Keep on Going: The Rebel & Melodeon Recordings

by Red Allen

Overview

While it's common, and perhaps unfair, to judge new music against classics from yesteryear, the process is inevitable. It's the handful of recordings by a handful of artists that serve as touchstones for everything that follows, and remind reviewers, critics, and listeners just how far many new artists have to go. The early- to mid- '60s recordings that Red Allen made for Rebel and Melodeon fit into that rare category, qualifying as fabulous bluegrass that also serves as an acid test to post-millennium purveyors of jazzed-up mountain music. Many factors -- great pickers, good material -- work toward the overall effect, but the secret ingredient on Keep on Going is Allen's ability to inject everything he touches with lots of country soul. There's nothing particularly special about the lyric of "I Don't Know Why," but Allen's lead, and his harmony with Wayne Yates on the chorus, turn each line into a sad refrain that reaches down deep. The cuts with brothers Billy and Wayne Yates, in particular, sound as old-timey as 1946, while the earlier material with mandolinist Frank Wakefield combines old-timey singing with cutting-edge instrumental work. Keep on Going reminds listeners that while bluegrass certainly benefits from instrumental proficiency and smoothly blended harmony, the truly great musicians fill their music with a depth of feeling and inspiration. Allen's work will also remind listeners how bluegrass was made back in the old days, and teach aspiring musicians exactly what it takes to make a classic. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/18/2004
Label:	Rebel
UPC:	0032511112729
Rank:	123704

Tracks

1. Don't Lie to Me
2. Lonesome Weary Heart
3. Sad and Lonesome Day
4. I Don't Believe You'de Do Me Wrong
5. Little Birdie
6. Faded Memory
7. Froggy Went a Courtin'
8. Sad and Lonesome Day
9. Journey's End
10. Those "Gone and Left Me" Blues
11. No Blind Ones There
12. The Family Who Prays
13. If That's the Way You Feel
14. Worry My Life Away
15. Down Where the River Bends
16. Hello City Limits
17. Out on the Ocean
18. I Don't Know Why
19. Plant Some Flowers by My Graveside
20. Close By
21. Froggy Went a Courtin'
22. Purple Heart
23. Keep on Going

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Red Allen   Primary Artist,Tenor (Vocal),Vocals,Guitar
Frank Wakefield   Primary Artist,Vocals,Tenor (Vocal),Mandolin
Pete Kuykendall   Double Bass,Guitar
Bill Yates   Double Bass,Vocals,Bass,Tenor (Vocal)
Tom Morgan   Double Bass,Bass
Bill Emerson   Vocals,Banjo,Baritone (Vocal)
Jim Cox   Double Bass,Bass
Ralph (Robbie) Robinson   Banjo,Vocals
Billy Baker   Fiddle
Chubby Wise   Fiddle
Scotty Stoneman   Fiddle
Porter Church   Banjo
Wayne Yates   Baritone (Vocal),Bass (Vocal),Vocals,Mandolin

Technical Credits

Jon Hartley Fox   Liner Notes,Liner Notes
Charles R. Freeland   Audio Production,Producer
Frank Wakefield   Audio Production,Producer,Composer
Red Allen   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Pete Kuykendall   Audio Production,Engineer,Producer
Ralph Stanley   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Bill Monroe   Composer
Ira Louvin   Composer
Jack Anglin   Composer
Jimmy Wakely   Composer
Paul Gerry   Photography
David Glasser   Mastering,Transfers
Jimmie Davis   Composer
Benny Martin   Composer
David Freeman   Executive Producer
Keith Russell   Photography
Rabon Delmore   Composer
Mark Freeman   Production Coordination
Wayne Raney   Composer
Johnnie Wright   Composer
Alton Delmore   Composer
Wayne Yates   Photography
Gene Lowinger   Photography