Country Gazette made America’s Bluegrass Band for Flying Fish in 1982 (FF 295). The band on the record was Joe Carr on guitar and mandolin, Alan Munde on banjo and guitar, Roland White on mandolin and guitar, and Bill Smith on bass, with White, Carr and Smith singing. Smith had come in during the spring of 1982 after Greg Kennedy, who filled the bass chair for a few months following Michael Anderson’s departure at the end of 1981. The album was recorded in Nashville and produced by the band with Herschel Freeman.
Three of the songs are by Bill Caswell: “Sweet Allis Chalmers,” “Stop Me” and “Sugar Mama.” Carr contributed “Living the Good Life,” and the program also includes Gib Guilbeau’s “Take a City Bride,” Bill Monroe’s “Molly and Tenbrooks,” and Don Reno’s “Charlotte Breakdown.” “Saro Jane” and “Darling Corey” are traditional. The last track is a Kentucky Colonels medley, a nod to the band Roland White played in before joining the Blue Grass Boys. It was taken from a live recording at Harry’s Mustache in Oregon City, Oregon, and features Kennedy on bass rather than Smith.
The band had been formed in 1971 by Byron Berline and Roger Bush. Joe Carr left in 1984 to teach in the bluegrass program at South Plains College.
Tracklist
- 1 Saro Jane Source Recording 2:36
- 2 The Virginia Boys 3:11
- 3 Love, Lost and Found 3:00
- 4 Don't Let Nobody Tie You Down 2:20
- 5 Sweet Allis Chalmers 3:25
- 6 You Can't Get the Hell Out of Taxas 2:31
- 7 Charlotte Breakdown 2:01
- 8 The Great Joe Bob (A Regional Tragedy) 3:56
- 9 Still Feeling Blue 2:08
- 10 Uncle Clooney Played the Banjo (But Mostly Out of Time) 2:49
- 11 Molly and Tenbrooks alt version 3:07
- 12 Kentucky Waltz alt version 3:15
- 13 Blue Light 3:06
- 14 Tallahassee 3:52
- 15 Highland Dream 3:12
- 16 Last Thing on My Mind alt version 3:18
- 17 Hello Operator 2:06
- 18 The Great Amercian Banjo Tune 2:22
- 19 Nothing is Left But the Blues 2:27
- 20 Cabin on a Mountain alt version 2:33
- 21 Done Gone alt version 2:52
