Mark O’Connor Productions, US 1977 -OMAC-2
Genre: Folk, World, Country
Style: Bluegrass
“One of the most fun aspects of music is getting together with your close friends and hot pickers and laying some music on the line. The idea was a tremendous one. The musicians would be Byron Berline and Sam Bush. The place would be the Pacific Northwest where bluegrass music was scarce and where Byron and Sam had never been before. We got on the phone and made arrangements. My Mom and myself would put on and promote the show in Seattle. My friend, Bob Asbury, would help out in Spokane. Byron, Sam, and myself had a great time. The people up here in Washington got to hear their talent and got to know their great personalities just by watching them on stage together. Breaking strings, runnin’ around and goofin’ off made the show so laid back and fun to do - we just had to make it into an album so other people could share in half as much fun as well all had. So...here it is a year later. I’ll close by saying, Thanks to two of the greatest musicians in the world - Sam and Byron. Take care now.”
-Mark O’Connor
Mark O’Connor was only 15 years young when he got a wild hair up his hoo-ha, reached out to two of the most beloved and respected bluegrass musicians at the time, Byron Berline & Sam Bush, and put together a 2-night showcase of all things mandolin- & fiddle-strummin’ in Seattle & Spokane, Washington. But he didn’t just twiddle his thumbs on the sidelines. He held his own up on stage alongside these 2 legends, playing the fiddle, mandolin, and guitar. By the time he reached his teens, he had already established himself as a well respected bluegrass virtuoso, winning national string instrument championships for his masterful playing of all three of these instruments.
After hearing this record all the way through, I feel like it could stand alone as the definitive intro to bluegrass standards and fiddle-pickin’ ballads. They play several bluegrass classics such as “Teardrops in My Eyes”, “John Hardy”, and “Footprints in the Snow”. Some seriously fast, really impressive trio fiddlin’ take place on this record, too, where all three players strum along together in sync, including “Gold Rush”, “Sally Goodin’”, and “Birmingham Fling”. My only beef with this record, and this seems to be the case with many “live in concert” records (I’m lookin’ at you “Frampton Comes Alive”), is the fact that they cut between songs, and possibly even leave out parts of the concert. If this was a long-playing, seamless recording of the concert in its entirety with no gaps between tracks, it would be an even more enjoyable listen. Otherwise, this record is flawless.
My favorites from the record: “Alabama Jubilee”, “Teardrops in My Eyes”, and “Oconee”.
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