How Bluegrass Does Vitriol

So, this is bluegrass: sad, lonesome, even vitriolic lyrics (like this one) delivered with a joy that’s contagious and a driving rhythm (on top of the beat, please) that’s irresistible. Listen to the way the crowd responds to Del McCoury and David Grisman, and their version of Jimmy Martin’s “Dog Bite Your Hide”.

Don’t know who the fiddler is, since they're off camera, but that’s one tasty break.

BONUS: Bluegrass clapping school, done to perfection on the off beats.

“Teardrops In My Eyes” was a fixture in Red Allen’s repertoire, but I’m blogging this video with one message — a message that goes beyond Allen’s solid performance here — buy this CD!!!

In his way, David Grisman has functioned as the Mike Seeger of late 20th century bluegrass, recording, performing with, and promoting the work of brilliant musicians that the casual bluegrass fan may have missed.

This CD, “Home Is Where the Heart Is”, is no exception. For it, Grisman assembled three or four band’s worth of top-flight pickers, from The Nashville Bluegrass Band (the top-ranked band of the time) and Ricky Skaggs, to relatively-obscure, ace sidemen like Porter Church, who played banjo on some of Red Allen’s — and Bill Monroe’s  — best sides.

All in all, this is a worthy, 2-CD compilation that makes an excellent addition to the collection of any bluegrass fan.

How do you know when you’re in the presence of a brilliant singer? When he can put the hurt in every note of a song he didn’t write, and an experience he’s never had. The regret in Garcia’s voice is palpable, and do I detect an underlying note of shame?

In any case, Garcia and Grisman got this one just right. Here they are, live, covering The Stanley Brothers’ “The Fields Have Turned Brown”.