Essential Original Masters: The Best of Hylo Brown

by Hylo Brown

Overview

Hylo Brown's rather laid-back approach to bluegrass, which featured country-styled vocals and a pace and feel that were really only a half step removed from his Appalachian string band roots, will no doubt sound dated and quaint to those only familiar with the supercharged sounds of contemporary bluegrass. Brown (his real name was Frank Brown -- he was called "Hylo" because he was able to comfortably sing melody lines both in the high and low end of his vocal register) was a featured singer for Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys in the late '50s, and for a time headed up a splinter group, the Timberliners, always sticking fairly close to the string band repertoire of his Kentucky roots. In the mid- to late '60s he recorded seven albums for the Rural Rhythm label, and this collection is drawn from those LP releases. A smooth and unhurried singer, Brown delivers straight-ahead no-frills versions of such mountain traditional pieces as "Wild Bill Jones," "Handsome Molly," "Ground Hog," and "Mole in the Ground" here, all essentially unchanged (accept for a bluegrass approach) from how such songs were sung early in the century. One clear highlight is Brown's laconic rendition of the shaggy dog (or shaggy rat, as the case is here) story "Intoxicated Rat," which is every bit as implausible as it is fun. Again, this isn't the combustible, shiny, and propulsive music that makes up most contemporary bluegrass, but more of a bridge between modern bluegrass and the old-time string bands. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	06/27/2006
Label:	Rural Rhythm
UPC:	0732351031326

Tracks

1. Lonesome Road Blues
2. Walking Cane
3. Wild Bill Jones
4. Froggie Went a Courtin'
5. All the Good Times Are Past and Gone
6. Chain Gang Blues
7. The Prisoner Song
8. Jacob's Ladder
9. Little John Henry
10. Lost to a Stranger
11. Handsome Molly
12. Preacher & the Bear
13. The Picture on the Wall
14. Sunny Tennessee
15. Foolish Pride
16. Lonely Tombs
17. Ground Hog
18. Girl in the Blue Velvet Band
19. Weeping Willow
20. Are You Tired of Me My Darling
21. Sitting on Top of the World
22. Intoxicated Rat
23. Mole in the Ground
24. I'll Be All Smiles Tonight
25. I'm Coming Back But I Don't Know When

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Hylo Brown   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Danny Milhon   Dobro,Guitar
Gerald Evans Jr.   Fiddle
Jim Lewis   Guitar
Jack Casey   Guitar
John Palmer   Bass
Sid Campbell   Guitar,Dobro
Tater Tate   Fiddle
Charles Ross   Bass
Billy Edwards   5-string Banjo
Laura Adkins   5-string Banjo

Technical Credits

Marty Rosamond   Design
Colin Escott   Liner Notes
Sam Passamano, Jr.   Producer
Lee Sutton   Producer
Steve Hoffman   Mastering
Traditional   Composer