Gary Waldrep - Vintage Bluegrass

(with Charlie Cline)

(Old Homestead OHS-80093) 1989

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This seems to be a hard to find release, and details are illusive. Charley Pennell's Bluegrass Discography indicates that it came out on LP and wasn't reviewed in Bluegrass Unlimited; Discogs only lists a cassette, with no line-up details, other than mentioning "with Charlie Cline" beneath "Gary Waldrep" on the cover.

I did however have the good fortune to find an eight year old MP3 rip of the album on my computer, though where it came from is a bit of a mystery.

The album is quite entertaining, with a mix of straight-ahead trad-bluegrass and old-time cuts with clawhammer banjo. There's also a couple of quite unusual numbers: Fiddle Stix which sounds like an old-time fiddle tune, but with an odd percussive rhythm that sounds like it's being tapped out on a banjo rim; and Gun Barrel Road with a picked guitar intro & Spaghetti Western feel to the melody. Gary's clawhammer banjo on this track is also quite impressive!

The remaining tracks pay homage to the likes of Red Allen & The Kentuckians (Philadelphia Lawyer), Bill Monroe (Shenandoah Breakdown, Goodbye Old Pal, Bluegrass Breakdown), Flatt & Scruggs (Nashville Blues), Jimmy Martin (The Big Country), Moore & Napier (Chain Gang), and Ralph Stanley (Goin' On The Mountain aka (Rocky Island), Pretty Little Indian and Pretty Polly).

Overall it's a fine album showing off the instrumental prowess of Gary's banjo picking , Charlie Cline's fiddle, plus unknown flat-picked lead guitar. Charlie's work on Pretty Little Indian would give Curly Ray a run for his money...

Gary of course performed with Charlie in the Warrior River Boys, and also played drums on his 'And His Guitar' 1991 cassette.

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