Live at the Birchmere
When the tapes of the Johnson Mountain Boys performance at the Birchmere on April 5, 1983, were released the following year asLive at the Birchmerethe Johnson Mountain Boys' reputation as the best mainstream bluegrass band of their generation was firmly cemented. Now that album has finally been released on CD with three previously unreleased numbers from that night thrown in. The new songs include "Big Rufus," "I'm Dying a Sinner's Death," and "I'll Never See You Anymore." The previously released numbers include three Bill Monroe classics, a raucous version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Blue Yodel #3," an original heartbreaker by singer/guitarist Dudley Connell, and "Sugarloaf Mountain Special," Eddie Stubbs's fiddling tribute to the band's Montgomery County roots.--Geoffrey Himes