# General Mandolin Topics > General Mandolin Discussions >  Best Bluegrass Albums Ever

## rnice

With my recent addition of a mandolin to the home, I'm discovering the Bluegrass music is great. Not a revelation to this crowd. 

So, umm, I've been just letting Pandora find good stuff for me so far, but I wanted to know what the real pillar-albums are for bluegrass.

For example, if someone came up to me and asked me the best alternative rock album from the 90's, I'd gladly point them to Radiohead Ok Computer. Or folk fusion I'd say Paul Simon's Rythm of the Saints. So, quality not necessarily commerical impact, is what I'm driving at.

Thanks - this'll be good to know. I look forward to digging through and discovering some good stuff.

----------

RustyMadd

----------


## mdlorenz

There's too too many to list!

Tony Rice - Manzanita (see other thread about this album) 
Grisman Quintet - Rounder album / DGQ / Hot Dawg
Skaggs - Honoring the fathers
Hartford - Steam powered aeroplain
Bela Fleck - Drive / Bluegrass Sessions: Tales form acoustic planet
Bill Monroe - anything
Bluegrass album band - Everything
Flatt & Scruggs - Live at Carnegie Hall
Hot Rize - Hot Rize

----------


## AlanN

Yes, far too many to list straight up. Maybe best to chunk it up:

Early bg/pioneers
2nd Generation bg
Oldtime bg
Trad bg
Newgrass
Mostly instrumental bg

Within each category, there are literally dozens and dozens of recordings, from well-known and obscure bands alike. To get started, simply peruse this here website, you'll find many, many suggestions.

----------

treidm

----------


## Charley wild

> Yes, far too many to list straight up. Maybe best to chunk it up:
> 
> Early bg/pioneers
> 2nd Generation bg
> Oldtime bg
> Trad bg
> Newgrass
> Mostly instrumental bg
> 
> Within each category, there are literally dozens and dozens of recordings, from well-known and obscure bands alike. To get started, simply peruse this here website, you'll find many, many suggestions.


This approach gets my vote.

----------


## Steve Perry

Start with the Bluegrass Album Band... any and all.  Traditional Bluegrass songs done by master musicians with modern recording techniques.  Work your way backwards, forwards, and sideways from there.

----------


## Denny Gies

All of Bill Monroe, The Dreadful Snakes, David Grisman's "Home Is Where The Heart Is", Bluegrass Album Band -Vol.1, early Flatt and Scruggs and almost anything the Stanley Brothers did.  Have fun.

----------


## EdSherry

For those just starting out listening to BG music, I often recommend three compilations:  the Time-Life BG sets and Appalachain Stomp Vols. I and II.   

http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-St...1364673&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-St...1364990&sr=1-2

(Currently out of print, but readily available used.)

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Time...e/610583022322

(Lots of overlap between this and similar stuff from T-L and the "Appalachain Stomp" sets.)

Good versions of "the standards" by many of the leading lights in the field.  You can get a sense of whose music appeals to you (though give it some time -- it took me MANY years to fully appreciate Bill Monroe).  

I also like the "Hand Picked" compilation on Rounder:

http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Picked-Ye...ref=pd_sim_m_6

----------


## red7flag

JD Crowe and the New South Rounder 0044 (Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Ricky Skaggs)
Early Tony Rice albums have much the same sound.
First IIIrd Tyme Out cd (Alan Bibey is simply stunning)
Seldom Scene Live at the Cellar Door
Ralph Stanley Live in Japan (Has Roy Lee Centers as lead, has that Stanley Bros sound on vocals)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Was what turned me onto banjo, Earl on side three was awesome)

----------


## MandoNicity

> There's too too many to list!
> 
> Tony Rice - Manzanita (see other thread about this album) 
> Grisman Quintet - Rounder album / DGQ / Hot Dawg
> Skaggs - Honoring the fathers
> Hartford - Steam powered aeroplain
> Bela Fleck - Drive / Bluegrass Sessions: Tales form acoustic planet
> Bill Monroe - anything
> Bluegrass album band - Everything
> ...


There's so much good music out there of all stripes, but I like this list.  In particular make sure you get "Drive", by Bela Fleck, one of the best darn BG albums ever!

----------


## Mandolin Mick

I'd say buy collections of the Fathers of Bluegrass, i.e., Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Bros., Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Carl Story & his Rambling Mountaineers, etc.

That way you'll hear the standards of the genre of Bluegrass that make it the great music that it is.

