Darren Beachley has written in to give us an update concerning the production of the second Country Gentlemen Tribute CD from Bill Yates. Darren and Bill are co-producing this new recording.

The first CD was released in December of 2006. We first brought you news of volume 2 in December of 2007. Darren tells me a December 2008 release is planned for this second tribute CD.

Work is about 75 percent finished. Songs include “Traveling Kind”, “Dark As A Dungeon”, “Joe’s Last Train”, “Darbys Castle” and “Willow Creek Dam”. The lineup includes Bill Yates, Darren Beachley (DL&Q), Mike Phipps, Dave Propst, Kevin Church (former country gent) and Mark Clifton.

Yates and company are currently putting together their tour schedule for early next year in support of this new recording.

You can find their tour schedule on their myspace page.

Eddie Adcock will be the featured guest on Friday morning’s (5/23) edition of Lonesome Pine RFD on WFDU-FM, in New Jersey. He will join host Carol Beaugard at 11:15 a.m. (EDT) to talk about the new CD from The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band.

Harry Grant from The Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival in Pennsylvania will be on hand as well for Friday’s show. He is bringing live recordings from past fests, as well as his many backstage stories and anecdotes from years in bluegrass music.

Lonesome Pine RFD is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm. It will also be recorded for a later broadcast on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.

Recently we reported news of the release of the Country Gentlemen Reunion Band CD - Adcock, Gaudreau, Waller & Gray.

At the time the fledgling link-up didn’t have a website. It does now! Go to the new website to see the liner notes, bios, and more about the CD - plus sound clips.

As an aside, Martha Adcock told me how the name RadioTherapy Records was chosen. I thought I would share the thought process involved …

“In thinking of a name for our own record label, I thought it was best to check the www.allrecordlabels.com site to see if any of our choices had been taken, to avoid the possible confusion of our label having the same name as another. Lo and behold, all the ones we had chosen were already in use; I have a whole page of them that I systematically checked off on the list. So I resorted to the dictionary for inspiration. I like alliteration, so the R’s were consulted first; and when I came upon the word ‘radiotherapy,’ meaning ‘therapy effected through the use of radiation (the definition of the term ‘radiation’ includes sound waves) I thought it would do very well to call our label RadioTherapy Records — because of course music is good for you!”

Great story, isn’t it?

The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band has announced the release of their self-titled CD on RadioTherapy Records, a new label established by Martha and Eddie Adcock.

The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band features Randy Waller, son of Charlie Waller, who, like his father, sings lead and plays guitar; Eddie Adcock (banjo, lead and baritone vocals), Tom Gray (upright bass, bass and baritone vocals) and Jimmy Gaudreau (mandolin, lead and tenor vocals). They have been making several personal appearances, most notably to mark the 50th anniversary, last year, of the formation of the original Country Gentlemen.

Adcock, Gaudreau, Waller & Gray - The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band (RTR-CD-001) has 13 tracks, four of which, including the opening song Widow Of The Glade, are by the late lamented Randall Hylton. Remember the Country Gentlemen’s other ghost stories? Well, this is a modern counterpart to Bringing Mary Home. Older songs to get the Country Gentlemen treatment include I Hope You Have Learned, Grave In The Valley, Little Box Of Pine, Sundown And Sorrow and Some Old Day.

Other notable numbers are White Line Fever from Merle Haggard, Sweet Georgia Brown and a jazzy new instrumental composed by Gaudreau, El Doggo.

Co-producer Martha Adcock comments …..

“After Monroe, if anyone can be said to have turned bluegrass in a new direction, it was without a doubt the ‘Classic’ Country Gentlemen: John Duffey, Charlie Waller, Eddie Adcock and Tom Gray. No one else did as much to re-popularize and reinvigorate the genre, taking it to city-folk audiences, and onto hip college campuses, to large theaters and coffeehouses, and eventually to Carnegie Hall. Their musical creativity, individually and synergistically, coupled with their hip irreverence and loose attitude onstage, was a quantum leap from the past, and it brought about a sea change in bluegrass, a dramatic expansion of the genre.” (more…)

Rebel Records has two new releases released last week, a greatest hits compilation and a new duo recording.

Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein are names that should be familiar to bluegrass fans. Klein spent time with Seldom Scene, and later with Mike Auldridge (and Jimmy Gaudreau) in Chesapeake. Gaudreau has been a member of several of the most celebrated acts ever to play bluegrass - The Country Gentlemen, JD Crowe & The New South and The Tony Rice Unit, to name a few.

Their debut CD together is called 2:10 Train, and the performances are true duets throughout. There are no guest artists, just Moondi on guitar and lead vocals with Jimmy on mandolin and harmony. The material is taken from traditional old time and country music, and some of the best contemporary bluegrass and folk songwriters. If you’ve followed these genres for the past 20 years or so, most of the titles will be familiar, but each receives a treatment that is fresh and perfectly in keeping with the minimalist approach on this CD.

You’ll find Tom Paxton’s Last Thing On My Mind, Pete Goble’s Colleen Malone, Harley Allen’s High Sierra and Eric Bogle’s And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda among the newer songs along with old time favorites like Sweet Sunny South, Shady Grove and Black Jack Davey.

There are a few audio samples on Jimmy and Moondi’s site, and for all the tracks in iTunes.

Greatest hits of bluegrass collections seem to come out every few months, many of them little more than back catalog tracks by lesser-known artists. When a project is titled Best Loved Bluegrass - 20 All-Time Favorites, it’s fair to expect a good bit from the CD.

And this new Rebel compilation delivers. Not only are there offerings from Tony Rice, Lonesome River Band, The Country Gentlemen, Larry Sparks, Del McCoury, Ralph Stanley, JD Crowe and others, the songs are great examples of each artists’ work during the time they recorded for Rebel.

The Lost Found are here with Love Of The Mountains, Emerson & Waldron with the original version of Fox On The Run (classic!), Reno & Smiley with Little Rosewood Casket and Claire Lynch with Wabash Cannonball. The Gent’s offer Bringing Mary Home and Mac Wiseman Footprints In The Snow, with Larry Sparks’ version of Roving Gambler and Keith Whitley & Ricky Skaggs doing Dream Of A Miner’s Child (while they were still in school).

You can see the full track listing - and hear audio samples - in iTunes.

We just got a note from Darren Beachley of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver letting us know that he will start work soon co-producing a second CD from Bill Yates, A Tribute to The Country Gentlemen Vol. 2.

Darren will be producing along with Yates as executive producer on this second set of re-recordings of classic Gentlemen cuts from their hey day. Tracking is scheduled to begin in January.

Bill will contribute vocals, Darren and Mike Phipps will be on guitar and vocals, Dave Propst on mandolin and vocals, Dave Macglashen on bass, and in the sole change from Yates’ previous tribute CD, Rick Alred will be on banjo.

Darren says that they are all pleased to have Rick, another Gentlemen alum, with them in the studio.

“Scott Walker had just recently let Bill know that he wouldn’t be able to continue, so we called Rick and he took the gig. I am excited to have him coming in on this recording He has a great set of ears and is a real pro in the studio plus, having been with Country Gentlemen, he knows what that sound is all about.”

Bill has many loyal fans from his 20 years as a member of The Country Gentlemen, and they will surely greet this next CD with enthusiasm. Audio samples from the first tribute project can be found on MySpace.

The Country Gentlemen 50th Anniversary Celebration concert took place last weekend and it seems the show was taped. No word yet as to whether there will be a DVD release, but it seems likely.

Randy Waller’s website has a video available of the reunion band playing the Country Gentlemen classic Rebel Soldier. What a great sound. Randy sings lead with Doyle Lawson cutting the tenor.

The video is in Windows Media format and the clip is 37 MB, so those with a slow connection will need to be patient. It’s worth the wait though.

Our intrepid British corespondent, Richard Thompson, has put together a terrific piece marking the 50th anniversary of the Country Gentlemen. For those of us in the United States, it’s a fine thing to contemplate over the 4th of July holiday. It’s a long post, and we encourage you to read the whole thing.

The story of the formation of the Country Gentlemen is well told. An automobile crash involving Buzz Busby and his Bayou Boys left only Bill Emerson fit to play a personal appearance that had been scheduled for July 4.

