“Dreams” is an early original by Del McCoury, written and recorded well before he became one of the most recognized bandleaders in bluegrass. McCoury had served a stint as a Blue Grass Boy under Bill Monroe earlier in the 1960s, and by the end of that decade he was making records under his own name.
The song appeared on “Del McCoury Sings Bluegrass,” an album recorded in Pennsylvania in late 1967 and released by the Arhoolie label in 1968. That early set captured McCoury’s high, keening lead voice alongside players drawn from the wider Monroe circle, and it stands as one of the first full statements of the style he would carry for decades.
“Dreams” remained close enough to McCoury’s heart to be revisited by the Del McCoury Band, who recorded it again for the 2009 retrospective “Celebrating 50 Years of Del McCoury” — a span that underscores how far back into his catalog the song reaches.
