Classic Bluegrass, Vol. 2

Terrific music with lots of fiddle which I love. Good choices of songs. I love this CD --highly recommend it to bluegrass lovers or just music lovers.

pretty good oldtime bluegrass,I listen bluegrass music all the time so its nice to be able to listen to that music whenever,whereever.If you like bluegrass music the price is right.

It is just as the title states, Classic Bluegrass. This is a fun album that reminds me of time spent in the mountains listening to locals play the music of their childhood and culture.

Interesting collection, but it falls short of its predecessor, if for nothing else than the bewildering inclusion of selections that are not bluegrass at all. I know John Hartford is known for bluegrass, but "Miss Ferris" has no bluegrass characteristics. As for Doc Watson's "Sitting On Top Of The World," it should be classified as folk or even blues, two genres for which SF also does "Classic" anthologies. While "Sitting" has been done in the bluegrass idiom (by Jimmy Martin, in particular), this version is nothing of the kind, nor is Doc Watson known for playing bluegrass. Ditto Bob Everhart's "Renegade," which is straight-up country--even the bass line reminded me of classic Waylon Jennings.Look, I'm no purist, but bluegrass is a genre with clear characteristics and boundaries--probably THE genre with the MOST clear characteristics and boundaries, since it's actually a comparatively young genre, basically created by one man. For one thing, it's GROUP music, with tight, high harmonies and varied instrumentation, so a solo ditty with a fiddle or a guitar just ain't bluegrass. It might be GOOD, but it ain't bluegrass, so why is it on this CD? SF really had so little to choose from? It makes me wonder how much they know their stuff over there...

More great bluegrass selections culled from the massive Smithsonian-Folkways catalog. Famous performers (Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, The Country Gentlemen), not so famous performers (The Georgia Pals, Half and Half), classic oldies (THE GIRL BEHIND THE BAR, ROVING GAMBLER, FOGGY MOUNTAIN TOP), newer originals (CAROLINA IN THE PINES, MISS FERRIS) are all included. Doc Watson sings and plays a beautiful rendition of SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD, David and Billy Rae Johnson perform a hypnotic BLUE GRASS BREAKDOWN, and Eric Weissberg does an instrumental version of JESSE JAMES - all major highlights here for me. Bluegrass fans will be ecstatic with this release (the same can be said for Volume 1), and at this great price, it would be insane to pass it up. Highly recommended.