Can anyone recommend to me some good bluegrass albums, with non stop fast paced music. With banjo's burning it up. I love it when these guys play that up tempo stuff. But when it slips back down to slower paced song I seem to lose interest.

Some off the top of my head are:

The Lilly Brothers with Don Stover - On The Radio (1952-1953) *burnin' banjo!!*
Red Allen & Frank Wakefield - The Kitchen Tapes (1963)
Red Allen feat. Frank Wakefield - The Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (1964-1983)
Any Ralph Stanley or Stanley Bros.
Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza (Acoustic Disc) *great version of Ashokan Farewell*
This was the first bluegrass ballad that really captivated me. If you want to get into some slower songs this one is great!
Old and In The Way
Clarence White

Some recent banjer players to check out:
Bill Evans
Tony Trischka


For some insanely-fast bluegrass, check out Split Lip Rayfield (RIP Kirk Rundstrom). I was very close to them when I lived in Lawrence, KS and I sat in on mandolin and guitar from time to time. Their bassist uses a one-string bass he made out of an old Ford F-150 gas tank! Killer stuff!!

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/fodera6/Picture2.png

www.splitliprayfield.com
www.lawrence.com/bands/split_lip_rayfield/

Split Lip rocks!!!

Not sure if you're looking for traditional bluegrass or not. If you want to keep up the pace and don't mind some new stuff, check out Bela Fleck's Drive. It's a real work out.

Get some of Jim Mills recordings on Sugar Hill. He has 3 albums out, the most recent is Hide Head Blues. Definitely hard-core, straight ahead, up tempo bluegrass.

He is the monster banjo man holdng down the banjo duties for Ricky Skaggs' band for about 10 years now.

It is what YOU want.

I hate Ricky Skaggs (don't preach at me Ricky!!!:scowl: ), but his band (kentucky thunder) is Insane. M Ramsey has it right, that banjo player can pick!

Also, Sam Bush has a wicked Banjo player name Scott Vestal who is really worth checking out (also from the good 'ol state of Oklahoma).

RIP Kirk

Edit: also check out Psychograss. They are one of my absolute favorites! Todd Phillips is their bass player, probably my bass playing hero, and insanely talented. Also, Tony Trischka, the banjo player, is down right amazing.

The CD "Drive" by Bela Fleck is pretty high energy post-bluegrass stuff.

Amazing band. Amazing banjo. Great transparent bass playing by Mark Shatz.

thanks guys i'll check this stuff out. Keep it coming though!

S-01;

THe following album recomendation has no banjo playing on it, but it has some of the tastiest acoustic music on it ever.
I highly recomend "Skip, Hop, and Wobble" with Russ Barenberg, Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer.
Good Stuff!

i personally like <*(LONGVIEW)>( .. also James King's band solo stuff!! greaaaaaat music!! nashville bluegrass band, K thunders jimmy mills.. Rhonda Vincent and the Rage w/ Kenny Ingram on banjer....

Pick up the new Dan Paisley album it is in your face Bluegrass with TJ Lundy at his finest...

Also Rhonda Vincent albums with Kenny Ingram cranking on the banjo,

Lonesome River Band albums, most of them with Sammy Shelor who is the Man on Banjo today !!

While there are many, many good records... I'd recommend Del McCoury's album 'Family.' On it, Mike Bub plays some of the best traditional, but not boring, bluegrass bass I've heard.

Pick up some of the Nashville Bluegrass Band "years" albums. they are named for the year recorded. 1997, 1999, 2000, etc. The players are all at or near the best on their specific instrument. For bass, I would recommend something that features; Ben Issacs, Missy Raines, Mike Bub, & the guy that plays for Mt. Heart.

yeah Mountain Heart is a great band and Jason Moore is awesome on bass... Blue Highway.. another great bluegrass band... there are so many!!!! then there is also the CherryHolmes family!! :D

Now that we are on to bass players... Cadillac Sky. Their bass player is a masters Graduate of bass at the University of Houston. He is darn good and his tone was amazing when I saw them live. The band is pretty good as well.

I just caught them Thursday night in Nashville and they are outstanding. All are great musicians but the bass player is stunning. Plays a 200+BPM duet with the banjo player arco!

