Editorial Review:Amazon.com:During the 'folk music-scare' of the early 1960s, a bunch of white middle-class youths with names like the Greenbriar Boys and the Even Dozen Jug Band discovered the mountain music of the Stanley Brothers, Skillet Lickers, and Uncle Dave Macon and set about introducing it to the country's college kids. Four decades later, the members of OCMS fit the profile of those early revivalists, yet if anything they have tapped deeper into the primal elements of an American art form. As demonstrated on their debut, they have assimilated not just the sound--banjos, harmonicas, acoustic guitar and bass--but more importantly the haunting spirit of music that was made to keep hard times at bay. How else to explain their ability to take a well-worn chestnut like 'CC Rider' and infuse it with an energy that reveals once again why it is a classic? Not content to live completely in the past, they wrote 'Big Time in the Jungle,' which, though it is about Vietnam, could easily be transposed to 2004's desert conflicts. Kindred spirit and producer David Rawlings (Gillian Welch's longtime collaborator) has kept their energy intact, but one can only wonder what sort of magic they must deliver live.
--Michael Ross
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Disc 1:- Tell It To Me
- Big Time In The Jungle
- Poor Man
- Tear It Down
- Hard To Love
- CC Rider
- Trials & Troubles
- Hard To Tell
- Take 'em Away
- We're All In This Together
- Wagon Wheel
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Tell It To Me!
I heard these guys for the first time on NPR's Prairie Home Companion. Their rendition of "Wagon Wheel," the last track on this disc, was the perfect tune to be listening to, while riding down the road towards home. The disc as a whole is nearly perfect. Balanced, bluegrass harmonies and skillful musicianship blend to create a disc that I have listened to hundreds of times, never growing tired.
Especially great is the rendition of "CC Rider" the best version of that classic since Ray Charles. Also fantastic are "Take 'em Away" and "Tell It To Me," but there isn't a bad track on the album.
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Old Crow Medicine Show
Like hearing the old-time bluegrass with a contemporary spin. I think they target younger audiences but older folks may enjoy - just tune out the drug parts.
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Solid Album & Refreshing 'New' Sound From Old Genras
Old Crow Medicine Show has taken bluegrass, rock and country music and, IMO, fused it into some real good-time music. While the Album is strong throughout, "Wagon Wheel" is what I would call their signature song. It's catchy and will appeal to anybody who loves lively music and who does not have a built in bias against vocals with a twang. I've seen them live and they were great. While their second CD does not have a song as catchy as "Wagon Wheel", I think OCMS's second album is more consistent throughout than this CD.
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A Modern Bluegrass Classic
These gorgeous bluegrass boys solidified their Classic Status with this album - a dynamic ebb and flow of roots bluegrass and heartfelt folk with a punch of punk to boot. They play old school yet so modern and fresh. My mark of a great band is if they can hold up and shine live, and believe me, they Bring Down the House, or Tear the Roof Off, or any other construction/housing analogy you wish... CLASSIC.
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Great stuff - get it now
This is great music, even if you don't like bluegrass.
Alos pick up O.C.M.S.'s "Big Iron World" as it is even better.
J.
