419 West Main is the CD debut of one of the great lost bluegrass bands of the early '60s. Lost, because by all rights this band's work should stand alongside that of the best young bluegrass acts of the era: the Country Gentlemen, the Kentucky Colonels and the Dillards. But Red Cravens & the Bray Brothers remain unknown to a lot of today's bluegrass aficionados. Their only studio album -- released under the nom de groupe "The Bluegrass Gentlemen" for Liberty Records -- has been stubbornly out-of-print for decades. The reissue of 419 West Main (and a sequel, Prairie Bluegrass, due out later this year) is most welcome.
Originally released in 1972, 419 West Main collects home tapes that were originally used for the band's regular broadcasts on WHOW in Clinton, Illinois, from 196063. Considering their origin, the tapes are remarkable in clarity, balance and presence. Cravens and the Brays accomplished 35 years ago what many bands still attempt today, drawing from mostly standard repertoire but using it to create an individual sound, most commonly described as "smooth."
Lacking a glass-breaking tenor singer, Cravens and Nate Bray sang softly, often in lower keys, and with great attention to blend. Instrumentally, it would be difficult to imagine a more cooking four-piece unit. Cravens' thumbpicked rhythm guitar is both solid and subtle, as is Francis Bray's bass playing. Harley Bray's banjo picking draws from both the Scruggs and Stanley traditions, and his sturdy attack gave the band's sound the edge it needed as a counterbalance for all that smoothness.
The instrumental standout here, though, is Nate Bray. One of the better mandolinists of his generation, he contributed an "X-factor" to the band's sound, much as Douglas Dillard did for the Dillards and Clarence White did for the Kentucky Colonels. His playing was nimble, creative and expressive -- a tricky combination in bluegrass. His style was as suited to the uptempo instrumentals the band played ("Buckin' Mule", "Hazel Dell") as it was for the ballads ("I Never Shall Marry").
John Hartford, who often sat in on fiddle with Cravens and the Brays, provided much of the impetus for the issue of these tapes. His updated liner notes are, in large part, a tribute to Nate, who died in 1970. Hartford observes, "I wish Nate were here today for Mike [Compton] and Sam [Bush] and David [Grisman] and the boys," and this pretty well sums up the size of Nate Bray's mandolin shoes.
The CD version of 419 West Main has been re-sequenced from the original vinyl, with a couple of added tracks and one substitution (an instrumental version of "Little Darlin' Pal Of Mine" replacing the vocal version on the original). Some on-air banter has been added to give the CD more of a radio-show feel. The excellent original liner notes are presented intact. Hartford's interview with Cravens and Pat Burton (a friend of the band) is a classic description of what it's like to be in one's 20s and trying to make it in a band, bluegrass or otherwise.
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