Wow! Where in the hell did you find this? For all you NGR fans out there (including me), this is a reminder that the New Grass Revival lineup that came before the fabled Bush, Cowan, Fleck, Flynn lineup kicked some SERIOUS ASS. These guys were fearless, and could pick and sing up a storm.
This has always been one of my favorite NGR tunes and Courtney Johnson's banjo playing on this song is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. Genius!
Wow, what a find! So few videos of NGR with Courtney....and so few videos of Courtney in general. I've always found in interesting how Béla played this song with pretty much the same arrangement that Courtney did...just goes to show how much more famous he should've been.
Wow, I had every album these guys did on vinyl back in the '70s, but never got to see them. SO great getting to see Courtney and Curtis now!! I loved this song and practiced Courtney's lead for hours! Tx for posting this!!
I always go back to this tune especially the day after the first storm of the winter, when the dawn breaks into a beautiful calm one. It always brings great memories of new grass playing away on those Ricordi round heavy scratchy things that would rotate on one’s turntable :-) I also often recall Sam Bush saying something from a backstage couch to the effect of “I could retire right now, little bit of a pause, but it ain’t gonna!“ He is certainly one of those great living instrumental ( pun intended) inspirations to many young people who have gone on like him like Sierra Hull,, Chris Thile, and many more. Cheers All ! • Breath It All In Deep •
Great stuff for sure, but I don't see why so many NGR fans make a point of saying this lineup was as good or better than the one with Fleck and Flynn. I'm sorry Courtney Johnson lovers, he's sloppy as all get out and he sounds like he's struggling to stay in time most songs. Curtis Burch in my opinion was always highly underrated, but Flynn's ability to play bottleneck slide as opposed to dobro gave the band more versatility, since they could have slide and rhythm on the same song. Then of course there was the obvious songwriting/composing abilities of Bela and Pat that just took NGR to another level. In short, this lineup was good, but let's not get ahead of ourselves on the comparisons.
It's true that Courtney's timing isn't perfect, and he sometimes slipped up and they just left it in, but there really is a drive and creativity there that I don't hear much in other players. I don't understand how someone like Bela could devote so much of his life to perfecting Reno-style picking, when guitar and mandolin players easily do the same thing faster and better with tremolo picking. If I wanted flawless, I'd listen to Flawless Grass Revival! :)
I really miss Courtney, too. He showed me a few of his licks and techniques, years ago at Bean Blossom, and was a really nice man as well as an inspiring banjo player...
He stated in one of the few songs he wrote that he had an eating disorder due to trauma from being sexually assaulted as a child. The song is called "Drown" i believe.
ah, great Bob Lucas tune....thanks Tom!
Wow! Where in the hell did you find this? For all you NGR fans out there (including me), this is a reminder that the New Grass Revival lineup that came before the fabled Bush, Cowan, Fleck, Flynn lineup kicked some SERIOUS ASS. These guys were fearless, and could pick and sing up a storm.
Brings back good memories...!
Thank you soooooo much for uploading this. This made my day. :)
WoW awesomely awesome 😎
This has always been one of my favorite NGR tunes and Courtney Johnson's banjo playing on this song is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. Genius!
Beala is the banjo magician, but this man here is a truly gifted player 👏
Beautiful history of newgrass. :)
Curtis was my teacher, best gosh darn man around. :') He looks so young and pretty here! ( As always!) Thank you for sharing :)
wow... I cannot believe this cut is on the internet. I was at that show!!!!!!
lots more of that show is on my UA-cam channel.... check it out!
@@BanjoChief I will check it out! too cool!
Thanks Tom -- good, clean source!
Written by one of the best singers/players of all time - Bob Lucas
Wow, what a find! So few videos of NGR with Courtney....and so few videos of Courtney in general. I've always found in interesting how Béla played this song with pretty much the same arrangement that Courtney did...just goes to show how much more famous he should've been.
ua-cam.com/video/FMxsRuoDPyE/v-deo.html
a tip: watch series on Flixzone. I've been using them for watching loads of movies during the lockdown.
The crowd went nuts at the Great Midwestern in Louisville when they played this song. Lucas is a great songwriter. God bless Courtney Johnson.
Tom, you're my hero !
Wow, I had every album these guys did on vinyl back in the '70s, but never got to see them. SO great getting to see Courtney and Curtis now!! I loved this song and practiced Courtney's lead for hours! Tx for posting this!!
do you have the whole show.....one of the best I have seen
Hard to believe how good these guys were at such a young age.
Haha! Check out the Bluegrass Alliance shows in '71. That left me speechless.
I always go back to this tune especially the day after the first storm of the winter, when the dawn breaks into a beautiful calm one.
It always brings great memories of new grass playing away on those Ricordi round heavy scratchy things that would rotate on one’s turntable :-)
I also often recall Sam Bush saying something from a backstage couch to the effect of “I could retire right now, little bit of a pause, but it ain’t gonna!“
He is certainly one of those great living instrumental ( pun intended) inspirations to many young people who have gone on like him like Sierra Hull,, Chris Thile, and many more.
Cheers All !
• Breath It All In Deep •
Is this a Bob Lucas tune?
Should have read the comments, I could've answered my own question
Great stuff for sure, but I don't see why so many NGR fans make a point of saying this lineup was as good or better than the one with Fleck and Flynn. I'm sorry Courtney Johnson lovers, he's sloppy as all get out and he sounds like he's struggling to stay in time most songs. Curtis Burch in my opinion was always highly underrated, but Flynn's ability to play bottleneck slide as opposed to dobro gave the band more versatility, since they could have slide and rhythm on the same song. Then of course there was the obvious songwriting/composing abilities of Bela and Pat that just took NGR to another level.
In short, this lineup was good, but let's not get ahead of ourselves on the comparisons.
It's true that Courtney's timing isn't perfect, and he sometimes slipped up and they just left it in, but there really is a drive and creativity there that I don't hear much in other players. I don't understand how someone like Bela could devote so much of his life to perfecting Reno-style picking, when guitar and mandolin players easily do the same thing faster and better with tremolo picking.
If I wanted flawless, I'd listen to Flawless Grass Revival! :)
I stopped listening to NGR when they lost Courtney...seemed like their music changed for the worst when Bela joined them
I really miss Courtney, too. He showed me a few of his licks and techniques, years ago at Bean Blossom, and was a really nice man as well as an inspiring banjo player...
Hah, John was fat for a while!
Back in those days his nickname was "Jelly" and he had that on his bass strap...
Well, at least he had a sense of humor about it! He sounds just as good as ever.
He stated in one of the few songs he wrote that he had an eating disorder due to trauma from being sexually assaulted as a child. The song is called "Drown" i believe.
Soon after this John lost a ton of weight, bleached his hair and started styling it. He went from Jelly to chick magnet in the '80s. Lol.