The Best of the Vetco Years

by Dave Evans & River Bend

Overview

In the late '70s, bluegrass singer/songwriter and banjo picker Dave Evans recorded two albums for Vetco, Dave Evans and River Bend and Call Me Long Gone. While Evans had honed his banjo chops and vocals with Larry Sparks and the Boys from Indiana, the 21 cuts he recorded for Vetco were his first work as a leader. Now Rebel, the label where Evans recorded most of his subsequent work, has attained these earlier tapes and issued 15 cuts on The Best of the Vetco Years. Evans work here is fresh, vital, and recorded well, and includes energetic cuts like "Highway 52" and the bluesy "99 Years Is Almost for Life" (the first two cuts). This body of work is interesting for a couple reasons. First, these tracks sparkle because of Evans' and company's first-rate performances, delivering classics like "Barbara Allen" and "White House Blues" as though they meant every word. Secondly, these tracks are deeply invested in tradition and, in the late '70s, ran counter to the active new grass scene that had developed in the 1970s. These recordings showed that the style coined by Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs had life in it yet. Smartly, these songs were recorded "straight" without much echo or other distracting studio additions, allowing Evans voice and the banjos, guitars, fiddles, and dobros to come to the forefront. Evans work on The Best of the Vetco Years will probably cause D.I.W. (dyed in the wool) bluegrass lovers and pickers to crank up the stereo to rock & roll levels. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/06/2008
Label:	Rebel
UPC:	0032511751928
Rank:	82004

Tracks

1. Highway 52
2. 99 Years Is Almost for Life
3. Legend of the Johnson Boys
4. The Train That Carried My Girl from Town
5. Soldier's Return
6. Barbara Allen
7. When the Snow Falls on My Foggy Mountain Home
8. White House Blues
9. Short Life of Trouble
10. Carry Me Back to the Bluegrass
11. Sweeter Than the Flowers
12. Call Me on Home, Too
13. Dark as the Night, Blue as the Day
14. From Life's Other Side
15. Sun's Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dave Evans & River Bend   Primary Artist
Dave Evans   Banjo,Guitar,Vocals,Tenor (Vocal)
Josh Graves   Dobro
Mike Hamilton   Guitar,Tenor (Vocal)
Art Wydner   Bass
Buddy Griffin & His Orchestra   Bass,Fiddle,Baritone (Vocal)

Technical Credits

Lynwood Atkins   Photography
Lois Mann   Composer
A.P. Carter   Composer
Dave Evans   Arranger,Composer,Recitation
David Glasser   Mastering
David Freeman   Compilation Producer
Marty Godbey   Liner Notes
Frank Godbey   Liner Notes
Ervin T. Rouse   Composer
Mark Freeman   Production Coordination