''Retrograss'' is a
bluegrass album by
David Grisman,
John Hartford and
Mike Seeger. It was released on the
Acoustic Disc
David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acousti ...
record label in 1999.
For the
2000 Grammy Awards, ''Retrograss'' received a nomination for
Best Traditional Folk Album .
Reception
Writing for
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, critic Brian Kelly wrote "All in all, these live, in-studio recordings are mirthful, rocking chair adaptations of American music history. Seeger and Grisman's honeyed tenors conflict well with Hartford's quirky baritone. There are no breakneck solos, and the whole effort achieves more than the sum of its parts..."
Kevin Oliver of Country Standard Time wrote the "more radical reworkings are balanced out by some less revolutionary, but still intriguing versions of bluegrass tunes - Earl Scruggs, "Flint Hill Special," Jimmy Martin's "My Walking Shoes" and the omnipresent classic, "Uncle Pen." With these more traditional tunes included, what could have been a mere novelty record becomes a fascinating study in the mutability of musical genres from another era."
Track listing
# "My Walking Shoes" (
Jimmy Martin
James Henry Martin (August 10, 1927 – May 14, 2005) was an American bluegrass singer and musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass".
Early years
Martin was born in Sneedville, Tennessee, United States, and was raised in the hard farming l ...
) – 2:49
# "
Hound Dawg" (
Jerry Leiber
Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...
,
Mike Stoller
Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...
) – 2:39
# "
Maggie's Farm" (
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
) – 2:48
# "
Memphis" (
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
) – 2:44
# "Flint Hill Special" (
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finge ...
) – 2:32
# "The Old Home Place" (Mitch Jayne, Dean Webb) – 3:02
# "Uncle Pen" (
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass".
The genre takes its n ...
) – 3:02
# "Air Mail Special on the Fly" (Ossie Godson, Leon Rusk) – 2:14
# "
Rocky Top" (
Boudleaux Bryant
Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto; August 7, 1925 – April 22, 2003) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (; February 13, 1920 – June 25, 1987) were an American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They were be ...
,
Felice Bryant) – 3:30
# "Room at the Stop of the Stair" (Randall Hylton) – 2:14
# "
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (
Steve Cropper
Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...
,
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...
) – 2:38
# "Jerusalem Ridge" (Monroe) – 3:39
# "Windy Mountain" (Curley Ray Cline) – 3:07
# "
Maybellene
"Maybellene" is a rock and roll song by American artist Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the western swing fiddle tune " Ida Red". Released in 1955, Berry’s song tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing ...
" (Berry) – 2:40
# "Blue Ridge Cabin Home" (Louise Certain, Gladys Stacey) – 3:16
# "Rocky Road Blues" (Monroe) – 3:42
# "
When I'm Sixty-Four
"When I'm Sixty-Four" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and released on the 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was one of the first songs McCartney ...
" (
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
,
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
) – 7:51
Personnel
*
David Grisman – banjo, bass, guitar, mandolin, vocals, tenor ukulele
*
John Hartford – banjo, fiddle, guitar, autoharp, vocals, 5-string banjo
*
Mike Seeger – banjo, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, autoharp,
Jew's harp
The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...
, vocals
*Sam Grisman – double bass
Production notes
*Craig Miller – executive producer
*David Dennison – engineer, mixing
*Paul Stubblebine – mastering
*D. Brent Hauseman – design, photography
*Dave Kiphuth – illustrations, drawing
*Andrew Day – photography
*Clarke Prouty – photography
References
{{Authority control
Acoustic Disc albums
David Grisman albums
John Hartford albums
1999 albums