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

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

The Artist Also Appears on...

related information

• The Flatt and Scruggs Preservation Society
• Show By Banjo: Hikaru's Home Page: About Bluegrass Music (in Japanese)