Red Smiley and the Bluegrass Cutups Vol. 2

Red Smiley and the Bluegrass Cutups Vol. 2 (Rural Rhythm RRRS 182, 1967) is the second of three LPs Arthur Lee "Red" Smiley recorded under the Bluegrass Cutups banner after his long partnership with Don Reno dissolved in 1964. Born in Marshall, North Carolina, Smiley had co-fronted Reno & Smiley for over a decade before launching his own band and hosting the popular daily television program Top o' the Morning on WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia. The Bluegrass Cutups lineup — Clarence "Tater" Tate (fiddle), Billy Edwards (banjo), Gene Burrows (mandolin), and John Palmer (bass) — formed one of the tightest units in mid-1960s Virginia bluegrass. Smiley's warm, expressive tenor remained the stylistic center of the group until his death in January 1972.