The Folkways Years: 1964-1983

by Red Allen

Overview

Other than Ralph Stanley and Jimmy Martin, the self-proclaimed "King of Bluegrass," it's difficult to conceive of a more distinctive bluegrass singer than the late Red Allen. His voice defined the high lonesome sound of the music Bill created from the ground up. This set is actually Allen's debut for Folkways in 1964, and it is rounded out with six outtakes from the same session and selections from four subsequent albums for the label -- 28 tracks in all. It's a hell of a value. From the opening roar of "Little Maggie," with Allen going for the top of his range, letting his voice crack just enough to wring all the drama for the song and lay it in the listener's lap. His singing is pure tradition. Unlike his pals the Country Gentlemen, Allen sticks to Monroe's original model as practiced by Stanley and him. It is noted often that to hear bluegrass in all its majesty you have to listen to the gospel tunes. Allen makes a serious case for that here with his "Are You Washed in the Blood?" His voice calls down fire and brimstone and begs the question of the listener with such intensity and purity of intent its difficult not to be moved by the emotion. And then there's "I'm Just Here to Get My Baby out of Jail," a down in the grass blues. It's a pleading tune, one of forlorn loneliness; you can feel this man beg for his woman. At only two minutes and 11 seconds, it's one of the most powerful songs on the whole set. Allen's other gift -- as if he needed another one with that voice and his rock-steady rhythm guitar playing -- was his ability to take a country song, one from the tradition, and transform it into a bluegrass angel. The evidence of this is on Allen's reading of "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again." I can hear Merle Haggard sing this still and cannot for the life of me fathom how Allen takes this beautiful country ballad and turns it into a mid-tempo bluegrass cruiser. The song remains honest, the emotion and the longing is not reduced one measure by this shape shift, but it remains a cipher, a song within a song that marries two traditions together without seams. Ultimately, this exhaustive collection is the best of Red Allen, and nothing more is needed except by fanatics. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	04/24/2001
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074012727
Rank:	103475

Tracks

1. Little Maggie
2. Somebody Loves You Darling
3. New Camptown Races
4. Are You Afraid to Die?
5. Sweetheart, You Done Me Wrong
6. Are You Washed in the Blood?
7. Deep Blues
8. Ground Hog
9. Catnip
10. The Litte Girl and the Dreadful Snake
11. I'm Just Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail
12. Shake Hands With Mother Again
13. All the Good Times Are Passed and Gone
14. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again
15. Can You Forgive
16. Old Joe Clark
17. Knocking at Your Door
18. Green Apples
19. Hello City Limits
20. Victim to the Tomb
21. Are You Teasing Me?
22. My Sweet Love Ain't Around
23. Dig a Hole in the Meadow
24. I'm Waiting to Hear You Call Me Darling
25. Stone Wall
26. Troubles Around My Door
27. I Guess I'll Go on Dreaming
28. Christian Life

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Red Allen   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Mark Yacovone   Compilation Producer,Producer,Annotation
Walter Bailes   Composer
Benny Martin   Composer
Charlie Louvin   Composer
John Bailes   Composer
Pat Twitty   Composer
Keith Russell   Cover Photo
Ronald Clyne   Photography
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Carla Borden   Editing
Jon Weisberger   Introduction
Harmie Smith   Composer
Lee Michael Demsey   Editing
Mark Johnson   Composer
M. Christian   Composer
Gene Sullivan   Composer
John Duffey   Composer
Frank Wakefield   Composer
Earl Scruggs   Composer
Chuck Johnson   Composer
Ira Louvin   Composer
Kip Lornell   Editing
Bill Monroe   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Zeke Clements   Composer
Zeke Morris   Composer
Karl Davis   Composer
Wiley Walker   Composer
Harty Taylor   Composer
Albert Price   Composer
Hank Williams   Composer
P. Twitty   Composer
Red Allen   Composer
Roy Hall   Composer
Lester Flatt   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Mastering
Wiley Morris   Composer