"Essential Bluegrass Gospel," released in 2004 on CMH Records (CD-6298), is a compilation drawn from Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass recordings across three CMH albums from 1976 to 1978 — "Heaven's Bluegrass Band," "Lester Flatt's Bluegrass Festival," and "Pickin' Time." Flatt had formed the Nashville Grass after his 1969 split with Earl Scruggs, and these sessions document his final productive years before his death in 1979. Curly Seckler — a bandmate since before the Foggy Mountain Boys era — sings harmony throughout, and a teenage Marty Stuart appears as a Nashville Grass member, making this among the earliest commercial documents of Stuart's professional career. CMH reissued the material to keep Flatt's post-partnership recordings in print; the collection is essential to understanding the Nashville Grass as an independent creative force.
Tracklist
- 1 I'm Gonna Sit Down Beside My Jesus 2:59
- 2 Get in Line Brother alt version 2:21
- 3 Father's Table Grace 3:20
- 4 Heaven's Bluegrass Band 2:39
- 5 What Would You Give in Exchange For Your Soul alt version 3:09
- 6 Little Brown Church - In the White Oak Grove 2:57
- 7 Will the Circle be Unbroken alt version 5:38
- 8 The Night Daddy Passed Away 2:39
- 9 There's Gonna Be a Singing 2:04
- 10 Back to the Cross 2:51
- 11 Uncloudy Day alt version 1:59
- 12 Wicked Man 2:50
- 13 Tramp on the Street 3:47
- 14 I'll Fly Away - Instrumental 2:37
- 15 Palms of Victory alt version 3:36
- 16 He Took Your Place 3:26
- 17 Thinking About You alt version 2:48