass, folk, country waltzes, fiddle tunes, and gospel music performed by many legends and pioneers of their chosen art, withmany albumsnever-before available on CD. All titles are mastered from the original master tapes and each release featuresthe original cover artwork.
In May Rural Rhythm Records announced its Rural Roots Digital Series,which was originally created to release the label’s “classic album reissues” in digital format only. After the release ofRed Smiley & the Blue Grass Cut-Ups, Red Smiley & the Blue Grass Cut-Ups, and Curly Fox, Champion Fiddler, Volume One, in the digital format, Rural Rhythm received a significant number of requests from bluegrass fans for the material to be made available in CD format.
These two albums were actually made available to program directors and DJs via AirPlayDirect, and both shot up the AirPlay Direct Monthly Bluegrass Chart. In addition, many media requests came in for the physical CD for airplay, articles and review purposes.
Rural Rhythm Records will continue releasing albums in the Rural Roots Digital Series, as well as releasing “classic albums” in the Rural Rhythm Heritage Collection Series thus making them available in both digital and physical formats.
The first two titles in the Rural Rhythm Heritage Collection Series will hit on September 24 with the CD release of Red Smiley & the Blue Grass Cut-Ups, Red Smiley & the Blue Grass Cut-Ups, originally released in 1967, and Curly Fox, Champion Fiddler, Volume One, originally released in 1972, being made available on the CD format for the first time.
During each ensuing month Rural Rhythm Records plans to release more titles in the Heritage Collection Series in both the physical CD and digital formats.
In October they will make availablethe self-titledHylo Brown & the Timberliners,originally released in 1967, and Lee Moore’s Sings Radio Favorites of Country Music, originally released in 1966. Neither of these titles has ever been available in the CD album format.
Many bluegrass music legends and pioneers released albums for Rural Rhythm Records during this period. They include Mac Wiseman, Hylo Brown, Don Reno & Bill Harrell, Red Smiley, Jim Eanes, Vassar Clements, J.E. Mainer, Earl Taylor & Jim McCall, Raymond Fairchild, and many more.
The Rural Rhythm Heritage Collection Series will be available through eOne Distribution, and can be purchased wherever CDs are sold. Some outlets are among those who advertise here at Bluegrass Today.
Forthcoming titles to the Rural Rhythm Heritage Collection Series include ….
Hylo Brown– Folk Songs of Rural America
Jim Eaneswith Red Smiley & The Blue Grass Cut-Ups
Jim Greer & the Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks– Stars of the WWVA Jamboree
J.E. Mainer with Red Smiley & the Blue Grass Cut-Ups– Legendary J.E. Mainer, Volume 3
Mac Martin & the Dixie Travelers– Travelin’ Blues (Instrumentals)
Dale Potterwith Shot Jackson and Jim Murphy– Hoe Down, Volume 1 (Instrumentals)
