The Warrior River Boys - Passin' Thru

(Rutabaga RR-3011) 1988
Reissued on CD (Old Homestead OHRCD-4004) 1997

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Bill Grant rather succinctly sums up this fine album in the liner notes where he says: "There will come a time when Blue Grass Music, as we have known it for the last forty years, will be no more. However, that will not happen as long as we have groups like The Warrior River Boys of Alabama. They have gotten the message. They have heard it, they have learned it, they feel it, they have it recorded in their brains and fingers, and they do it right..."

The influence of Bil Monroe permeates throughout. Much of the instrumentation and vocals are patterned after the Big Mon, and four of the ten tracks were either written or co-credited to him (Highway Of Sorrow, Remember The Cross, Walk Softly (On My Heart), & Six Feet Under The Ground). Bill's brother Charlie Monroe also gets a nod with a version of I'm Coming Back But I Don't Know When.

Another two tracks are similarly drawn from the late 40s / early 50s, with Hank Williams' tragic love song The Singing Waterfall; and a high octane version of The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers classic You're No Good, which Charlie Cline recorded with the 'fiddlers in 1953 - around the time when also he worked as a Blue Grass Boy.

Another Charlie Cline composition, How Can You Do This To Me, is a version of a track he first recorded on his 1978 LP Strictly Cline.

The remaining two cuts are:- Rocky Mountain Sweetheart which was written by Bill Prickett, who David Davis described as "a radio man we got to know early on from the Boaz area of Alabama"; and David Davis' mandolin instrumental Passin' Thru. Both are fine efforts, which stand up well compared to the other more well known numbers.

The Warrior River Boys second LP was recorded 3 Feb 1988 at River Track Studios, Louisa, Ky. The recording date, early in the year suggests that it was recorded before the Charlie Cline with The Warrior River Boys LP, and after the 'Blue Grass Session' cassette.

The album was reissued on CD in 1997 with eight additional tracks. Three come from a May 1987 recording for the Blue Grass Session cassette, with Charlie Cline on fiddle & overdubbed bass:- My Blue Eyed Darling, Walls Of Time, and Charlie Cline's Wagon Wheel (which he originally recorded on his 1979 LP 'Why Ray Ralph'). And there's five previously unreleased tracks, from a Jan 1987 session prior to Charlie's involvement with the band where Al Lester plays fiddle. These include East Tennesse Blues, My Louisianna Love, Orange Blossom Special, Florida Blues, and Black Mountain Rag. The line-up with Al is also featured on the CD cover and looks like it's from the same photo-shoot as their debut 1986 'The Voice In The Night' LP.

• Charlie Cline: fiddle
• David Davis: mandolin, tenor vocal
• Jarrod Rains: bass
• Mitch Scott: guitar, lead vocal
• Gary Waldrep: banjo, baritone vocal

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