Sound Off finds the Country Gentlemen in 1971 applying their characteristic Washington, D.C. eclecticism to material that included pop ("Fox on the Run"), country ("Sea of Heartbreak"), and folk-rock ("Teach Your Children"). This adventurousness was both a strength and a point of contention within a traditional bluegrass community that often viewed such borrowings with suspicion. Charlie Waller's baritone anchored a band that had been through numerous personnel changes but retained its essential identity. The Gentlemen's willingness to engage with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young material placed them in the vanguard of a broader conversation about what acoustic string music could absorb without losing itself, a conversation that would define the genre's next decade.
Tracklist
- 1 If I were free 3:31
- 2 Cowboys and Indians alt version 2:24
- 3 Sea of Heartbreak Source Recording 2:51
- 4 I'll break out 3:05
- 5 Orange blossom mandolin 3:03
- 6 These men of God 2:20
- 7 Teach Your Children Source Recording 2:35
- 8 Yesterday 3:13
- 9 Fox on the Run Source Recording 2:33
- 10 Johnny & Jack medley 3:11
- 11 Bill Bailey 1:56
- 12 By the side of the road 3:06