Bluegrass Hootenanny

Bluegrass Hootenanny
Studio album by George Jones, Melba Montgomery
Released 1964
Recorded January 1964, Columbia Recording Studio, Nashville, TN
Genre Country
Label United Artists
Producer Pappy Daily
George Jones chronology

A King & Two Queens
(1964)		 Bluegrass Hootenanny
(1964)		 Famous Country Duets
(1965)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

Bluegrass Hootenanny is an album by American country music artists George Jones and Melba Montgomery released in 1964 on the United Artists Records.

Background

Bluegrass Hootenanny was the second duet album by Jones and Montgomery, the first being the bluegrass-tinged What's In Our Heart. As the title implies, this second Jones/Montgomery collection brings this sound into focus, a departure of sorts for Jones, who was known primarily for his hardcore honky tonk sound and soulful ballad singing. The album features several bluegrass interpretations of classic country songs written by Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Hank Williams. Jones co-wrote two songs with Johnny Mathis, the rollicking "Jump In The Mississippi" and the plaintive "I'd Dreamed My Baby Came Home", while "Will There Ever Be Another" and "I'll Be There To Welcome You Home" were co-written by Montgomery.

In his autobiography I Lived To Tell It All, Jones remained quite proud of the work he did with Montgomery: "I had giant records years later with Tammy Wynette, and there were many other successful duet partners, such as Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton and Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. I'm not saying Melba and I were the first to sing male-female duets in country music because we weren't. And I'm not saying we were the best. But Melba said recently that she thinks we popularized the male-female format, and I agree." In the book George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend, Bob Allen quotes the singer: "Now, truthfully, Melba fit my style of singin' more than Tammy did. I hate to use the word 'hard-core', but that's what Melba is - a down-to-earth hard-core country singer."

The album was a hit, reaching number 12 on the country album chart, although not quite as successful as What's In Our Heart had been, which had rose number three.

Track listing

  1. "Dixieland for Me" (Curtis McPeake, David Watkins)
  2. "Once More" (Dusty Owens)
  3. "Will There Ever Be Another" (Melba Montgomery, Carl Montgomery)
  4. "I'd Jump the Mississippi" (George Jones, Johnny Mathis)
  5. "Please Be My Love" (Monroe Fields, Carl Sauceman)
  6. "I Dreamed My Baby Came Home" (Jones, Mathis)
  7. "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms" (Lester Flatt)
  8. "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (Bill Monroe)
  9. "House of Gold" (Hank Williams)
  10. "Wait a Little Longer, Please Jesus" (Hazel Houser, Chester Smith)
  11. "I Can't Get Over You" (Joe Barber)
  12. "I'll Be There to Welcome You Home" (Melba Montgomery, Carl Montgomery)

Chart positions

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1964 Country Albums 12

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Bluegrass Hootenanny at AllMusic

External links