BLACK MOUNTAIN BLUEGRASS BOYS: Live at Midnight

Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys

Live at Midnight

© 2001 Pocahontas Communications Cooperative Corporation

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Some of the best regional bluegrass that can be heard today.

tracks

1 Program Intro
2 Announcer
3 Shuckin' Corn
4 Outro-Shuckin' Corn, Intro-Little Girl of Mine
5 Little Girl of Mine in Tennessee
6 Weary Heart
7 Intro-Shenandoah Breakdown
8 Shenandoah Breakdown
9 Outro-Shenandoah Breakdown
10 Intro-Old Home Place
11 Old Home Place
12 Outro-Old Home Place, Introduce Band
13 Intro-On My Way Back to the Old Home
14 On My Way Back to the OId Home
15 Outro-On My Way Back
16 Intro-Pike County Breakdown
17 Pike County Breakdown
18 Outro-Pike County Breakdown
19 Intro-Memory of Your Smile
20 Memory of Your Smile
21 Outro-Memory of Your Smile,
22 Intro-Charlie Brown
23 Charlie Brown, Petticoat Junction, Walking the Dog
24 Outro-Charlie Brown
25 Intro-I Don't Know Why It Is That I Love You
26 I Don't Know Why It Is That I Love You
27 Intro-Little Maggie
28 Little Maggie
29 Honky Tonkin' (Gonna Paint the Town)
30 Intro-I'm Walkin' the Dog
31 I'm Walkin' the Dog
32 Intro-Million Lonely Days
33 Million Lonely Days
34 Train 45
35 Program Outro
36 Credits

notes

The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys: Live at Midnight is a recording of an actual live broadcast over Allegheny Mountain Radio from the studios of WVMR, Frost, WV on October 10, 1999. In keeping with the traditional orientation of the band, there was no mixing or processing of the music, and only one microphone was used-an Audio-Technica AT4033A/SM.

The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys are among West Virginia's oldest bluegrass bands. The group first organized in 1968 around the threesome of Richard Hefner (banjo/tenor vocal), his brother Bill Hefner (mandolin/baritone vocal), and the late Harley Carpenter (guitar/lead vocal). They took their name from Black Mountain in their native Pocahontas County. For some five years the group worked a weekly radio show on WVAR, Richwood WV and played at a lot of local events and regional bluegrass festivals. In the mid-1970s they recorded a pair of albums for the Lark label: "Million Lonely Days" (Lark 2140) and "Talk of the County" (Lark 2141).

As with most bluegrass bands, the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys have had personnel changes over the years. Richard Hefner is the only original member; Harley Carpenter passed away in 1998. Richard's traditional bluegrass banjo and tenor vocals have contributed both continuity and much of the "high lonesome" sound for which the band has become known. He has also displayed his banjo skills many times as a victor in contests and the Vandalia Festival. Chris Nickell from Monroe County, WV contributes some fine lead and rhythm guitar work as well as lead vocals. Rick Carpenter, Harley's son, does some fine mandolin picking as well as lead and baritone vocals. Bass player Mike Smith from Culloden, WV has worked with such notables as Larry Sparks, Dave Evans, and the Goins Brothers.

For their first recording project in several years, the band taped a live, on-air radio performance using a single microphone-as was much of the original bluegrass sound that later technology has never been able to surpass in quality. The numbers chosen reflect the band members' affection for the original pioneers of the music. "The Weary Heart You Stole Away", "The Memory of Your Smile", and "Honky Tonkin'" all come from the recorded repertory of the Stanley Brothers. So do "Train 45" and "Little Maggie", although these numbers date back to at least the late 20s. "I'm On My Way Back Home To The Old Home", "Pike County Breakdown", and "Shenandoah Breakdown" pay tribute to the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe. "Little Girl of Mine in Tennessee" and "Shuckin' the Corn" derive from the work of Flatt and Scruggs, as does the TV theme song "Petticoat Junction". "The Old Home Place" probably ranks as the most influential song introduced to bluegrass by the Dillards (the Darlings of the Andy Griffith TV show). "I'm Walking the Dog" was a big county hit for Webb Pierce in 1953, but only the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys and Del McCoury's Dixie Pals seem to have grasped what a great bluegrass song it is. "I Don't Know Why It Is That I Love You" comes from the Delmore Brothers and Wayne Raney. "Million Lonely Days" is a Richard Hefner original, dating back to 1968. Finally, two numbers demonstrate the band's ability to adapt songs from other musical traditions: "Charlie Brown" was a big hit in 1959 for the rock and roll group The Coasters and "Walking The Dog" comes from legendary Memphis blues man Rufus Thomas, who hit with it in the 1960s.

This radio show and CD are dedicated to the memory of Harley Carpenter whose dynamic guitar and great lead singing won him the title "The Elvis Presley of Bluegrass Music".

reviews

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  • live at midnight
    author: noel brechin

    great stuff keep it up, thanks N oel

  • live at midnight
    author: Richard Mines

    this album is awesome, being i am from greenbrier county wv, i hear alot of Richard and His Band, i have the cd's and love them, Looking forward to seeing Richard again at The Greenbrier Sporting Club at the end of June, thanks to Richard and his band for the great music,,, keep it coming

  • Really good!
    author: Aaron Kidd (The Kidd Brothers)

    I loved the CD! Me and my brother Andrew played with Chris and Richard at the Allegheny Echoes bluegrass camp, great guys, great musicians! I especially loved "Charlie Brown/Petticoat Junction/Walkin' the Dog." Keep up the good work guys, and thanks for the speedy delivery, CD Baby!

  • Band full of chemistry,talent..awesome.Richard is my brother!
    author: Nancy Hefner Gibby

    They sound great,magical I would say. Being in the middle of nowhere and so late at night when they recorded this cd (not to mention live)the music speaks for it's self. The best undiscovered band out there. Great job.

  • Brings chills through you. pure bluegrass
    author: Jeff Crumpton

    Growing up in Ashland Kentucky, and living in West Virginia I have listened to a lot of bluegrass but The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys put the grass back in the bluegrass. I get chills every time I here them play it take me back to My Kentucky Home!

  • Great and gets better each time I play it
    author: Dave Anderson

    Richard and the "boys" put down some of the finest bluegrass I have listened to. Its amazing to think this album was done live with one mic and no mixing. It has become my favorite CD and considering the many CDs in my collection that says a lot for the quality of this album.

  • author: CD Baby

    Some of the best regional bluegrass that can be heard today. The instrumentation and songwriting are both top notch. Think: soundtrack of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" mixed up with some more mountain traditions. Either way, it is a fun bluegrass album with all the fingerpickin' and downhome honesty you could ask for.

  • Authentic honest bluegrass music with musicians who love the genre and play from
    author: Jack Gubanc

    The only missing elements from this live performance is a fire roaring in a stone hearth, a spread of home cooked food and some hard cider or home brew to complement the incredible artists and the authentic music they create. You could search all over Nashville to find comporable musicians, but they would not have the soul, talent and authenticity of this group of musicians who play music that could be categorized as "symphonic bluegrass" for they play as though they are a single unit. If you enjoyed the authenticity of the music score from the movie "Oh Brother.... then this album is a must for you. These "good old boys", and I use the term endearingly, are as good as authentic bluegrass can get!

  • Best Regional Bluegrass
    author: Ivan M. Tribe, University Of Rio Grande, Mountaineer Jamboree: C

    In all, the songs reflect the wide musical tastes of a group that remains rooted in traditional bluegrass but sometimes displays rare eclecticism. The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys demonstrate some of the best regional bluegrass that can be heard today.

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