----------


## big smiley guy

Rounder 0044 (as already stated) seems to be a good starting point.  I like Del and the Boys by Del McCoury, Billy Martin, Tony Rice, Bill Monroe and some Hot Rize.  I'm not a fan of newgrass, jamgrass or much current bluegrass so I tend more towards the traditional.  I'm a big fan of Norman Blake and the Louvin Brothers as well but I don't think they qualify as bluegrass.  I should say that the term bluegrass has a much looser interpretation where my family is from in 'Bama than it does in the Virginia/North Carolina region.

----------


## wsugai

"419 West Main" - Red Cravens & the Bray Brothers.

Don't know if it's the best, but I've always ended up listening to it over the others that I have.

----------

Spencer

----------


## John Hill

Wow...great ideas here. Too many to list and some surely will be left off. I'd say start with the Father of BG: Monroe, throw in any album by The Bluegrass Album Band and I concur with "Home Is Where The Heart Is" by Grisman. I love Grisman's playing of straight ahead bluegrass.

----------


## re simmers

First, everything that Bill Monroe did with Earl Scruggs & Lester Flatt.

Then, The Bluegrass Album Band, all 6 projects.

Bob

----------


## MandoNicity

A couple more "Must" listen to's:  Seldom Scene -  Live at the Cellar Door
                                             Country Gentlemen - New Look New Sound
                                             Red Allen and the Kentuckians (with Frank Wakefield) - Bluegrass
                                             Jimmy Martin - This world is Not my Home
                                             Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - Best of the Sugar Hill Years
                                             Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza 

That should keep you busy for a while and give a mix of some of the best BG styles.

JR

----------


## Kool Keith

The two Bela Fleck albums:  Bluegrass Sessions and Drive.  Those are the two discs that made me want to play bluegrass music.

----------


## GVD

> ... I like Del and the Boys by Del McCoury, *Billy Martin*, Tony Rice, Bill Monroe and some Hot Rize...


Well Billy was a darn good baseball manager but I prefer *Jimmy Martin* when it comes to bluegrass   :Wink:

----------


## big smiley guy

You are correct - the King was Jimmy.  The Yankee was Billy - sometimes.  Billy Williams is my favorite songwriter...

----------


## wreded

There are some great suggestions here.  The first "Circle" album got me into bluegrass.  One of my particular favorites is the "Here Today" album with Grisman, Herb Pederson, Vince Gill, Jim Buchanan, & Emory Gordy, Jr.  Very traditional and "new" sounding at the same time.

----------

Spencer

----------


## mandolirius

Red Allen's County material, now available in one collection from County Sales. The greatest bluegrass singer of them all, imho.

----------

Glassweb, 

Mike Bunting

----------


## rnice

Thank very much!

I think I'll cruise around for used copies of Bela Fleck the the Blue Grass Album Band as a place to start. I'll come back to this thread for more good stuff after that has settled in.

----------


## banjer23

wow,,,I'd have to say,,JD's album,,rounder,0044,,Old Home Place,,every cut a classic,,,

----------


## Harrmob

Bluegrass 95 never got old the hundreds of times I listened to it. No singing, just awesome pickin.

----------


## Rex Hart

Lonesome River Band "Carrying the Tradition"
Blue Highway  "Midnight Storm"
Tony Rice  "Manzanita"
JD Crowe and the New South  #00044
Old and In The Way

These are some of the one's I keep coming back too that never get out of rotation very long.

----------


## Michael Lewis

With all the stresses and strains on keeping a good band together it is a small wonder that most have changed personnel over the years, and many very good bands that formed up and performed for years have gone asunder.  The Osborne Brothers, and the Johnson Mountain Boys are two very good examples of solid bluegrass that can send chills up your back or a tear from your eye.  I have a cassette of the JMB titled "Working close" that just gets better and better the more I hear it.

----------


## Grommet

Perhaps not as classic as some previously mentioned, but I really enjoyed Flatt and Scruggs Changing Times. It was sorta early bluegrass fusion, half Dylan, half other 60's tunes. Lester's nasal twang on Blowin in the wind was too cool. Earl's awesome picking is heard throughout. You gotta hear Lester Flatt sing Dylan's   Down in the Flood! 

Scott

----------


## EdLowe

Johnson Mountain Boys

"At the old school house"

This one always makes me smile!

----------


## Steelee

Hello and welcome

I tend to like "live" cd's.

