Live at Vanderbilt

RELEASE
May 21, 2002
LABEL
Bear Family Records
GENRES
Country, Traditional Bluegrass, Bluegrass

Album Review

Legendary vocalist and guitarist Lester Flatt shares the bill with his former bandleader, Bill Monroe, on this live set from Vanderbilt's Neely Auditorium in 1974. Flatt & Scruggs had split from Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys some 20 years earlier, and Lester Flatt's reconciliation at an early-'70s Bean Blossom Festival seemed to pave the way for Monroe's guest appearances on this live album. Although the headliners are nearing the far edge of their prime (in the '40s, '50s, and '60s, first Monroe, then Flatt & Scruggs were virtually untouchable as leaders of the bluegrass movement), they still surrounded themselves with the best bands around. Curly Seckler, Charles Nixon, Kenny Baker, and even a 15-year-old Marty Stuart back the gentle-voiced Flatt and the always-energetic Monroe on a whole series of traditional standards. The college crowd (fresh from the radio popularity of "Duelin' Banjos") actively seems to enjoy the performances, and both bands feed off of that energy. Although Lester Flatt's performances with the Nashville Grass were never as strong as the Flatt & Scruggs recordings (as their Flatt & Scruggs at Carnegie Hall!: The Complete Concert showcases wonderfully), this live document captures the meeting of two bluegrass legends and old friends performing the music they love for a crowd who loves them.
Zac Johnson, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. Flint Hill Special
  2. Lost All My Money
  3. I'll Be All Smiles Tonight
  4. Homestead on the Farm
  5. Rawhide
  6. Wabash Cannonball
  7. Orange Blossom Special
  8. Nine Pound Hammer
  9. Get in Line Brother
  10. The Fall Is a Lonesome Time for Me
  11. I Know What It Means to Be Lonesome
  12. Dig a Hole in the Meadow
  13. Uncle Pen
  14. Blue Moon of Kentucky
  15. My Old Used to Be
  16. Will You Be Loving Another Man?
  17. My Little Cabin Home on the Hill
  18. Cryin' Holy Unto the Lord
  19. Sally Goodin'
  20. Mule Skinner Blues
  21. Salty Dog Blues
  22. Red Wing
  23. Wreck of the Old '97
  24. Martha White Theme
  25. Cumberland Gap
  26. Foggy Mountain Breakdown