Josh Graves playing with Flatt & Scruggs (Part 1)

[rocmaven]

wonderful video. thanks for posting. i have my tickets to see ricky skaggs at watseka theatre watseka illinois on friday aug 26

[clyderf]

rex9779...In significant ways Kenny Baker's fiddle touch outclasses most of the competition. Without being there, I'm guessing that his comment you refer to in your post was meant to convey that on short notice he couldn't switch over to the stylistic approach required by Flatt and Scruggs. Although he speaks softly, his technical ability on the fiddle is a very big stick.

[ArkRed1]

Looks like Arky the Arkansas Woodchopper sitting behind Lester and Earl. Red Blanchard made a fine MC.

[carolinablooz]

Josh's best ? Me thinks "Hound Dog Ramble" is up there with the best.

[carolinablooz]

Bro Burkett is absolutely smokin on these two numbers. Josh will always be #1.

[judy47luvsles53]

thank you for posting this video for my 2nd cousin was uncle josh graves and im so happy that they have been posted for Lester and Earl and Josh were and always will be icons of bluegrass and am honored tht the graves blood runs through my veins for he was a icon so thank you for posting this is 1 of my favorites

[Nashvilleagain]

. . . great shot from the boys. I work with Uncle Josh and Kenny Baker in Europe in 1989. Check my vids ! ! !

[TheFrankieDee]

i opened for these guys what a treat for me..earl let me hold his banjo..the whole band were really great to work with

frankie dee

hershey, pa.

[rex9779]

As great as Kenny Baker is, he told me he declined an opportunity to sub for Paul Warren. He said he told Lester that Paul's fiddle parts were to difficult.

He said " I told Lester , I can't play that stuff".

[rex9779]

As great as Kenny Baker is, he told me he declined an opportunity to sub for Paul Warren. He said he told Lester he that Paul's fiddle parts were to difficult.

He said " I told Lester , I can't play that stuff".

[TruegrassBoy]

Well, Uncle Josh is worthy of all the praise he gets, but I'm checking in to talk about Earl and Lester. Awesome singing by Lester and great lead and backup breaks by Earl Scruggs. Lester can really bend those notes with his voice and Earl is so laid back that his fantastic work on the banjo almost goes unnoticed. Just listen to his lead break on "Birmingham" and his fantastic bouncy backup on "Lonesome". He's all over it!

[slimphotog]

Who's that on fiddle?

[Lee93Ford]

that is Paul Warren

[ArkRed1]

Is that Red Blanchard who is the MC? Worked a show with him once. A fine guitar player. He did a lot of work out of Chicago.

[GodsFavoriteBassPlyr]

Amazing!

[hankedful]

Great post, thanks for including the date.

[Nashvilleagain]

... whatch the great Uncle Josh at 1:50 min, superior ! ! ! R.I.P. Josh

[nasty5oh]

you can't beat this

[Cobia75]

Man... for all these comments we're gettin' on this, it seems like we should have a separate forum or chat room for Uncle Josh's pickin'. Disc 1 of the 1959-1963 on the Bear Family set has some incredibly beautiful pickin' by ol' Josh.

[OldDobroPicker]

@Cobia75 ..probably ought to do just that,bud.Because of Josh and his playing..a childhood dream of mine came true.I joined a band and went on to play for about 30 years as a Dobro player.Josh once told me to find my own style and run with it.I did just that in the Golden State Boys and later with Byron Berline in two groups we formed.Josh was my hero and he is sorely missed.RIP old friend.As long as there is one Dobro player left on earth your legend will continue.

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

"Kudos"...for short-sleeves, because Josh Graves was built  like a brick house.

[Pickinbuddy]

Greatest Dobro player EVER heard!

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

Which is Josh Graves' best dobro song ????

[Cobia75]

Well... I reckon I'd go with the classic "Foggy Mountain Rock". Josh also did a really good version of the traditional tune "I Am A Pilgrim". Doc Watson talked about it once during a performance. He said that it was a real barn burner. But I think I really like the slower stuff better... with the long slides & slant bars. IIRC Josh did a song w/ Flatt & Scruggs on the boxset... I think it's called "Cora's Gone". It's really pretty & has some nice slides in it. I wanna be able to play like that.

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

Those are great ! I wanna play like that too! One of my favorite Josh Graves songs is "Down in the Valley". Josh plays alot of beautiful slants, chimes, trills and slides. FUN to watch it on their t.v. show Vol. 1.

[olehoundog1]

@CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL Think I'll go with "Just Joshin" and "Maiden's Prayer." My favorite back-up playing was behind the 1st version of "Give Mother My Crown."

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

@Olehoundog1 ::: Yes !! I love "Maiden's Prayer" & all of Josh's beautiful back-up!

[Banjerman07]

@CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL If youve ever heard him do Fireball, youll fall in love with it. He can flat out mash that song.

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

@Banjerman07 Yes "Fireball" is one of Josh's very BEST. Josh really does play the fire out of it !

[olehoundog1]

@CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL You probably already know this, but volume 9 & 10 Flatt and Scruggs TV Shows are now available.

