Wabash Cannonball by Flatt & Scruggs (Vinyl record album review)

Record basics

Album name: Wabash Cannonball

Group name: Flatt & Scruggs

Number of discs: one

Label: Columbia Records

Collection: Brenner / Gessner

Buy it on Amazon: $2.22

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m a big Flatt & Scruggs fan (and am proud to have seen Earl Scruggs perform shortly before he died), and listen to the live record from their 1962 performance at Carnegie Hall more than almost any other record. I know the song Wabash Cannonball and it’s not really one of my favorites, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever listened to the “Wabash Cannonball” album.

What I expected

Bluegrass.

What it was actually like

I was extremely surprised at how little I enjoyed this record. Most bluegrass, and certainly most of the best bluegrass, is played at fast tempos – the whole genre is meant to be enjoyed at fast tempos – but this record had far more than its share of slower songs. I don’t mind a few, but to me, one of the great joys of bluegrass music is when the fiddle and banjo are on such a tear that I wonder how the mandolin and bass are managing to keep up the pace.

I also found it amusing that my father’s customary “G” was missing from the upper left corner of the front of this album; presumably he anticipated that nobody would bother stealing it.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me (anyone interested in trying out bluegrass should listen to Flatt & Scruggs At Carnegie Hall instead).