Country Music Time, a 1962 Decca album, finds Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys in the thick of what should have been a breakthrough moment — Martin's recordings of this period are among his most commercially accessible — but the mainstream country audience he pursued remained elusive. "Steppin' Stones" and "Drink Up and Go Home" illustrate his gift for a certain kind of hard-luck, working-class narrative delivered with complete conviction. Martin's banjo players during this era were consistently exceptional, and the Sunny Mountain Boys' instrumental precision set a standard for professional bluegrass ensemble playing that influenced the next generation's expectations.
Tracklist
- 1 Steppin’ Stones 2:48