For those who don't listen to bluegrass after 1970, and think it ain't done right today!

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Other groups besides the major bands

From KI4PRK on 9/24/2011 10:59:03 AM

Undoubtedly, anyone in this group knows of what might be called "The Big Three" of "traditional" bluegrass: Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys, and The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys. Maybe if you're a little more into it, you might know other classic bands such as Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys,  Reno & Smiley & The Tennessee Cut-Ups, or the great earlier Osborne Brothers' sides. But there's a lot of other fantastic "traditional" bands of varying degrees of fame.

Undoubtedly, I will leave some great bands out, but here (excluding the above previously mentioned names) are some great old bands:

The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (featured in the group picture)

The Church Brothers

Lilly Brothers

The Stoneman Family

Mac Wiseman

The Murphy Brothers & The Blue River Boys (Joe Medford on banjo; boy was he great! Also played on Mac's first four solo sides, and a couple of Charlie Monroe sides)

Buzz Busby & The Bayou Boys

Carl Story & The Rambling Mountaineers

Jim & Jesse & The Virginia Boys

Jim Eanes (had various bands. Some of his recordings are not so bluegrassy, but all are good country music and most have banjo picking)

Red Allen

Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners (To tell you the truth, I've never listened to his band post-Bill too much, but the 2 sides I've heard with Joe Medford playing some true Scruggs-style banjo certainly qualify as bluegrass to me!)

Charlie Moore (with Bill Napier, or by himself with his own band. Some of his very best stuff comes from later on, in the 70's and 80's)

Great bands without banjo (I only seperate them for the purists who say that bluegrass has to have a banjo)

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper (A great band that I've neglected to listen to too much. Therefore I can't quite remember whether or not some of their sides had banjo or not?)

Molly O'Day

Paul & Roy & The Tennessee River Boys

Well, I'm sure I've left out plenty of bands (especially in the second category!). There are several I've heard that I can't remember the names of :P One example is a great band that in the late 1950's recorded a few sides for RCA Victor; they never made it big but they sure were great! Anyone know who I'm talking about?

Also, I'm not so narrow minded that I REFUSE to listen to recordings after the random year of 1970; some of the listed bands (Like Red Allen or Buzz Busby) recorded awesome stuff after that date. It's just that the 40's, 50's, and 60's hold the vast majority of all the bluegrass recordings I like, and almost every thing I like recorded after '70 sounds like it was from that era ('39 to ca. 1970).

Please post some other old bands! I'm always looking for new stuff to listen to!

73, Brennen

2 Comments
	FatManMary says: 7/18/2012 11:05:20 AM Some of my favorites that you missed were Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys, Vern & Ray (in turn Vern Williams) & the Goins Brothers, of course if you listen to LPF you know the Goins.
	Matteo says: 10/16/2013 2:24:22 PM Some more groups that deserves mention: - Bailey Brothers & Happy Valley Boys: pioneering bluegrass group recording as early as 1947. Wiley Birchfield, Hoke Jenkins, Johnnie Whisnant and Larry Mathis (some of my all-time favorites) all played banjo with them at a point. - Connie & Babe and the Backwood Boys: Great 50s group that featured Joe Drumwright's fine banjo work. - The Sauceman Brothers & Green Valley Boys: great brother duet that incorporated bluegrass instrumentation. Joe Stuart, Thomas Martin, Wiley Birchfield and Buddy Rose (in the 60s) played banjo with 'em. Also Don McHan. - Dave Woolum & Laurel County Partners (with Noah Crase) - Buster Pack & Lonesome Pine Boys - The Country Pardners Anyway yeah...guess that's my kind of group :)
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