Larry Sparks - Ramblin' Bluegrass

(Starday SLP-480-498) 1973
Reissued on vinyl (Gusto GT-0010) 1979, and CD (Starday SD-6518-2) 1997, and (Gusto GT7-0694-2) 2008.

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This album is once again an improvement on Larry's previous releases, being well produced and featuring a fine selection of songs. Half of the material was written by Larry or co-written by him with his sister Bernice. Wendy Miller also wrote Kentucky Chimes, and Mike Lilly - Kentucky Banjo.

The original material is particularly strong, with Memories And Dreams having a melody similar to Brand New Tennessee Waltz and This Lonesome Old Feeling being close to Ralph Stanley's That Lonesome Old Song.

The Stanley's influence is also apparent on the uptempo Goodbye Little Darlin', and a splendid version of Carter's A Life Of Sorrow.

Just Lovin' You reminds me of John Prine at his finest... with superb harmonies, lovely lead guitar, and a folky rhythmic 'shift' on the guitar.

Brand New Broken Heart is another fine song, which makes use of a line from Carter Stanley's I'll Just Go Away.

Mike Lilly's Kentucky Banjo, a top-flight amalgam of Scruggs' licks alternating with Lilly's mandolin breaks, had previously been recorded on Bluegrass Old And New.

Wendy Miller's Kentucky Chimes, which makes use of harmonic banjo plucking alá Scruggs, had previously been recorded on 45 for Pine Tree (PT-107).

The album was Larry's first to get national distribution in the US, and came about via an introduction by Fay McGinnis (Ralph Stanley Fan Club president) to the Vice-President at Starday - Jim Wilson. A recording contract with Starday was signed at Ralph's '2nd Annual Carter Stanley Memorial Bluegrass Festival' at the Old Home Place in McClure (26-28 May 1972), and the album was recorded at their studios in Nashville, Tennessee about 4 weeks later (26 Jun 1972).

To promote the album, a single was released and sent to radio stations: Brand New Broken Heart / Kentucky Chimes (Starday 45-957) 1972. Unfortunately within a year of it's release, Starday ran into financial difficulties, which meant that Larry's best work to date soon became unavailable.

As a consequence Larry recorded three LP's in 1974 with nine of the tracks from "Ramblin' Bluegrass" being re-recorded for the King Bluegrass and Old Homestead labels. i.e. Brand New Broken Heart, Long Journey Home and This Lonesome Old Feeling were re-cut for The Lonesome Sounds Of...; and Dark Hollow, Memories And Dreams, Too Much Mountain Dew, A Life Of Sorrow, Goodbye Little Darlin' & Faded Love were re-recorded for The Footsteps Of Tradition.

In addition, Just Lovin' You was re-recorded in 1975 for Sparklin' Bluegrass, and Larry also subsequently revisited Faded Love on Lonesome Guitar (1985); Brand New Broken Heart on 40 (2005); and Goodbye Little Darlin' on The Last Suit You Wear (2007).

'Bluegrass Unlimited' gave the LP a good review saying that Larry "... demonstrates that with refined arrangement played by competent musicians (especially in the area of singing) a contemporary bluegrass band can still handle old forms in a fresh and exciting way."

A version of You Could Have Called, which Starday commissioned Charles Brown to write for Larry^[1], was also recorded at the session, but remained unreleased until it was included in the 4xCD 'The Best Of King And Starday' box set (King KG-0952-4-2) 2004.

The album was reissued on vinyl by Gusto in 1979, and twice on CD in 1997 and 2008. Both CD versions have a different running order to the original release. Eight tracks from the album were also released on the budget CD Kentucky Banjo (2008).

• Larry Sparks: guitar, lead vocal
• Mike Lilly: banjo, baritone vocal
• Wendy Miller: mandolin, tenor vocal
• Bernice Neely (nee Sparks): guitar
• Art Weidner: bass

Other artwork / related images:

[1] Bill Vernon's article on Larry in Apr 1983 edition of 'Bluegrass Unlimited'.