CD Review: The Golden Guitar of Don Reno

RING CD-5115

Tracks: Gray Eagle / Polka on the Guitar / Lady Hamlet / Italian Waltz / Guitar Medley in "G" / Old Spinning Wheel in the Parlour / Hot Rize Flower Medley/ Turkey in the Straw / Rocking alone in an Old Rocking Chair / Dixie Medley / Peacock Rag / I like Mountain Music / Ranger's Waltz / Train Medley / Tarnation

Personnel: Don Reno, Bill Harrell, Buck Ryan. Overdubs by Ronnie, Dale and Don Wayne Reno.

By Eric Kwiatkowski

IF YOU HAVEN'T heard Don Reno's incredible flat-pick guitar style, then this gem of a CD will soon put that right! These recordings were made in 1972, and feared lost At the behest of Ronnie Reno, and the enthusiasm of King Records' present owner, this release has been made possible. Ifs all instrumental, featuring guitar and fiddle, and all the facets of Reno's guitar style are here. On Italian Waltz, he maximises his use of a full, expressive tone on the single note passages, spiced with clear ornamental pull-offs and a little gentle string bending.

There are double stops reminiscent of his banjo work, and tastefully restrained use of the tremolo - a beautiful effect which it seems to me few guitarists in bluegrass use these days. On Rocking Alone In An Old Rocking Chair, he plays attractive 'fill in' phrases behind the fiddle solo, reminiscent of his work on Gathering Flowers From The Hillside with Red Smiley. Again, not many guitarists I've heard play 'fill-ins' like this, and certainly none as well as Reno. On the up-tempo Dixie Medley, (Are You From Dixie, Dear Old Dixie and Lookaway) Reno uses a Monroe style approach - tremolo on a melody note to sustain it, rather than filling in with a series of different notes, also reminiscent of the twin guitar work of the Delmore Brothers. Tarnation is a string burner, played at pulverising speed. Reno's sheer aggression when powering his way through the bass strings of the guitar just has to be heard! Also evident throughout this CD is his regard for the tune - however hot the playing gets, the melody's never far away. Overall this is a good mix of tunes which really shows what flatpick guitar is about. The overdubs added by his sons are tastefully done; supportive and never intrusive. An absolute gem of a CD by a giant of bluegrass guitar, who arguably is the man who really brought hot flat pick style into Bluegrass. After all, Country Boy Rock And Roll was recorded in 1956...

Eric Kwiatkowski, Nottingham 

CD Review: Rhonda Vincent: Back Home Again

By Graham Lees

Rounder 0460: Back Home Again is a jewel of a bluegrass album, bringing Rhonda Vincent back to her roots. Rhonda's 30 year old career started at the age of three years and has covered country, bluegrass and gospel. She is a highly regarded veteran, who has worked with the likes of George Jones, Dolly Parton and Randy Travis. Back Home Again showcases Rhonda's pure and soulful soprano voice, with aesthetically-chosen numbers. In the liner notes Rhonda says "I began this project with more focus than I had any other. Knowing that the music was pulling at my heart strings". In the 1980s Rhonda's impressive vocal talents won her a lengthy sting of Best Female Vocalist Awards from the Preservation Of Bluegrass Music Of America.

The album kicks off with Wayne Raney's Lonesome Wind Blues which, Vincent says, she learned from a 1977 Buck White and the Down Home Folks album; it was also done by the Delmore Brothers in the early 50s. The track is dominated by the ringing banjo of Marc Pruett, with Rhonda Vincent playing mandolin and Ron Stewart on fiddle. The emotive When I Close My Eyes tugs the heartstrings with the sorrowful line "boy it never ends." Rhonda covers You're In My Heart magnificently (it was written by Ron Block of Union Station fame). Rhonda said that she first heard Alison Krauss sing it on TNN's American Music Shop and loved it.

Jim Rushing/Gene Nelson's Passing Of The Train is given a sensational interpretation allowing the listener to visualise the acceleration of the speeding train, with Ron Stewart playing explosive fiddle and blistering banjo breaks. Slowing it right down, the following track is Ira Louvin's beautiful Out Of Hand, which Rhonda says she has sung for many years with her father Johnny, who joins his daughter on this track along with Rhonda's younger brother Darrin. In the 60s & 70s Rhonda sang with her family's group The Sally Mountain Band. Vincent includes a fast and furious version of Dolly Parton's Jolene, giving this 1974 #1 hit a new lease of life. Another old number reminiscent of the Louvin Brothers is Ray Edenton/Don Winter's Your Running Wild. The album closes with Nolan Jeffress gospel conception Where No Cabins Fall.

Some of the best musicians in the business contribute their talents to this album. Names such as Bryan Sutton (guitar), Steve Sutton (banjo), Marc Pruett (banjo), Ron Stewart (banjo/fiddle), Darrin Vincent (bass, mandolin & harmonies), Jerry Douglas (Dobro), Ron Spears (guitar), Glen Duncan (fiddle) & Luke Bulla (fiddle) are all here. I am safe in saying that Back Home Again is the best new bluegrass album I've heard this century…. seriously there are twelve tracks in all, containing some of the most beautiful harmonising which defies presupposition,this is a truly amazing album well worth buying!

Graham Lees, Dewesbury, W.Yorks Write to | Website

20th April 2000