spps-anon001-C401-JohnsonMtnBoysHolestein's ChicagoIL.flac2496
Cassette Tape #401

Transfer by Keith Kreider 08/21/2020

Source Info:
TDK D90 Cassette:Nakamichi ZX-7 > Sound Devices Mixpre-6 @ 24/96

The Johnson Mountain Boys
Holstein's - Chicago, IL 
Circa 1983-1984

Side A: 
01. (Set One Intro)...Instrumental (?)
02. The Waves On The Sea
03. Highway of Sorrow
04. Johnson Mountain Chimes
05. Wasted Words
06. When I Can Forget
07. On My Mind
08. Granite Hill
09. John Henry, The Steel Drivin' Man
10. Weathered Gray Stone 
11. Tomahawk
12. We Can't Be Darlings Anymore
13. He Said If I Be Lifted Up
14. I've Found A Hiding Place
15. Fire On The Mountain
16. Little Community Church House//(end of set)
17. (Set Two Intro)...Instrumental (?)
18. My Dixie Home
19. Blue Yodel No. 3 (x)

Side B: 
01. Five Speed
02. Lonesome Day, Lonesome Night
03. Say You'll Take Me Back
04. Walls of Time
05. Georgia Stomp
06. I Can Read Between The Lines
07. Shady Grove
08. Who Will Call You Sweetheart
09. Too Sweet To Last
10. In The Pines
11. Montgomery County Breakdown (has a few dropouts)
12. Get Down On Your Knees and Pray
13. I Can Tell You The Time
14. Instrumental (?)
15. How Mountain Girls Can Love
16. Lord Protect My Soul
17. Blue Yodel No. 3
18. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Notes:  Cassette #401 is one fine recording of a circa 1983-1984 night at Chicago's famed Lincoln Park folk club, Holstein's, featuring The Johnson Mountain Boys (Dudley Connell-guitar, vocals, Eddie Stubbs-fiddle, vocals, Richard Underwood-banjo, vocals, David McLaughlin-mandolin, vocals & Larry Robbins-bass, vocals). For serious aficionados of high-octane traditional bluegrass, the Johnson Mountain Boys had few peers.  Looking for top shelf picking?...Check.  Sweet gospel harmonies?...Check.  Above all else, the band had impeccable taste and mostly eschewed the tired old bluegrass standards that so many groups have run into the ground.  They even added some wonderful new tunes to the bluegrass canon.  Can't ask for much more...well, the taper could have avoided rough cuts between many tracks, but you'll forgive that minor flaw in this gem.  I believe that the last two songs on Side B come from earlier in the second set that got cut off by the tape flip.  Enjoy!

--Mitchell Wittenberg