Mercury Records Collection: MG-20358: Country Music

MG-20358: Country Music / Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs with the Foggy Mountain Boys

Label Type :	black Mercury type A
Matrix Number :	SIDE-A	MG-20358A M2 FF
	SIDE-B	MG-20358B M2 FF

Comments

Jacket cover has small taped seams on the back, otherwise beautiful.

Although the label and the cover don't have any "re-issue" signs, matrix number (and the included inner-sleeve) may suggest that this copy was 2nd pressing in the early 1960s.

Inside The Groove

A nice bluegrass album by legendary players.

Personal Impression (and brief notes)

Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt were the members of legendary Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, the originator of Bluegrass music. Especially Earl Scruggs's banjo play definitely set the road - his way of playing banjo was a magic, and a masterpiece.

This album, a compilation of the legendary materials recorded in the 1950s, captures legitimate bluegrass style, which originated in Bill Monroe's band. Very swingy, cool, happy-to-listen-to, great ensemble.

Strictly Personal Rating (to what extent I could enjoy this album)

9 out of 10

Track Listing

SIDE-A
A-1	7062	Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms (C. Monroe)	2:35
A-2	7064	Farewell Blues (Schoebel - Mares - Roppelo)	2:21
A-3	7057	Doin' My Time (Skinner)	2:35
A-4	2031	God Loves His Children (Flatt & Scruggs)	-
A-5	2609	Down The Road (Flatt & Scruggs)	2:38
A-6	7058	Pike Country Breakdown (R. Jones)	-
SIDE-B
B-1	7065	Salty Dog Blues (Wiley & Zeke Morris)	2:30
B-2	2033	We'll Meet Again Sweetheart (Flatt & Scruggs)	2:35
B-3	2665	Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Earl Scruggs)	2:37
B-4	2034	My Cabin In Caroline (Flatt & Scruggs)	2:32
B-5	7068	I'll Just Pretend (Jessie Mae Martin)	2:30
B-6	7060	Preachin', Prayin', Singin' (E. C. McCarty)	-

Personnel

Personnel/recorded date/master numbers confirmed with the Ruppli's discography.
(“The Mercury Labels - A Discography” by Ruppli and Novitsky, Greenwood Press, 1993)

The personnel information was double-checked with the liner-notes of “The Complete Mercury Recordings” (Mercury 088 170 374-2).

A-4:
Lester Flatt (g, vo), Mac Wiseman (g, vo), Earl Scruggs (g, vo), Howard Watts (b).
Recorded at WROL Studio, Knoxville, TN, in Autumn 1948.

B-2:
Same personnel/date/place as A-4, except Earl Scruggs (banjo), add Jim Shoemate (= Jim Shoemate) (fiddle).

B-4:
Same personnel/date/place as B-2, except Mac Wiseman (g).

A-5:
Lester Flatt (g, vo), Earl Scruggs (banjo), Art Wooten (fiddle), Curly Seckler (mandolin), Howard Watts (b).
Recorded in Cincinnati, OH, in April-May 1949.

B-3:
Lester Flatt (g, vo), Earl Scruggs (banjo), Benny Sims (fiddle), Curly Seckler (mandolin), Howard Watts (b).
Recorded in Cincinnati, OH, in December 11, 1949.

A-1, A-2, A-3, A-6, B-1, B-5, B-6:
Lester Flatt (g, vo), Earl Scruggs (banjo, vo), Benny Sims (fiddle, b, vo), Curly Secker (mandolin, vo), Jody Rainwater (b, mandolin).
Recorded at Radio WDAE Studio, Tampa, FL, in October 20, 1950