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Across the Blue Ridge #115 - Fabulous Fiddlers, Love Songs, and a Quiet Banjo Master

by Paul Brown

The Maddox Brothers and Rose are among the many artists featured on this week’s show. The Alabama siblings migrated to California during the Great Depression. They found work at first picking crops, then made their way onto local radio and became much-loved country and honky-tonk musicians. Paul Brown collection

This week we cover a lot of audio territory, starting with some powerful fiddling from the early bluegrass era. Hear Paul Warren and Curly Ray Cline, plus the man who influenced them both – Fiddlin' Arthur Smith of the Grand Ole Opry's early days. We present a great selection of love songs from old-time mountain, bluegrass, Texas swing and honky-tonk bands -- including the unforgettable Maddox Brothers and Rose – who, with their wild outfits, billed themselves as “America's Most Colorful Hillbilly Band.” Finally, we offer the soundscape of the late Allen Hart, a quiet master of the old time banjo, a banjo historian, and a master instrument builder. Gain an insight into one of the many “musicians' musicians” you meet through Across the Blue Ridge – people who may not achieve broad fame, but whose art and dedication earn them the permanent respect of those in the know.

Playlist

  1. Pretty Polly Ann
    Paul Warren
    America's Greatest Breakdown Fiddler
     
  2. West Virginia Hornpipe
    Van Kidwell
    Van Kidwell
     
  3. Duck River
    Art Stamper
    All Join Hands!
     
  4. Dixon County Blues
    Curly Ray Cline
    Chicken Reel: The Lonesome Pine Fiddle Sound of Curly Ray Cline
     
  5. Hesitating Blues
    Fiddlin' Arthur Smith
    Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners
     
  6. Go And Leave Me If You Wish To
    Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
    Great High Mountain
     
  7. Chuck-A-Luck
    Kenny Baker & Bobby Hicks
    Darkness On The Delta
     
  8. Break 1 - Twinkle Little Star
    Paul Warren
    America's Greatest Breakdown Fiddler
     
  9. Moonshiner
    Red Squirrel Chasers
    Shakin' Down The Acorns
     
  10. Polly Put The Kettle On
    Dom Flemons
    Prospect Hill
     
  11. Destination Love
    Lynn Morris Band
    You'll Never Be The Sun
     
  12. Gosh I Miss You All The Time
    Maddox Brothers & Rose
    Volume 2
     
  13. I Can't Go On This Way
    Quebe Sisters
    Every Which-A-Way
     
  14. Don't Go Out Tonight My Darling
    Shady Mountain Ramblers
    All Smiles Tonite
     
  15. Shenandoah Valley
    Steep Canyon Rangers
    Out In The Open
     
  16. Break 2 - Marching Through Georgia
    Allen Hart
    Old Time Banjo
     
  17. Coal Creek March
    Allen Hart
    Old Time Banjo
     
  18. All Young
    Hart & Blech
    A Devil of a Row
     
  19. Chilly Winds
    Allen Hart
    Old Time Banjo
     
  20. Pretty Polly
    Allen Hart
    Old Time Banjo
     
  21. Schottische Time
    Allen Hart
    Old Time Banjo
     
  22. Battle In The Horseshoe
    Hart & Blech
    A Devil of a Row
     
  23. Josh Thomas' Roustabout
    Allen Hart
    Old Time Banjo

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