[SYN-064]
Selecting our favorite song tracks from the Grass Series for this compilation turned out to be a most difficult task for us. There were simply too many great tracks to choose from. Every song in the series is unique, top notch and delicious. The ingredients for our songs are hand picked and carefully selected from the finest quality organic resources available. We then take those ingredients and, with the greatest of skill and care, we chop, slice, dice, marinade, sauté and mix them in very precise proportions and combinations. They are then served up with a spicy gravy and colorful garnish. Each serving is guaranteed to delight and surprise your musical palate. Whether you like the finest gourmet cuisine or a down and dirty Texas-style BBQ we're darn sure you'll enjoy sinking your chops into these finger-thumping, toe-tapping tunes. We just hope that you enjoy listening to these here songs as much as we enjoyed creating them.
— Sir Howard Ding (President of the Moo Chair Society)

[SYN-063]
Gospel and bluegrass as we now know them both came to exist around the same time, in the era of the Great Depression. Their respective roots, of course, date farther back in American history, via centuries old "Negro spirituals" and the early folk music traditions that trickled down from the mountains of Appalachia. Despite the obvious racial divide, an eventual crossover was inevitable, seeing as how the two forms were, quite literally, neighbors. But not just in geographic terms. Both, in essence, were the music of the American south's poor, downtrodden and disaffected. Bluegrass might sound like a party but it cloaked an ongoing obsession with such themes as pathos and death. Gospel, meanwhile, for all its perceived weightiness, had but one main concern: delivering uplift and hope. How fitting, then, to tether a selection of classic gospel staples to the natural ebullience of bluegrass, and let fly! Let us now rejoice.

[SYN-062]
One has to wonder how the Grateful Dead spent an entire career getting pigeonholed as psychedelic hippies when you consider the extraordinary range of musical styles they embraced. On album, as in their legendary live sets, they explored everything from modern jazz to world music, and were never shy about their love for traditional American roots music, either — blues, country, folk and, most certainly, bluegrass — a fact exemplified as much by their choice of covers down the years as by the originals featured here. As early as 1970's American Beauty you can hear mandolin virtuoso David Grisman featuring on the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter classics "Ripple" and "Friend of the Devil" (both included here). Garcia himself, meanwhile, was as accomplished on banjo and pedal steel as he was the guitar (to wit, his involvement with bluegrass offshoot band, Old And In The Way), and that familiar "picking" style can be heard throughout his lead playing with the Dead. But all this bluegrass influence should not come as a surprise to anyone. Lest we forget, before the acid kicked in this was a group that began life as the banjo-pickin', tub-thumpin' outfit Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions.

[SYN-061]
Johnny Cash's musical roots are every bit the roots of modern (post-1940) country music itself. Just as country formed out of various elements of folk, gospel, hillbilly music and old-time bluegrass, so did the Man in Black. From his earliest, rockabilly-tinged single, "Hey Porter" (the song that convinced Sam Phillips to sign Cash to Sun Records) to subsequent classics like "I'm Gonna Sit On My Porch and Pick My Guitar" (also included here) or the oft-covered "Big River", the influence of bluegrass on the man is obvious. It's also telling that, barely a year on from that debut, when afforded the opportunity to add instrumentation to his spare trio for the first time, he immediately opted for pedal steel and fiddle (along with piano and drums). Of course Cash also went on to cover Bill Monroe's bluegrass staple, "Orange Blossom Special", and would have had little trouble relating to the music's dark, often-death-obsessed themes (witness "Streets of Laredo"). But as country music continued to evolve, via honky-tonk, big hats, and even rock/pop, Cash could still be heard opting on occasion for the slightly harder, chugging pace inherent in bluegrass music over more languid country rhythms, old-school to the very end.

