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THE GREENBRIAR BOYS
The Best Of The Vanguard Years (Vanguard)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
As the Great Folk Scare of the sixties was being born around Washington Square Park in New York City, the traditional sounds of country music were being replaced by the new, more polished, sounds from Nashville. In the process, we almost lost bluegrass. Happily, bluegrass caught the attention of some of the New York folkies, and some of the best of them began to perform in the park and the basket clubs of Greenwich Village as The Greenbriar Boys.
The original lineup included Eric Weissberg, but he left to join the Tarriers with Eric Darling and Alan Arkin, and by the time Vanguard Records' Maynard Solomon signed them to appear on the 1961 compilation New Folks, the lineup had settled with John Herald on guitar, Bob Yelin on banjo and Ralph Rinzler on mandolin, with all three sharing vocals.
They made the New Folks album, represented by the first four tracks on this two disc compellation, and caught the ear of Joan Baez, who brought them aboard for her second Vanguard album. Two cuts from that project are included here as well.
In 1962 the group was ready to cut a full album on their own, and disc one of this set is rounded out with 8 of the 14 tracks on The Greenbriar Boys. Interestingly, the trio of urban Jews was often most effective on the backwoods gospel numbers like "Life Is Like A Mountain Railway."
It was 1964 before they released another album, Ragged But Right!. The ten tracks that open disc two provide evidence of considerable growth both in the band's musicianship and in its sense of adventure in selecting material. Yellin contributed a pair of instrumental originals and they covered jug band material and blues along with the standard bluegrass arrangements of old time mountain material. This was the last recorded appearance of Rinzler with the group, as his field recording, artist management and other activities left him without the time to continue touring as a Greenbriar Boy. His replacement, Frank Wakefield, was an experienced bluegrass hand with a particularly strong lead voice. The band also expanded to include a fiddler, Jim Buchanan, before releasing Better Late Than Never in 1966. The album, perhaps their best, was also their last, as Yellin moved to Israel and the others set out on their own paths.
By the time they broke up, though, bluegrass had attracted a new generation of fans in sufficient strength to keep the revival bands busy and to keep the older players in the business when they might have retired from music without a new infusion of interest. For this, we owe The Greenbriar Boys our heartfelt thanks. If you're not sure why, pick up a copy of this set.
Track Lists:
Disc One: Katy Clyne * I'm Coming Back But I Don't Know When * Stewball * Rawhide * Banks Of The Ohio (w/Joan Baez) * Pal Of Mine (w/Joan Baez) * We Shall Not Be Moved * We Need A Whole Lot More Of Jesus * Girl On The Greenbriar Shore * Life Is Like A Mountain Railway * Down The Road * Rosie's Gone Again * Amelia Earhart's Last Flight * Other Side Of Jordan
Disc Two: Sleepy-Eyed John * Ragged But Right * McKinley * Levee Breaking Blues * A Minor Breakdown * Let Me Fall * The Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me * At The End Of A Long, Lonely Day * Yellin Holler * I Cried Again * The Train That I Ride * I Heard The Bluebirds Sing * Morning Train * Shackles And Chains * Chicken * Alligator Man * Russian Around * Up To My Neck In High Muddy Waters * Little Birdie * Prisoner's Song * Different Drum
© 2002 - Shaun Dale