Let's cover the essentials about this CD Box Set before I get into the review.
Box Set with 4 CD's
Disc 1 - 24 songs
Disc 2 - 26 songs
Disc 3 - 26 songs
Disc 4 - 24 songs
A very informative 28-page booklet of notes by editor Gary Reid along with some great photos.
Starday and King, two great labels to be associated with and all of these recordings are from these two labels. Disc's 1 & 2 are from the King vaults and Disc's 3 & 4 are from Starday. This Box CD Set covers a period of time that is wide so you are in for a real treat of bluegrass music history. Songs and recordings that you might never of had a chance to hear let alone own are now available for your listening pleasure.
I can remember being at a jam session some 15 or so years ago when a young man said that he was going to play a Doyle Lawson song. That's right, he played someone else's song. It was a Stanley Brothers song that was recorded by Doyle. An honest mistake that would not have happened if this Box Set had been available back then. Of course "back then" was before CD's. But I'm sure you get the point. You too can now say that yes, Tony Rice was recording with J.D. Crowe during the early 1970's, or that there are faster versions of "I only Exist" and "Clinch Mountain Backstep" played by the Stanley Brothers.
If you play bluegrass music then this is a great source for new material. Some of the recordings here are from some obscure groups. Even those of us who feel we know a lot about bluegrass should find a few names that are unfamiliar to us. That is one of the things that make this Box Set so interesting and worth buying.
"The Booklet". All too often this is overlooked as we just expect certain things to appear. However, in this case we have a fabulous wealth of information and pictures that go beyond the basics. Great pictures of the performers, an extensive write-up of each along with the recording information that includes the recording artists, the date of recording and the original recording catalog number. I tip my hat to Gary Reid for his contribution to this valuable music collection. I don't want to overlook the others who helped out either. They are all listed on the last page of the booklet. The back cover lists each artist in order of appearance followed by the songs they recorded.
If you would like to hear some of the earlier bluegrass recordings and some later one's too then this is definitely a "must have" Box CD Set for you. Don't regret passing this one up.
