Larry Sparks - Live In Concert

(Old Homestead OHS-90163) 1985.

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This is a reissue of an 8-track only live album which Larry released on his own Lesco label c1980, with four additional tracks appended to the end. The LP was criticised quite heavily when it was reviewed in 'Bluegrass Unlimited' for the overdubbed 'fake' audience applause & poor sound, but having listened to the MP3 Rip that's on youtube, the performance will still I think appeal to fans. It's also worth noting that the 'fake' applause is absent on the final four tracks, which suggests that these are the bonus tracks, and that the original 8-track included the overdubbed audience noise...

The LP also features a couple of tracks which Larry doesn't appear to have recorded elsewhere: Hey, Hey, Hey which is actually Woody Guthrie's New York Town & presumably came to Larry via the Flatt & Scruggs; a rendition of Flatt & Scruggs Will The Roses Bloom (Where She Lies Sleeping); and the two fiddle favourites Sally Goodin & Leather Britches.

No dates or personnel are given for the recordings... although it sounds like Glen Duncan on fiddle for at least the original 8-track cuts. It's also worth pointing out that the sleeve and labels list the second track on Side One as Our Last Goodbye, but the youtube rip (and presumably the LP) substitutes Will The Roses Bloom.... This begs the question whether the original 8-track includes Our Last Goodbye...

Thanks to Dreyden Gordon for the photo's of this LP!

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