The original
Capitol Records
session that this re-release was drawn from was the result of a successful attempt to lure this brother duo back into performing in the early '60s, after
Bill
and
Earl Bolick
had been retired for almost a decade. They had lost none of their stunning ability to harmonize and create an instrumental sound with the impact of a full band out of basic guitar and mandolin. In fact, the improvements in recording technology make it even easier to hear all the small details, and thus to appreciate just how good
the Blue Sky Boys
were. This program has a fair share of perhaps overly familiar
folk
chestnuts, but the brothers could make an audience weep singing from a restaurant menu, so listeners shouldn't let the song list put them off. Kudos to the John Edwards Memorial Foundation, which created this reissue, and the National Endowment for the Arts, whose funding once supported a number of worthy projects such as this. It comes complete with a 31-page booklet that includes complete lyrics as well as music, and tons of information. ~ Eugene Chadbourne