Rounder CD 11661-0422-2  
Tracks: Back To The Barrooms / Come On Down To My World / Come Back Sweetheart / I’m So Afraid Of Losing You Again / J's Tune / I Don't Know / Grandpa's Shoes / You Didn't Say Goodbye / Careless Love / My Blue Eyes You Left In Tennessee / White Freightliner / I'm Going That Way.

Personnel: J.D.Crowe (banjo, baritone vocals); Dwight McCall (mandolin, lead and tenor vocal); Phil Leadbetter (resonator guitar); Greg Luck (guitar, lead vocals); Ricky Wasson (guitar); Curt Chapman (bass); Glen Duncan and Buddy Spicher (fiddles).

CD Donated for review and Prize Draw by Mike’s Country Music Room

By Ivon Evans

This new twelve track CD is from the latest version of J.D.Crowe and the New South.

I have come across Dwight McCall before as lead singer on a CD by an excellent group called Union Springs. He has a great high lonesome voice, but only sings lead on tracks two and six; Greg Luck sings lead on the other eight vocal tracks. He also has a good voice, though it's not quite as high as McCall’s. Their vocals blend well with McCall's high tenor, often soaring above Luck's lead vocals.

The two Dwight McCall lead vocal tracks are I Don't Know and the title track, Larry Rice’s Come On Down To My World. Both songs are well suited to McCall’s high lonesome voice. The two instrumentals, J's Tune and Careless Love, are both good vehicles for JD's brilliant banjo playing and also give the others a chance to show what they can do.

The opener is a great version of Merle Haggard's Back To The Barrooms, with the lead and tenor blending perfectly, to give the song a brand new feel. Townes Van Zandt's White Freightliner is another that comes across like a new song. Some of the other tracks worth a special mention are Rebe Gosdin's You Didn't Say Goodbye, My Blue Eyes You Left In Tennessee, and the very poignant Grandpa's Shoes, which is a beautiful song with the lead and tenor once again showing how perfectly matched there are. The album closes with a very rousing version of the gospel song I'm Going That Way, on which everyone sings and plays their hearts out

All the tracks are worth a listen and there isn't really a poor one. The vocal and instrumental standard is as you would expect from any J.D.Crowe release and ranks with his best over the years. To sum up, this is a high quality CD and well worth adding to any collection. It’s up for grabs in the easy-to-enter competition, so why not give it a try?

Ivon Evans, Sunderland

Easy-to-enter CD-Prize Competition

The prize is the new CD by J.D.Crowe and the New South, reviewed elsewhere in this issue.

All you have to do to enter is

• (a) be a paid-up Sponsor and
• (b) send a postcard, letter or Write to stating the names of the three people who have been the main organisers of the Edale Bluegrass Festivals since they started in 1975. (This info should not be hard to find....)

Closing date Monday 9th August. All valid entries will be put in a hat and the winner will be the first drawn out on 12th August.

The CD Prize is donated by sponsor Mike Craig of Mike’s Country Music Room, 18 Hilton Ave., Aberdeen, AB24-4RE. 01224-488526 (24 hr) or Write to

Free Offer! Everyone who buys a copy of the Jim & Jessee box set (see NWBN, May 1999) mentioning this mag. will get a FREE Bluegrass CD (Mike’s choice) until the end of July 1999! Always mention NWBN when you order or ask for a catalogue - Mike has special offers for readers!

1st July 1999