Search - Josh Graves :: Sultan of Slide

Josh Graves, Sultan of Slide

Paul W. Copeland | Greenville, North Carolina | 06/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sultan of Slide is easily the best thing "Josh" Graves has ever done. His playing has not diminished any since I first heard him 50 years ago; if anything, his playing is more soulful. This album is not strictly bluegrass; it has drums, steel guitar, electric lead guitar and piano on some of some of the cuts. He is ably backed up by some of the finest instrumentalists and singers in the business; Buddy Emmons on pedal steel and Vassar Clements and Glen Duncan on fiddle, and Jerry Douglas on Dobro, and The Whites, Marty Stuart, Porter Wagoner, Johnny Russell, and Delbert McClinton on vocals. The tune selection is outstanding, running the gamut from son Billy Troy's version of the Jimmie Rodgers classic "Carolina Sunshine Girl", Johnnie and Jack's "Down South in New Orleans" (with vocal by an exhuberant Delbert McClinton), Leon McAuliffe's "Panhandle Rag" with Vassar Clements and Buddy Emmons, to Johnny Russell's "Someday I'll Sober Up" - I love this mix of tunes, it shows his versatility and musicianship to great effect. This is a great album, both for those of us who are long-time "Josh" fans and those who may have just discovered him. Highly recommended."