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More Ultimate Pickin

Various Artists
1 disc

1. Pretty Little Indian
2. Little Darlin' Pal of Mine
3. Whiskey Before Breakfast
4. Last Night's Fun
5. Big Sandy River
6. Boys of Blue Hill
7. Daley's Reel
8. When Johnny Comes Marching Home
9. Woodchopper's Reel, The - Kristin Scott Benson
10. Temperance Reel
11. Closer Walk with Thee - Phil Leadbetter
12. Cattle in the Cane
13. Katy Hill
14. John Henry
15. Stoney Point
16. Waltz You Saved for Me, The - Jesse McReynolds/Bobby Osborne
17. Goodbye Liza Jane
18. Fire on the Mountain
19. Little Beggar Man (Red Haired Boy)
20. Amazing Grace
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 57116022
Credits

Producer
Engineer
Personnel: Clay Jones, Cody Kilby, Jeff Autry, Jim Hurst, Charlie Cushman (guitar); Phil Leadbetter, Randy Kohrs, Rob Ickes (resonator guitar); Kristin Scott Benson, Scott Vestal (banjo); Andy Leftwich (mandolin, fiddle); Jesse McReynolds, Adam Steffey, Wayne Benson (mandolin); Rickie Simpkins, Ron Stewart, Aubrey Haynie, Jim VanCleve (fiddle); Barry Bales (acoustic bass).
Illustrator: Bob Murray.
More Ultimate Pickin': The Best of Instrumental Bluegrass is exactly what it says: twenty bluegrass instrumentals, many of them familiar, picked with flourish. Even if one is less than knowledgeable about older folk and bluegrass fare, tracks like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Amazing Grace" will be familiar. There are also solid versions of "Whiskey Before Breakfast," "Closer Walk with Thee," and "Goodbye Liza Jane." As one might expect, the arrangements for this pickin' fest include acoustic guitars, banjos, fiddles, dobros, mandolins, and bass. The arrangements and pacing vary from tune to tune, keeping these instrumentals from blending into one another. The personnel, bassist John Cowan, dobro player Rob Ickes, mandolinist Bobby Osborne, and banjoist Scott Vestal will be familiar to bluegrass fans from their recordings on Pinecastle and other record labels. More Ultimate Pickin' has a large caste of characters spread across these 20 tracks, which means that the album, unlike one by Jerry Douglas, is fairly anonymous. The players seem more focused on the melody than fancy licks, rendering these versions more pleasant than inspired (think bluegrass Muzak). Ultimately, the collection is enjoyable background music, perfect for a Sunday drive in the country or working in one's tool shed. For anyone who enjoyed the first volume of Ultimate Pickin', More Ultimate Pickin' delivers a fine successor. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.