“Otherworldly” is not an adjective I’ve ever applied to a bluegrass
record, but if ever a bluegrass record deserved to be called
otherworldly, it’s this one. Stranger still is that it’s sung by two of
the least otherworldly singers you could name – Bill Monroe and Jimmy
Martin, along with banjoist Rudy Lyle. In fact, that’s young Jimmy
Martin playing the guitar in the video still.
A few people have tried
to cover this number, with no success whatsoever. They only succeed in
pulling it down to earth when it needs to float up and away, as it does
in the opening credits of the bluegrass documentary, “High Lonesome”.
That opening sequence sends chills up my spine every time I hear it.
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