Bluegrass Classics was recorded by Jim and Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys at Columbia’s studio on 16th Avenue South in Nashville on 26 and 27 June 1963, with Jerry Kennedy producing. Six songs were cut each day. Epic issued the twelve of them in the autumn of 1963 as LN 24074 in mono and BN 26074 in stereo.
Jim McReynolds played guitar and Jesse McReynolds mandolin. The session credits add Allen Shelton on banjo, David Sutherland on bass, Don McHan on second guitar and, on most of the tracks, the fiddler Jimmy Buchanan. The brothers were born and raised in Carfax, a community near Coeburn, Virginia.
The 26 June session produced “What About You,” “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again,” “Nine Pound Hammer,” “The Little Paper Boy,” “I Wonder Where You Are Tonight” and “Just When I Needed You.” The next day they recorded “Las Cassas, Tennessee,” “Drifting and Dreaming of You,” “The Grass Is Greener (in the Mountains),” “The Violet and the Rose,” “Take My Ring from Your Finger” and “Why Not Confess.”
Tracklist
- 1 Las Cassas, Tennessee 2:25
- 2 Drifting and Dreaming of You 2:28
- 3 The Grass Is Greener (In the Mountains) 2:21
- 4 What About You 2:48
- 5 I Wonder Where You Are Tonight alt version 2:33
- 6 Why Not Confess 1:58
- 7 Nine Pound Hammer alt version 2:09
- 8 The Violet and a Rose 2:39
- 9 Take My Ring from Your Finger 2:22
- 10 The Little Paper Boy 2:53
- 11 When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again Source Recording 2:29
- 12 Just When I Needed You alt version 2:36