Now that we are on to bass players... Cadillac Sky. Their bass player is a masters Graduate of bass at the University of Houston. He is darn good and his tone was amazing when I saw them live. The band is pretty good as well.

Uh...that would be Andy Moritz. Check out more about him here (http://www.thebassstudio.com). I hung out with him for a couple days this past weekend at a festival where our bands were both playing. Super nice fellow.

I got to talk to Mr Moritz after the show and i totally agree that he was a very nice fellow.

for bluegrass ballads and also fast pickin', i recommend listening to some:

Jimmy Martin
John Hartford

There's also this old thread (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263097) on the topic.

I'll second a few and add 1 or 2 more.

- Ricky Skaggs' band is burning and super fast, despite how you may feel about him personally (not judging, i get it) -- look for "Get Up John", not sure of album
- Anything from Del McCoury
- Flatt & Scruggs
- Bluegrass Cardinals
- Osbourne Bros
- Tony Rice, especially his version of Jerusalem Ridge
- pretty much any Ralph Stanley, 60s and 70s period has some hot numbers
- Hot Rize
- AK & Union Station -- though you do have to fast forward thru a lot of "crossover" pablum, they have some great fast grass numbers

Also can't resist the shameless plug -- I've got meself a little group too and we seem to get faster and faster all the time, for better or worse. Current recordings are with old (literally) fiddler who couldn't keep up but a new one is coming soon enough: http://www.bandolins.com

this guy has a bunch of old ripping instrumentals and e.c.t.. of course he has alot of songs too!!

BILL MONROE and his bluegrass boys

If you want burning fast banjo, hot playing and GREAT singing it has to be the Ricky Skaggs Bluegrass CDs -- "Bluegrass Rules" (with the forementioned "Get Up John"), "Ancient Tones", "Instrumentals" (all originals), and "History of the Future". The group also has a live CD from Charleston Hall or some such. Skaggs comes from the old Stanley Brothers tradition of Bluegrass and nobody does it better now. Skaggs has also totally immersed himself in the fantastic Bill Monroe style of mandolin playing. Don't miss any of these.

If you want the ultimate in Bluegrass Bass playing, get the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (First Volume) which features the inimitable Junior Huskey on bass (Huskey is the father of Roy Huskey, Jr., another bass master heard on vols. 2 & 3 of "WTCBU" (though I don't totally recommend these CDs as the song and energy level doesn't match vol. 1). Vol.1 is, IMHO, the best thing ever put on vinyl!!! Period!!!

To finish out your collection get all the Bluegrass Album Band CDs you can find (vols. 1,2,5, and 6 are usually on sale everywhere). The amazing Todd Phillips holds down the bass chair impeccably, and the rest of the band are the cream of the cream of the bluegrass crop (I believe Mak Schatz takes over the bass on CD 5). J.D. Crowe is the banjo picker here, and is a master template for timing and taste. He also provides some fine backup singing. Tony Rice plays unbelievable flat-top guitar -- so clean and smooth!! Guitarists all over attempt to copy his every note. Plus at that time, he sang and sang very well with a pleasant baritone lead voice that really gives new life to these classic standard bluegrass tunes. Bobby Hicks is on fiddle, and he is one of the consummate bluegrass fiddle players, a true master of double and triple stops. Finally, Doyle Lawson brings some extrememly tasty mandolin playing and great backup singing to the table.

If you still have some cash left, get the Bill Monroe box set -- the 4 CD one (Mercury or Capitol I believe). That's where Bluegrass started, and the music, though some of it is quite old, it is all still relevant to today's tastes. The same goes for the "Complete Mercury Sessions of Flatt and Scruggs", a 2 CD set. The music is clear as a bell, and is very lively, 'though a little heavy on Gospel music. Check out the slap bass solo on "Foggy Mountain Special".
Mike

"BILL MONROE and his Bluegrass Boys"

+1

I'm always amazed at how many younger "bluegrass fans" have never listened to Bill.

The various modern proponents of the genre have pulled different threads from the bluegrass cloth but only The Bluegrass Boys do it all, from sweet waltzes to murder ballads to killer gospel to smoking instrumentals. Monroe wrote over 600 tunes & songs, a truly worthy contribution, only a few of which get exposed today.

