John Hartford - Aereo-Plain

Our Price: $109.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $88.99 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases

Music CD Cover

Free Music Notes for Aereo-Plain

Free Music Review: Harford Reinvents Bluegrass On "Aero-Plain"
Hit: 5 Stars

The Aeroplane Band assembled by Hartford was astounding line-up of noteable country instrumentalists. Vassar Clements, ex-Bill Monroe fiddler; Norman Blake master of mandolin, dobro and flat-top guitar; and Tut Tyler, legendary innovator of the flat-picked dobro style. Randy Scruggs, normally a lead guitarist, played bass on the "Aero-Plain" session. Hartford moved with suprisingly equal facility between banjo and guitar. The song cycle begins with A.J. Brumley's anthem to old time gospel radio, "Turn Your Radio On". For 45 minutes, Hartford is the tour guide, sweeping the listener away on a wonderous "Steam Powered Aeroplane"; back to Hartford's days as a river-boat hand, down to the city dump where old timers pass relive past glories, up on the hill where they do the boogie, pausing to reflect on his first love, and landing at the Grand Ol' Opry; the country music shrine, Ryman Auditorium. It's sentimental stuff, but Hartford keeps the pathos at bay with his eccentric stoner/philosopher humor. "Boogie" may be the most bizarre song to ever reach vinyl. Accompanied only by foot stomping, Hartford grunts an invitation to "boogie", interrupted only by long fits of heavy breathing. "Holding" is about a frantic search for cannibas. The scope of the album is breaktaking, as Hartford skillfully lays claim to bluegrass credibility with a loopy counter-cultural sensibility.

In 2001, exactly 30 years after the release of "Aero-Plain", the bluegrass revival that Hartford shaped, rose like a sleeping giant to challenge the MOR country music establishment. The astounding dark-horse success of the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack, sent the pop/rock stars of Nashville scrambling to figure out what a mandolin was, and how to use it on their next album. Hartford probably got a smile out of seeing his musical revolution come to fruition. "Oh Brother" (the "Nevermind" of bluegrass?) sold 3 million copies largely on word-of-mouth and won a Grammy for Album of the Year. They can tear down the Grand Ol' Opry, but the music that built it refuses to go away.
(BUYER TIP: In 2001 "Steam Powered Aeroplane Takes" was released. There are some fascinating outtakes from the 1971 sessions included; but this is the album that contains cream of the session).

Country Music CDs

• Music > Styles
• Folk
• Pop
• Rock