The New Seldom Scene Album

by The Seldom Scene

Overview

There is a funny moment on The New Seldom Scene Album (1976) that will leave fans smirking: does John Starling really make a reference to cocaine on Greg "Fingers" Taylor's "Big Rig"? It sure sounds like it, though the official version of the lyric is "smokin'," not "snortin'." Perhaps it sounded more natural when Jimmy Buffett sang it on Havana Daydreamin', but one has to remember this all happened in the '70s (and if someone had been smoking, it probably wouldn't have been cigarettes). The Seldom Scene had always proven eclectic in their song choices, and The New Seldom Scene Album is no different. Here, the band has written several originals, borrowed a classic from the Stanley Brothers, and picked up one Herb Pedersen and two Rodney Crowell songs. But the album also finds the band in a restless mood, edging away from its original template on cuts like Pedersen's "Easy Ride from Good Times to the Blues." Mike Auldridge trades his Dobro for a pedal steel here and guest Mark Cuff adds drums. It's a strange mixture, much less integrated than similar experiments by the New Grass Revival, and the band quickly switches between this and a more traditional mode of playing. While there is much to admire about the album, and while cuts like "I Haven't Got the Right to Love You" and "Rebels You Rest" are as good as anything the band had ever recorded, it's easy to get the impression that the original lineup was running out of ideas. Still, even on an off day, the charge of listening to the Seldom Scene is closer to "snortin'" than "smokin'," regardless of the lyric sheet. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/25/1994
Label:	REBEL RECORDS
UPC:	0032511156129

Tracks

1. Big Rig
2. If That's the Way You Feel
3. Easy Ride from Good Times to the Blues
4. Paradise Valley
5. California Earthquake
6. Railroad Man
7. Answer Your Call
8. I Haven't Got the Right to Love You
9. Song for Life
10. Rebels Ye Rest
11. Pictures from Life's Other Side

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Seldom Scene   Primary Artist
Linda Ronstadt   Guest Artist,Vocals,Vocal Harmony
John Duffey   Mandolin,Vocals,Guitar
John Starling   Guitar,Vocals
Mike Auldridge   Dobro,Guitar,Vocals,Pedal Steel
Tom Gray   Bass,Vocals
Markus Cuff   Drums
John Duffy   Mandolin,Guitar,Vocals
Ben Eldridge   Banjo,Dobro,Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

The Seldom Scene   Producer
John Starling   Arranger,Composer
Rodney Crowell   Composer
Ralph Stanley   Composer
Tom Gray   Arranger
Herb Pedersen   Composer
John Duffey   Arranger
Carter Stanley   Composer
Gary B. Reid   Production Coordination
Bill McElroy   Engineer
Greg "Fingers" Taylor   Composer
Fred Carlson   Design