Best Of Bluegrass 1959-66
Although the college kids and liberal urbanites who flocked to  the first Newport festivals may have romanticized bluegrass as  traditional mountain music, at least they knew great pickers when they  heard them. In the early '60s, most bluegrass artists were struggling  to build a new audience in the wake of rock & roll and Nashville  countrypolitan, and Newport gave them both a venue and a community. TheStanley Brothers,Flatt & Scruggs,Hylo Brown, and  especiallyBill  Monroeresponded with a palpable energy and joy. These three discs  document some uniformly excellent performances, many never released  before, and even those familiar with theLilly BrothersorJim & JesseMcReynolds will treasure these rare, live, and exhilarating moments  from a pivotal period in American music.--Roy Kasten