[SYN-060]
Before the so-called "father of bluegrass", Bill Monroe, introduced a sense of discipline and musicianship to the form, this was a music typically played with riotous, passionate — and usually drunken — abandon by the folks who brought it down from the hills. These "hillbillies" (as they were called) would have felt right at home with the guys in Aerosmith, who approached their music with much the same spirit — especially in the early half of their career. And when the bad boys from Boston (or, more accurately, New Hampshire) would emulate the sound and feel of a locomotive chugging along a pace of its own choosing — one, it should be noted, that usually kept-a-rollin' all night long — it reflected a rhythmic affinity with bluegrass, as well. While their rock-meets-R&B foundation, embodied by Joe Perry's dirty guitar licks, owes as much to the blues of Robert Johnson ("Sweet Emotion") as it does the funk of James Brown ("Walk This Way"), it is still roots music — albeit roots music that Aerosmith liked to play turned up to 11. Here, however, we get to consider their compositions with slightly less distortion and perhaps more lucid arrangements — but certainly no less vigor.

[SYN-044]
Remember the first time you heard "Oh Susannah" or "You Are My Sunshine" or "Home on the Range"? If you're like most of us, you probably don't, because those melodies and words have been a part of your life since early childhood. This may also explain why they, and many others like them, are often thought of today as children's songs. Easy to learn, fun to sing along with, they're tailor-made for young audiences, and so they're handed down from one generation to the next, becoming more and more embedded in this country's cultural DNA. In short, they're great American songs. As presented here in one of America's richest musical styles — bluegrass — they seem unlikely to lose their greatness anytime soon. Time to pass them on to your next of kin.

[SYN-043]
Somewhere along the line that led from driving a truck to cultural iconhood, Elvis Presley acquired the title "King of Rock 'n' Roll." But when he was first cutting records at Memphis' Sun Studios in the mid-1950s, the music he made was called "hillbilly." Even a cursory listen to, say, "Blue Moon of Kentucky" or "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" reveals Elvis' deep country roots. And so it seems pretty likely that the King himself would have gotten a big kick out of these bluegrass-style renderings of some of his greatest hits. He'd have been doubly tickled that legendary vocal group the Jordanaires are here too, reprising the role they played on the original takes of Presley classics like "Teddy Bear" and "Don't Be Cruel."

[SYN-042]
You'd have to be hard-pressed to call James Taylor a country boy. Yes, he did spend several formative years in North Carolina, but he's a lot better associated with New England locales. Martha's Vineyard, say. Or Milton Academy. Or McLean Hospital. And yet songs like "Fire and Rain," "Carolina in My Mind" and "Sweet Baby James" have a plain-spoken, down-to-earth quality that doesn't correspond to any stuck-up Yankee blueblood caricatures. It's a quality that's also well suited to country music - or, for that matter, country interpretation. Which brings us to what we have here: 12 Taylor classics retooled in fine bluegrass style by a crack team of Nashville pros. A nifty idea, and one that allows bassist Charlie Chadwick, guitarist Jerry Cortez and their colleagues to shower the people with down-home picking.

[SYN-041]
Granted, the songs of Simon & Garfunkel ain't exactly country. What could be more urban than singing about the New York Times, the Central Park Zoo, and the 59th Street Bridge? All the same, the rural background of Paul Simon's songwriting style is undeniable. In the early '60s, he and Art Garfunkel soaked up the folk balladry of the British Isles. Their arrangements of traditional tunes ("Scarborough Fair," "Peggy-O") clearly show that influence; so do Simon originals like "April Come She Will" and "Leaves that Are Green." Bluegrass emerged from the same Celtic musical wellspring, of course, even though it comes to us by way of Appalachia rather than Queens. This album, brought to you by some of Nashville's top sessioneers, just makes that essential connection a little easier to hear.

[SYN-040]
Grass and Bob Marley are often mentioned in the same sentence, but the grass being referred to isn't usually of the blue variety. Jah only knows what the bard of Trenchtown would think about a bunch of country pickers turning his ghetto anthems into mountain music. Yet one suspects that he'd get a kick out of it, and that he'd pick up on the traits that reggae and country have in common. At their best, both styles are steeped in spirituality, and both aim to uplift the lonely, the poor and the disenfranchised. "One Love" and "Redemption Song" could pass for classic hymns; "Get Up, Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff" could easily be age-old folk songs. That's just the kind of material that bluegrass musicians love to dig into, and dig in they do.

