Charlie Cline with The Warrior River Boys - S/T

Fiddle Favorites

(Old Homestead OHS-90183) 1988

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I don't know quite how Charlie Cline & the Warrior River Boys wound up working together, but the result is a tight, fast-paced album of top-drawer Bluegrass.

The Warrior River Boys provide perfect backing to Charlie's master-class on bluegrass fiddle, and also provide top-notch vocal harmony on the two vocal tracks: Death Hath No Power, and Righteous Pathway (originally recorded by Charlie on Brushy Creek Bluegrass).

Songwriting on four of the instrumentals are credited to Charlie, but Scottish Breakdown bears more than a passing resemblence to Bill Monroe's Scotland; and the first part of Moonlight Waltz sounds like it was inspired by Monroe's Lonesome Moonlight Waltz. The second part to the latter tune is somewhat different, as it shifts from 3/4 to an uptempo 2/4 time.

The other originals Bass In Deep Water and Flatrock Breakdown, are also fine uptempo efforts, although I'm not sure if they've likewise been derived from other fiddle tunes.

The remaining instrumentals include fast paced versions of the Bill Monroe classics Wheel Hoss and Roanoke and spirited versions of well-known standards, with Soldiers Joy featuring clawhammer banjo, rather than the usual 3-finger style.

Overall this is a great album, but not one to play in the car unless you want to get caught speeding...

• Charlie Cline: fiddle
• David Davis: mandolin
• Jarrod Rains: bass
• Mitch Scott: guitar
• Gary Waldrep: banjo

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