Larry Sparks - You Could Have Called

(King Bluegrass KB-550) 1976.

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This album is something of a landmark release for Larry, with some of the songs being crafted in the studio with layered instrumentation and sophisticated arrangements. Smokey Mountain Memories and the title cut You Could Have Called in particular benefit from this approach, with a much more textured sound as a result. Guest musician Ricky Skaggs also seems to have been key to this shift, providing multi-tracked fiddle & mandolin, as well as harmony vocal.

The title song of the LP, You Could Have Called, originates from the 1972 session for Ramblin' Bluegrass. Starday had commissioned Charles Brown to write a song for Larry, which was cut the following day (26 Jun 1972) with Brown providing a rolling, low-key piano back-up.^[1] For some reason, the track was omitted from the album and the Starday version was only later released as part of the 4xCD 'The Best Of King And Starday' box set (King KG-0952-4-2) 2004. The multi-tracked fiddles give this re-recording a lush sound, with lovely harmony vocal on the main chorus line and subtle use of the dobro throughout.

Smokey Mountain Memories, the other stellar stand-out cut on the album, had been released as a 45 (King Bluegrass KB-413) prior to the LP's release. Ricky Skaggs multi-tracked fiddle and Tommy Boyd's dobro are the icing on the cake on this one...

The album was probably recorded in late 1975 / early 1976 as the Feb 1976 edition of 'Bluegrass Unlimited' mentions that Ricky Skaggs had been active in the Lemco studios helping out Larry Sparks, and the following month's 'General Store' also says that Tommy Boyd was the newest member of the Lonesome Ramblers on mandolin and dobro & singing tenor. (Curiously the July 1976 edition also says that Tommy is now on dobro and banjo, with David Cox on mandolin, and that "a new two-album set is due to be released soon".) At least some of the recording must have been done in the autumn of 1975, as the Oct 1975 'General Store' mentioned that Larry had been in the studio in early September to finish off recording an album called 'Mountain Memories' with their latest single, Smokey Mountain Memories featuring Wendy Miller (mandolin), Mike Lilly (banjo & dubbed bass), Tommy Boyd from Springfield, OH, and Ricky Skaggs who overdubbed three fiddles and sang on the trio.

Another highlight is The Testing Times, an atmospheric Gospel number with Larry's vocal & guitar dominant, and backing mostly comprising of mandolin and fiddle.

A lovely rendition of The Stanley Brothers If That's The Way You Feel opens the album, and fans will no doubt also be familiar with I'm Bound To Ride and Pretty Little Miss (In The Garden) from the Stanley's repertoire.

I Can't Go On Loving You, which was co-written by Larry and his sister Bernice Sparks, had previously been recorded on Bluegrass Old And New. Mike Lilly's banjo work on this is in a more straight-forward Scruggs style, without the progressive flourishes found on the original. The remake also includes fiddle and mandolin breaks.

A chunk of the album was later re-issued by Rebel after they bought the King Bluegrass label, with The Testing Times and When My Time Comes To Go being included on The Testing Times (1983); and three tracks appearing on Dark Hollow (1982) - If That's The Way You Feel, Pretty Little Miss and I'm Bound To Ride.

Material from this album has appeared extensively on the various 'Best of' collections, with only the atmospheric The Old Man And His Fiddle being uncompiled.

• Larry Sparks: guitar, lead vocal
• Tommy Boyd: dobro, harmony vocal
• Mike Lilly: banjo, harmony vocal
• Ricky Skaggs: mandolin, fiddle, harmony vocal
• Art Wydner: bass

Other artwork / related images:

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