[owsleyforkmusic]

@CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL Flatt lonesome, foggy mountain rock, rainbow his version of ruben are some great ones

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

@owsleyforkmusic YESSSS, those are some great Josh songs. I always enjoy knowing what others think, so thanks for your input. It's FUN !

[FdNy8231]

Good Lord that is some of the absolute BEST pickin and singin EVER ... RIP Lester, and Josh :(

[localbrewz]

oh yea, btw, olehounddog1, DAMN do we watch alot of the same vids.....hahhahahahah

[Cobia75]

Thanks for the tip on the dvd's! I'll definitely make a note of that. It's very interestin' what you folks are sayin' about Josh playin' more of the melody then the scale break. I never thought about that. Also what you said: "He also used an .026 unwound 3rd string which adds to the blues sound and doesn't sound so bright." I had no clue about that either. Hopefully one day I'll get to play w/ people in person. Thanks so much for the posts everyone!

[olehoundog1]

Most all dobro players used the unwound 3rd string until Mike Auldridge started using the wound 3rd. All the modern players followed suit-none of them use very many slants. The unwound third gives a smooth round rather than a scratchy sound when doing slants and twists. I heard one of the new players say at a workshop(will not give name) "I never use slants." They play single string stuff rather than doing it the hard way. You can fake a lot of people also by playing those endless scale breaks.

[localbrewz]

dude im a 15 yr road player and i agree about josh, BUT it dont matter if its hard or easy, it matters how it sounds.Prolly a big reason why that guy you spoke of, doing the workshop, was teaching it and you werent......peace!LONG LIVE BLUEGRASS!!!

[olehoundog1]

Thanks for the reply. When I mentioned "the hard way" that was not a good choice of words on my part. What I meant was on the most common slant that involves the 1st and 3rd strings, most players now just hit the 1st string only rather than taking a chance on not being exact every time. I enjoy reading your inputs.

[localbrewz]

wow, not a thrashing, thats impressive and i mean it!

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

I agree. Slants are difficult, but  MAN they are beautiful once you get them down right ! And a BLAST!

[CARROLLCTYDOBROGIRL]

I agree w/glmnorman......JOSH GRAVES

was SUPERB and the best Dobro player of all time ! I have all 8 Flatt & Scruggs T.V. Show d.v.d.s (bought from The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum ).

They are outstanding ! Uncle Josh plays 2 fabulous Dobro solos on Vol. 8. I recommend these d.v.ds. --all contain must-have songs & are totally addicting !

[localbrewz]

anyone know the names of these songs?

[olehoundog1]

The 1st song is "Will You Be Lonesome Too?" from the Delmore Brothers. The other song is "Gonna Have Myself a Ball" written by Lester Flatt.

[localbrewz]

thanks you!!!

[glmnorman]

The reason Josh Graves playing was so superior to the junk being played by today's so-called "reso players" is because he played a lot of the melody of the songs instead of today's endless scale breaks. He also used an .026 unwound 3rd string which adds to the blues sound and doesn't sound so bright. Most of todays's players could not play the melody if you held a gun to their head.

[localbrewz]

i agree totally...

[brointheknow]

@glmnorman There are a lot of great reso players today, but i'm a big fan of melodic breaks too, and I also find that too many players rely on scales. Tasteful melodic breaks are the reason I like Chris Jones' guitar playing so much. I think he's one of the best in bluegrass. Melody is king, eh.

[milkman557]

Curly left the group in 62 or 63.

[BanjoBoyMatteo]

He left in 1962

[jugmongers]

Thanks for puttin' up this here treasure! Those boys were the best! - Judd Jugmonger

[evelau]

Hey! Where's Curly?

[sponyge]

The foggy Mountain boys never come up on google under images.

[sponyge]

tHE FALTT AND SCRUGGS ARE THE BEST BAND EVER.

[Cobia75]

If there is film footage of 30 more shows with Josh Graves, please post the url's for 'em. I'd love ta see 'em. I have a live audio tape of Josh playin' w/ Steve Young & Vassar Clements from the early 70's. Just don't see much video footage of him. Especially from this early on.

[BanjoBoyMatteo]

Indeed there is. If you search for "Flatt & Scruggs" on YouTube some of them will pop out. Shanachie is currently selling DVDs of Flatt & Scruggs Martha White Shows, and all of them have Josh on them. So far, 8 volumes have been released (16 shows).

[Cobia75]

I have the complete tv episode where I took these segments from, however this & the other one I posted are the only segments I have of Flatt & Scruggs. To me this is historically important because It's gotta be some of the earliest footage of Dobro Legend Josh Graves, that I've ever seen. I got 2 1/2 episodes of "The Barn Dance" on DVD, from a friend in one of my music groups. Glad y'all enjoy this!

[BanjoBoyMatteo]

It is indeed historical, but if this (as it seems plausible to me judging on the formation and song selection) dates around 1966 that is no way one of the earliest footages of Josh. The earliest known with him dates 1955, and there are about 30 more from the 1960-62 time span.

Still, thanks for sharing the footage, rare indeed.

[BanjoBoyMatteo]

Gosh almighty now that's a footage I had never seen!! I second StanleyPicker, Is there more available???

[stanleypicker]

this is great!!!! is more of it available for purchase anywhere????

[Pickinbuddy]

WOW!!!!!