[SYN-039]
Traditional folk songs are the root of bluegrass. After all, it's a lot easier to start picking when you're resting on the solid ground of a tried-and-true melody - audiences tend to pay more attention that way. They certainly paid attention in 2000, when the soundtrack album accompanying Joel and Ethan Coen's movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? became an unexpected smash hit, bringing millions of listeners up to speed on the pleasures of both traditional folk songs and bluegrass. The leitmotif of that soundtrack, "Man of Constant Sorrow," can be found on this disc, along with many other standards of the genre like "Wildwood Flower," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Orange Blossom Special," and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," all played by Nashville session veterans who know a thing or two about roots.

[SYN-026 874757002620]
When you think about it, it only makes sense. Back in the '70s, the Eagles helped take California country rock mainstream, following on the heels of artists like the Byrds, the Fabulous Burrito Brothers and Poco (whose bassist Timothy B. Schmit latter became an Eagle himself). At first they did it as Linda Ronstadt's backing band; then, with songs like "Take It Easy." "Desperado," and "Lyin Eyes," they did it on their own, eventually becoming one of the most successful rock groups of all time. But success often means losing touch with your roots. Which is why it's so appropriate that this band of Nashville veterans is putting the country back into the Eagles' country-rock. Bring on the mandolins, banjos, fiddles and dobros, and welcome to the Hotel Appalachia.

[SYN-025 874757002521]
Through its many incarnations, Fleetwood Mac has always had a touch of the high lonesome sound. It certainly came through during the band's early years with brilliant, troubled guitarist Peter Green, who wrote the timeless "Albatross." But the arrival of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in 1975 brought those country leanings even further to the fore. Blessed with a rich, honey-and-whiskey voice, Nicks sang straight from the heartland. And Buckingham's intricate guitar work on songs like "Never Going Back Again" and "World Turning" showed that he'd put in plenty of time pickin' and grinnin'--or, perhaps more appropriately, considering those songs' disheartened lyrics, pickin' and scowlin'. On this disc, though, it's all grins, thanks to eight bluegrass veterans who know how to bring the Mac to the mountain.

[SYN-024 874757002422]
Right from the start, the Beatles played like hillbillies. The tight, nasal Lennon-McCartney harmonies on their very first single, "Love Me Do," could easily have rung down from somewhere in the Smoky Mountains. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that every member of the Fab Four loved country music. Neither is it a shock to hear how well their songs respond to a bluegrass revamping. Appropriately, two of the 12 cuts here--"What Goes On" and Buck Owens' "Act Naturally"--were, in the Beatles' own versions, features for Ringo Starr, the group's number-one country fan. As for "I've Just Seen a Face," that's basically a bluegrass tune anyway; all these Nashville pickers are doing is letting it get back to where it once belonged.

"If you are one of those die-hard Beatles fans who also happens to perk up at the mentioning of bluegrass, you have found a little piece of heaven with Grassmasters' album, Beatles Grass. Just as the name suggests, these are bluegrass arrangements thumping and lilting through some of the best tunes by the Beatles. With sweet, singing fiddle, ringing mandolin and the usual country folk get-up, this group gives a fresh, danceable, especially earthy context to some of the greatest songs ever written. Without too much flair or flash, these interpretations are true, simple and shoot straight for the heart."
-- CD Baby, April 16, 2006

[SYN-023 874757002323]
It wasn't just Gram Parsons. Yes, hanging around and toking up with a soon-to be country legend in the late '60s and early '70s clearly affected the Rolling Stones' musical approach, lending them a distinctive new twang that you can hear on songs like "Wild Horses" and, especially, "Dead Flowers." But the sounds of rural America, both black and white, were haunting the minds of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards well before that. Listen, for example, to the relatively obscure "Sittin' on a Fence," a 1966 condemnation of traditional lifestyles cloaked in jaunty back-porch acoustic garb. Or check out "2000 Man," from 1967's long-underrated Their Satanic Majesties Request--strip away all the psychedelic electronics and you've got a bluegrass song. Which is the whole point of this disc, brought to you by the cream of Nashville's traditional country scene.