Search - Byron Berline, The Greenbriar Boys, The Dillards :: Bluegrass Breakdown [ Various Artists }

Incredible!!! Five Stars and three and a half more!!!

Charles Jackson | Ellettsville, IN | 04/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh to have been alive when this blessed event occured!! The cross section of musicians, acts and music on this disc is one of the most comprehensive representations of what The Newport Folk Music Festival was capable of producing one can ever imagine.



The side men alone listed here is like a who's who of the era:

A young Bill Kieth playing with an equaly youthful Byron Berline before they began picking with "Dad."

A 19 year old David Grisman with the vaunted New York City Ramblers shoulder to shoulder with Gene Lowinger and Winnie Winston.

Monroe on stage with not one but THREE fiddlers and some red-headed kid named Rowan.

John Herald's Greenbriar Boys cutting down on an old Delta blues tune turned on it's head and played bluegrass style followed by a Marty Robbins song complimented by some of the most tasteful muted banjo anyone could ever hope to hear.

Carter Stanley also proves what made him the worlds greatest emcee.

And of course no visit to this era would be complete without The Dillards.



If there is any complaint with this compilation it is two fold: One that it's not long enough, even at clocking in at a little over an hour. The other is that some of the crowd noise has been overdubbed and repeated throughout the disc. But if that's all anyone could find wrong I'll take three more just like it.



Order this disc. Do not hesitate."

The WWF of Bluegrass

Charles Jackson | 03/07/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These were the lean years of bluegrass, when only the REALLY talented and committed were willing to play for small audiences and smaller returns. Many survived by slipping in under the mantle of "folk music" and playing venues like Newport. Folk fans in those years heard the best of the best in bluegrass, and many of these are included here. This fine collection includes veterans like Monroe and the Stanleys when they were still at their peak musically as well as some of the earliest members of the new wave, like the Dillards and fiddler Berline. Own a piece of history!"