Bluegrass 1963 collects eighteen television performances by Don Reno, Red Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-Ups, filmed at WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, around 1963, with Carter and Ralph Stanley as guests. Rural Rhythm issued the soundtrack on CD (RHY-1058) in 2010. The footage had come out the year before on a Blue Highways TV DVD narrated by Ronnie Reno. Reno and Smiley had worked in Roanoke television since the last day of 1956, when they started Top o’ the Morning, a weekday early-morning country show. The partnership split in November 1964.
Reno plays banjo and Smiley guitar. Don’s son Ronnie Reno plays mandolin, Mack Magaha fiddle, John Palmer bass and Steve Chapman second guitar, and WDBJ announcer Irv Sharp is credited as master of ceremonies. Without the guests, the Cut-Ups play “Love, O Love, Please Come Home,” “Down Yonder,” “Whispering Hope,” “Arkansas Traveler,” “Fisher’s Hornpipe,” Don Reno’s “I’m Using My Bible for a Road Map” and “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.” The Stanley Brothers take the lead on “In the Pines.” Ralph Stanley and Don Reno play twin banjos on “Home Sweet Home,” and both Stanleys join the full band for “Over in the Gloryland” and “Nine Pound Hammer,” on which Ronnie Reno sings the verses and Carter and Ralph join on the chorus.
Tracklist
- 1 Love Please Come Home alt version 2:20
- 2 Down Yonder alt version 3:34
- 3 In the Pines alt version 3:10
- 4 Home Sweet Home alt version 3:30
- 5 Over In The Gloryland 2:31
- 6 Bare Foot Nellie 1:45
- 7 Nine Pound Hammer alt version 2:55
- 8 John Henry alt version 3:12
- 9 Wouldn't Change You If I Could 1:58
- 10 Panhandle Country 1:52
- 11 Whispering Hope 2:23
- 12 You Comb Her Hair Every Morning 2:37
- 13 Arkansas Traveler alt version 3:04
- 14 I'm Using My Bible For A Road Map 2:29
- 15 I'm The Talk Of The Town 2:31
- 16 Fisher’s Hornpipe alt version 2:48
- 17 I Know You’re Married alt version 2:14
- 18 The Ballad of Jed Clampett alt version 2:24
