Tennessee 1949 pairs Bill Emerson and Pete Goble for a 1987 recording that pays tribute to the early years of the bluegrass genre and the musical culture of postwar country music. Emerson, a Washington, D.C.-area banjo player with a long career in progressive bluegrass circles — including stints with the Country Gentlemen and the U.S. Navy Country Current — brings technical precision and historical awareness to the project. The album's title locates it in the period when bluegrass was crystallizing as a distinct genre, and the repertoire draws on the country and bluegrass material that circulated on radio and recordings in that formative era. Goble, a guitarist and singer, provides sympathetic accompaniment and harmonies suited to the retrospective spirit of the recording. The album is a professional and historically minded tribute that reflects genuine affection for the music of the period it evokes.
Tracklist
- 1 Country Life Looks Better (To Me Now) 2:37
- 2 Tennessee 1949 alt version 3:36
- 3 Back to Hancock County 3:18
- 4 Dixie in My Eye 3:29
- 5 The Old Man and the Kid 3:35
- 6 Many Hills of Time 4:03
- 7 I'm Only a Phone Call Away 2:48
- 8 Blue Virginia Blues alt version 3:37
- 9 Leavin' You and Mobile (Too) 2:48
- 10 Coleen Malone 2:47
- 11 You Can Keep Your Nine Pound Hammer alt version 2:41
- 12 Julianne 3:17
- 13 Back to Sugar Hill 3:54
- 14 My Kentucky Dream 4:09