Emerson called a couple of friends and they formed a quartet to fulfil the date at the Admiral Grill in Baileys Crossroads, Virginia. The band’s original members were Charlie Waller on guitar and lead vocals, John Duffey on mandolin and tenor vocals, Bill Emerson on banjo and baritone vocals, and Larry Lahey on bass. Thus, it is claimed, modern bluegrass was born.

The Country Gentlemen are universally acclaimed as one of the most important progressive bluegrass bands. They brilliantly created a unique blend of folk and bluegrass that did much to make bluegrass music very popular in the Washington DC area.

After a few early personnel changes, the line-up of co-founders Charlie Waller (guitar) and John Duffey (mandolin) with Eddie Adcock (banjo) and Tom Gray (bass) that played from 1960 through to 1964 came together. This combination has often been referred to retrospectively as ‘The Classic’ Country Gentlemen. This quartet was very popular during the early 1960s; one of the highlights of the period being their appearance at Carnegie Hall in September 1961.

In November 1965 their song Bringing Mary Home climbed to #43 on Billboard magazine’s country music charts; their best placed release. Ed Ferris had by this time replaced Tom Gray on bass.

Another highly rated combination was that which comprised Waller, Emerson, Doyle Lawson (mandolin) and Bill Yates (bass); a quartet that was together briefly in the early 1970s.

Just as Bill Monroe had a renowned training school for traditional bluegrass musicians, the Country Gentlemen have numerous young musicians on its membership roster. These musicians can rightly be referred to as a Who’s Who of the contemporary bluegrass world. In addition to those already mentioned are:

Honorary Country Gentlemen - those who played on recording sessions for the Country Gentlemen - include Wayne Yates, Mike Auldridge, Ronnie Bucke (Freeland) and Spider Gilliam. (more…)

Our intrepid British correspondent digs even deeper into the vaults for an update on the mistaken personnel credits listed on the new Gentlemen reissue.

Further to our recent discussions regarding the Country Gentlemen Folkways CD, Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains, I approached Walt Saunders, currently most notable for his Notes & Queries column for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. He reminded me of the souvenir book compiled to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Country Gentlemen, 1957-1982.

In this book there is a very good Country Gentlemen discography put together by Les McIntyre, an historian and commentator also associated with Bluegrass Unlimited as a contributing writer.

McIntyre lists the musicians on the LP as Charlie Waller, John Duffey, Eddie Adcock and Ed Ferris. He adds this remark,

“Actually this album first came out in Japan in 1967 under the title The Country Gentlemen In Concert (London SLH 86). It was the fourth album in the Folkways catalogue of Country Gentlemen recordings. The songs are all from a live performance in Syracuse, New York, shortly before Bringing Mary Home was recorded.”

Saunders agrees with my assessment that the recordings are from the latter half of 1964 or sometime in early 1965.

With grateful thanks to Walt Saunders for his assistance.

Earlier this week, our eagle-eyed British correspondent, Richard Thompson, wrote a piece about the erroneous performance credits in the recent Folkways CD reissue of the Country Gentlemen’s live album from 1973, Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains. Richard noted that the CD notes show indicate that the recording was from the “classic Country Gentlemen,” with Tom Gray on bass, when it fact the recording was from a later edition of the band, with Ed Ferris on upright.

We wondered at the time whether any readers might have a copy of the original LP, and could let us know how the band is listed there. No luck there, but Richard found the original Bluegrass Unlimited review of Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains, and BU editor Sharon McGraw has graciously agreed to allow us to repost it here.

It shows that Ferris is on bass, and I think that modern readers will get a kick out od reading the 1973 review, written by George B. McCeney.

THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN VOL. 4 - GOING BACK TO THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS
FOLKWAYS FTS 31031
(Rechanneled stereo)

Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains/Going To the races/Dark As A Dungeon/Copper Kettle/Billy In The Low Ground/I Saw The Light/Tom Dooley #2/Brown Mountain Light/Electricity/Daybreak In Dixie/Mary Dear/Sad And Lonesome/Cripple Creek/Don’t This Road Look Rough And Rocky/Muleskinner Blues

Charlie Waller-guitar; John Duffey-mandolin; Eddie Adcock-banjo; Ed Ferris-bass

Today in a time when numerous bluegrass bands are launching out in various directions to establish their uniqueness, it is interesting to reconsider what the Country Gentlemen were during the mid 1960’s, almost ten years ago. This latest Folkways album, and probably the last in a series, gives us some idea. From simply perusing the titles of the songs presented here, one might surmise, if he did not already know the Country Gentlemen, that they were a very traditional bluegrass group. And of course in some respects he would be right, at least as far as the selection of material is concerned. But it is the treatment of the material that sets off the Country Gentlemen from other groups of their day. (Now as well as then.) The instrumental work of John Duffey on “Billy In The Low Ground” or Eddie Adcock on “Azzuro Campana (Blue Bell) could hardly be characterised as “traditional” even though the material is in many cases old. What the Country Gentlemen managed to do rather successfully ten years ago was to take strong traditional material, draw out the essence of its appeal, and then present it to a new bluegrass audience in a form that they could understand. In short they managed to capture the best of both worlds, excellent material presented through flawless instrumental and vocal execution. This “live performance” (there must be a more definitive expression) from sometime in 1964 or 1965 at a folk club attests to what the Country Gentlemen were able to achieve, an accomplishment almost now forgotten in the rush of folk-rock crush at some recent festivals. the Country Gentlemen had a great deal to tell us about the spread of good bluegrass, but it might be distilled down to playing the best material better than anyone else. (Folkways Records, 701 7th Avenue, New York, New York 10036) GBMcC

Review by George B. McCeney Reprinted by permission Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright September 1973. 1-800-BLU-GRAS. www.bluegrassmusic.com

UPDATE 6/17: Richard Thompson asked us to point out that it was Tom Gray who mentioned to him that he was wrongly credited on the CD reissue, and also that Joe Ross had located the BU review and sent him a copy. We send our thanks to them all.

UPDATE II 6/17: We received the following from a reader, Keith Edwards, who has a copy of the original LP:

I have the original Folkways album that has been discussed for release on CD. The album does not list the band members per se but has the following written on the bottom right hand corner:

“THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN: Winner of the bulk of the 1972 Muleskinne News Bluegrass Awards, including: Band of the Year, Best Bluegras Singer (Charlie Waller), Best Vocal Group, Best Album of the Year. Folkways presents the original group with Charlie Waller, John Duffey, & Tom Gray (now members of the Seldom Scene), Eddie Adcock (now member of 2nd Generation), and Pete Roberts.”

To me, this explains the error in credits on the CD as information was probably used from the back of the original album cover to create the credits for the reissue.

This post comes from our semi-regular correspondent, Richard F. Thompson. He writes from England, where he is also a longstanding contributor to British Bluegrass News, a quarterly print publication where he also briefly served as editor.

Smithsonian Folkways has released Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains (SFW 40175) on CD, a collection of 16 songs recorded by the Country Gentlemen and originally released in 1973.

This set comprises Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains, Going To The Races, Azzuro Campana (Blue Belle), Dark As A Dungeon, Copper Kettle, Billy In The Low Ground, I Saw The Light, Tom Dooley #2, Brown Mountain Light, Electricity, Daybreak In Dixie, Mary Dear, Sad And Lonesome Day, Cripple Creek, Don’t This Road Look Rough And Rocky, and Muleskinner Blues.

Like its 2001 predecessor, The Country Gentlemen On The Road (And More) (SFW 40133) album, this new CD consists of live recordings. However, while the notes indicate otherwise, these performances are from later shows than those on the earlier collection and do not actually feature the ‘classic’ Country Gentlemen. They were recorded in 1964 after Ed Ferris replaced Tom Gray on bass.

Tom Gray says in a light-hearted tone, “I should be grateful for the good press, but honestly it’s not deserved.”

The most recent Newsletter from Martha and Eddie Adcock makes reference to there being “some unfortunate issues with the content of the booklet.” However, Eddie adds, “just get this CD, give it a spin, and enjoy the fabulous music!”

A biased plea maybe, but not having heard these recordings, I cannot give a dispassionate comment.

The liner notes, including song notes, in the accompanying 25 page booklet were written by Jon Hartley Fox, and the mastering was by Pete Reiniger.

