Old Home Place - J.D. Crowe and the New South (1975)
J.D. Crowe (38 yrs) -- banjo, guitar on "Rock, Salt & Nails and baritone vocals
Jerry Douglas (19 yrs) -- dobro, guitar
Tony Rice (24 yrs) -- guitar and lead vocals
Ricky Skaggs (21 yrs) -- tenor vocals, fiddle, mandolin, violin and viola
Bobby Slone (39 yrs) -- bass, fiddle
J.D. Crowe became well known in bluegrass music in the mid-50's as part of Jimmy Martin's "Sunny Mountain Boys". In the late 60's he started gigging regularly in and around Lexington, Ky, featuring younger talent in his bands. By the mid 70's he had pulled in two of the hottest young talents in bluegrass - Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice. By this point, at age 21, Skaggs already had a career many would be envious of (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Skaggs#Early_career), including playing with Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. Tony Rice hit the scene a couple of years earlier with the Bluegrass Alliance (along with Sam Bush) and was recognized as a top talent guitar player and singer.
This album created some controversy in the bluegrass world as it saw musicians primed for a great new traditional bluegrass project turn to contemporary songwriters for material and mix in an almost rock'n'roll vibe to some songs. It quickly became one of Rounder Records best sellers, ever. It was a short and precious moment in bluegrass history, though. By the next year, Skaggs (along with Douglas) would go on to form his own band, Boone Creek and Rice would move across the country to join up with the first incarnation of the David Grisman Quintet.
It seemed as though it represented a huge shift in bluegrass and caused people to take sides. Either you were down with where these boys were taking things, or you were not. Even though Donnie Rogers is not always known for taking a progressive stance, he was down. He made it over to the Holiday Inn in Lexington to see them live before the album was released. He left the campers and jam sessions in the fields of Masterson Station Park to head over to the main stage for their performance at the Festival of the Bluegrass. And, he spun the record on occasion in our living room. It was the sound that excited new blood bluegrass fans, my brothers included.
From our vantage point, here in 2017, in the world of WNCW's Saturday bluegrass ear assault radio, it is quite subtle. But, this song is really the perfect place to start. It is a song that is very much from the traditional bluegrass theme. Yet, you can hear this band on the first track of this album, poised to take off and leave that traditional bluegrass sound behind.
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