Dayton to Knoxville

Before they plugged their mandolin and banjo into guitar amps, before they hired a drummer and basically served as godfathers of the progressive bluegrass movement that took off the in '60s, Bobby and Sonny Osborne led a straight-ahead bluegrass band that had more in common with Flatt & Scruggs than with stylistic descendants like the New Grass Revival (or even the Country Gentlemen). The second disc in this four-volume series documents the group's early years, when their repertoire leaned heavily towards Louvin Brothers songs and crowd-pleasing patriotic novelty tunes. On this program, the latter are represented by "Alabama" and the rather maudlin "Wrap My Body in Old Glory When I Go," neither of which is a bad song, but both of which are just a bit over the top lyrically. The Louvin material includes excellent versions of "Seven Year Blues" and "I'm Gonna Love You One More Time." But the best tracks on this disc are the last two, both of them featuring the young Jimmy Martin on lead vocals and guitar. These two selections, "Can't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn" and "Across the Sea Blues," are demo recordings salvaged from beat-up acetate transfers, and the sound quality is abysmal. But the performances are spectacular — Martin's voice is at its piercing best, and the blend he achieves with Bobby Osborne is hair-raising. Most of this album will be of primary interest to bluegrass historians, but those last two tracks will be worth the price of the album to any bluegrass lover.