The previous poster mentioned the Johnson Mountain Boys "Live at the Old Schoolhouse". It was their last performance before breaking up. The tune "Dream of a Miners Child", sung by Dudley Connell is about as good as it gets for me.

Also, Hot Rize was previously mentioned. Their cd which I can't remember the full title is subtitled "Live at the Boulder Theater". Great harmony and energy.

Finally, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder with "Live at the Charleston Theater". They perform a 9 minute instrumental of "Get Up John", with simply outstanding bluegrass musicianship.

Also, great previous posts - what a list!

Regards, Lee Oliver

----------


## red7flag

Although fringe to bluegrass, I love when Doc Watson is add to a grass jam.  His enthusiasm, energy and love for music shines through.  Examples are "Bill Monroe & Doc Watson" (more duet in nature), Blake and Rice 2 (Although not in the title, he's very much there), Ricky Skaggs "All Star Bluegrass Celebration", "Home is Where the Heart Is" (Grisman's all star jam",  Nitty Gritty Dirtband's classic "Will the Circle be Unbroken" and many more.  It is not by accident that he is invited to so many of these all star bluegrass events by the best in the business.  His albums, outside of the live ones, are very eclectic in nature.

----------


## lukmanohnz

> All of Bill Monroe, The Dreadful Snakes, David Grisman's "Home Is Where The Heart Is", Bluegrass Album Band -Vol.1, early Flatt and Scruggs and almost anything the Stanley Brothers did.  Have fun.


+1 for The Dreadful Snakes - just found a used copy of that CD. Wow!!

----------


## Cue Zephyr

I haven't heard nearly enough bluegrass to qualify for this.

But anyway, despite not being very traditional in the musical sense:
Strength in Numbers - Telluride Sessions

It was a supergroup that consisted of Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush, Mark O'Connor and Jerry Douglas.

I can't stop cranking the volume when I'm listening to this album.  :Grin:

----------


## Mike Bunting

The Johnson Mountain Boys were a powerful band. Live at the Birchmere is a good one to start with.

----------


## JeffD

> With my recent addition of a mandolin to the home, I'm discovering the Bluegrass music is great. Not a revelation to this crowd. 
> 
> So, umm, I've been just letting Pandora find good stuff for me so far, but I wanted to know what the real pillar-albums are for bluegrass..


If by pillar albums and best you mean the ones that most define the genre, you'll get one set of answers. If you mean most critically acclaimed, or favorite, you'll likely get different answers. 

In most cases you are going to get good answers, but I think you are looking for something only you can find.

----------


## Petrus

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, _Will the Circle Be Unbroken_ volumes 1 (1972), 2 (1990), and 3 (2002), which some purists may not accept as bluegrass but the set certainly contains bluegrass and is a heck of an achievement either way.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/will-t...n-mw0000193505

http://www.allmusic.com/album/will-t...2-mw0001971864

http://www.allmusic.com/album/will-t...3-mw0000225632

----------


## Herbm55

> With my recent addition of a mandolin to the home....I wanted to know what the real pillar-albums are for bluegrass........


That's a mighty big question.   :Smile:   From a mandolin perspective, I think a great album for listening to and contrasting different mandolin styles would have to be "Manzanita" by Tony Rice. You get Skaggs, Grisman, and Bush on one CD. (And no banjo)

Anything by the Bluegrass Album Band is great because it slightly more traditional, usually at a more approachable tempo and recorded wonderfully, starting with "Bluegrass Album Band Vol 1."   Hard to go wrong with Doyle Lawson! 

I also vote for Hot Rize "So Long of a Journey" for great mandolin playing and being easier to hear, with the band being four piece.

Lots of great suggestions already listed, too.  Anyway, have fun.   :Smile:

----------


## moiz123

<Removed by Moderator. You're gone. We don't like spammers here.>

----------


## RustyMadd

The Album Skaggs and Rice, The album with Thile and Daves "Sleep with One Eye Open Deluxe version", and the album by Sutton, Holt, and Coleman "Ready for the Times". There are hundreds of great bluegrass albums, it's so hard to choose 'seminal' albums.
Adam Steffey, Danny Roberts, Sierra Hull, Sam Bush, David Grisman, Tony Williams, Drew Matulich, Don Julin, Tim O'Brien, Mike Marshall, Jesse McReynolds, Jethro Burns, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stewart, Andy Statman, Ronnie McCoury, all put out so many great recordings. Good journey. Blessings

----------