Editor’s note: If any of our readers have a copy of the original 1973 LP release, we would be curious to know what those liner notes say about the composition of the band on the live recording.

In mid July (July 13th and 14th, 2007) at the Watermelon Park in Berryville, VA, bluegrass fans will be treated to some very special entertainment. Former band members and special guests will join each other on stage to present a special tribute to the music and history of the Country Gentlemen.

Randy Waller, son of the late Charlie Waller, will host this 50th Anniversary Celebration. The band was formed in 1957 in the Washington D.C. area. In the last 50 years over 100 musicians have been members of this influential band. Many of them went on to successful careers of their own, including John Duffy, Bill Emerson, Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas.

The two day celebration will features the current band line up as led by Randy Waller, along with former members and special guests Bill Emerson, Tom Gray, Jimmy Gaudreau, Bill Yates, Pete kuykendall, Eddie and Martha Adcock, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Norman Wright, Ronnie Davis, Tom Morgan, Jimmy Bowen, Kevin Church, Dick Smith, Greg Corbet, Jim Cox, Kenny Haddock, Mike Auldridge, Tim Finch, Darrin Auldridge, Billy Gee, Rick Allred, Kent Dowell, Country Current, and others.

Tom “Cat” Reeder, a member of the Disc Jockey Hall of Fame, will be on hand to emcee the event.

Tickets for the celebration, and more information, are available online at WatermelonParkFest.com or you may call 540-539-2054.

Mark Delaney, banjo player with Randy Waller and the Country Gentlemen, will be teaching a banjo workshop in early March in the Northern Virginia area. The workshop is geared toward the beginner to intermediate level player and will cover both right and left hand techniques in the Scruggs style.

The workshop will be held in Falls Church, VA on March 10, 2007 from 1-4 PM. The cost is $50 in advance, $55 at the door. More information can be found on the workshop website here.

Bluegrass fans immediately recognize the name Bill Yates for his many years as a member of The Country Gentlemen. Bill played bass and sang harmony with the band through several line up changes, staying with Charlie Waller for 20 years, starting in 1969.

In early December, Mastershield Records will release a new CD from Bill, entitled The Country Gentlemen Tribute. Bill is assisted on this project by the The Shenandoah Blue Band, whose members include Keith Waddell on guitar, Kevin Mallow on fiddle, Dave MacGlashan on bass, David Propst on mandolin, and Scott Walker on banjo.

Yates sings both lead and harmony vocals on the new CD, with additional lead vocals provided by Darren Beachley (of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver), Mike Phipps (of Eastern Tradition) and Shenandoah Blue’s David Propst.

It contains 12 songs which Bill had previously recorded as a supporting member of The Gentlemen, including Little Bessie, Redwood Hill, The Secret of the Waterfall, Remembrance of You, Son of a Hickory Holler’s Tramp, I’ll break Out Again Tonight, Walking Down The Line, Heaven, and Two Little Boys.

There are no audio samples up yet on the Mastershield site, but they expect to have them by the time the CD is released next month.

Keeper Of The Flame is the title of the new CD from Randy Waller & The Country Gentlemen - the first release by The Gentlemen since the passing of legendary founder and vocalist, Charlie Waller, whose son Randy is now leading the band. The new CD, now available from Randy’s web site, features the current edition of The Country Gentlemen, (Mark Delaney, David Kirk and Gary Creed), plus guest artists like Mike Auldridge, Ricky Simpkins, Heather Berry and others.

Liner notes for the new CD were provided by Joe Bonsall, long time member of The Oak Ridge Boys, and a newly serious student of the five string banjo.

“Randy Waller and the Country Gentlemen are a GREAT Bluegrass Band and this is a GREAT CD! These guys can pick it clean on every instrument and their singing and harmonies and blends are impeccable. It also becomes very clear on this project that Randy Waller is one of the great lead voices singing today!”

“I love this CD and will be listening to it a lot this year!”

Our friend Dave Roye reports that Randy announced a few days ago that The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band (consisting of Jimmy Gaudreau, Eddie Adcock, and Tom Gray) are set to go into the studio the last week in March to produce a new recording project. They will also be doing a limited number of shows with the Reunion Band, which can be found on Randy’s web site, along with the shows for Randy Waller & The Country Gentlemen.