The 4 CD boxed set on MCA covers the best of Bill's Decca recordings from 1936 to 1979.
The Bear Family 4 CD set dovetails neatly with the MCA and has more of Bill's Columbia sides.

There are also two Smithsonian Folkways records that rock.
'Bill Monroe & Doc Watson; Live duet Recordings ' is the pared down essence of the style and 'Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys; Live Recordings' is a great listen too.

Excuse me, I have to go & put some Monroe in the CD player. :)

Yeah, in that other thread we got into a bit of the "Bill Monroe can be an acquired taste, best not to scare newcomers" theme. I can dig that point of view. The singing in particular can strike some people the wrong way but to me, though, Bill's high tenor and his harmony singing are right there in the core of bluegrass, along with the Scruggs-style banjo and the Monroe mandolin chop. It's a whole style of harmony singing unto itself and it's so distinctively "bluegrass". So much of the high lonesome is in the vocals.

Even if you wind up not digging Bill, at least you'll know you've heard the Big Daddy.

"Bill Monroe can be an acquired taste, best not to scare newcomers" I can dig that point of view. The singing in particular can strike some people the wrong way but to me, though, Bill's high tenor and his harmony singing are right there in the core of bluegrass, along with the Scruggs-style banjo and the Monroe mandolin chop. It's a whole style of harmony singing unto itself and it's so distinctively "bluegrass". So much of the high lonesome is in the vocals.

Even if you wind up not digging Bill, at least you'll know you've heard the Big Daddy.

sometimes with bill's old early recordings, you have to notch down the treble aways,(ear piercing) cause of that high tenor soulfull voice of his!! his voice is why i got hooked on bluegrass in the 1st place, plus the fast tempos..yes i can see how he can be an aquired taste!:) i dig that HIGH LONESOME SOUND...

Yeah, in that other thread we got into a bit of the "Bill Monroe can be an acquired taste, best not to scare newcomers" theme. I can dig that point of view. The singing in particular can strike some people the wrong way but to me, though, Bill's high tenor and his harmony singing are right there in the core of bluegrass, along with the Scruggs-style banjo and the Monroe mandolin chop. It's a whole style of harmony singing unto itself and it's so distinctively "bluegrass". So much of the high lonesome is in the vocals.

Even if you wind up not digging Bill, at least you'll know you've heard the Big Daddy.

That was precisely why I recommended the Bluegrass Album Bands with Tony Rice singing. His voice WAS such a smooth baritone that it will be appreciated by anyone having a bias against "True" bluegrass. Eventually the great singing of Bill Monroe will raise the little hairs on your arm and back of the neck after you get to know him.

Bill Monroe, of course, is to Bluegrass what James Brown is to funk. BUT, I can see how it might not be what newer fans are looking for, at first. For me, it's the quality of the recordings alone. It just isn't great. Not to take anything away from the music. But eventually everyone should give him a listen. He is after all the guy who came up with the term "bluegrass", no? To get away from the stigma of "hillbilly" music.

One I forgot to mention, if you can dig compilations, a great "intro" to straight-ahead grass is an album put out I think by Time/Life called "Pure Pickin' - Classic Bluegrass Instrumentals." Got a lot of stuff already mentioned:

Flatt && Scruggs / Foggy Mountain Breakdown
The Stanley Brothers / Clinch Mountain Backstep
Alison Krauss && Union Station / Cluck Old Hen
Fiddle Fever / Ashokan Farewell
Tony Rice / Jerusalem Ridge
Ricky Scaggs / Get Up John
Doc && Merle Watson / Black Mountain Rag
J.D. Crowe And The New South / Nashville Skyline Rag
Arthur Smith && Don Reno / Fuedin' Banjos
Bill Monroe / Dusty Miller
Bela Fleck / Blue Mountain Hop
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band / Orange Blossom Special
Bluegrass Album Band / Wheel Hoss
Reno && Smiley / Charlotte Breakdown
The Del McCoury Band / Baltimore Johnny
The Kentucky Colonels / Nine Pound Hammer
Vassar Clements / Turkey In The Straw
Mark O'Connor / Gold Rush

Hate to resurrect an old thread but "Tales from the Acoustic Planet: Vol II" is awesome!