This is to me the pinnacle in Blue Grass music. I do not think there will ever be a collective of musicians on stage all at once in this style that could rival all these guys for title of the best! They all individually are unbelievably amazing at what they do but elevate it to a completely different level when put on a stage together! Every now and then the stars align, the planets move, Earth is shifted and things just go right and history is made. I believe this will forever be one of those very rare occasions when it all comes together and we should all thank God that the cameras were rolling and the sound was right and somebody had enough love for music and generosity to share it with us all on RU-vid! Thank you for the post!!!
These guys top to bottom are the pinnacle of this era. They are innovators that have inspired thousands upon thousands of musicians young and old! Thank God for these treasures!
The Tony Rice All Stars is how this was billed. Footage taken from the Pickin' For Merle documentary series filmed at the 1992 festival. Nine Pound Hammer, Freeborn Man, Molly & Tenbrooks, and Cold on the Shoulder from this set were also included, possibly more; a couple of them are also on YT.
Years ago when YT first started when you searched "Bluegrass" the first video in the list was a 8-10 min jam by this line up from this festival. I wish I could find it. It seems to have disappeared. :(
Mark O’Connor- MY GOD- I have been through all of the bluegrass instruments-no words justify how good this guy is- one of the world’s greatest musicians.
WOOOOW! That is a collection of some of the best, at they're best, in their prime. Wow, Sam Bush: I don't know how you can play a mandolin so hard that it seems like the wood will start burning. That was amazing.
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing! FYI - this is Bela's tune from his album, but that's not just Tony Rice. It's Mark O'Connor, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Mark Shatz. A truly all-star lineup.
In my humble opinion the very best collective that will ever be on a stage! Every single one of these guys revolutionized their instruments and how people perceived them! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF EM! All stars at every level! INFLUENCERS. By definition you cannot be a leader if no-one is following you.... Musicians will be "following" these guys for generations to come!
Sam Bush, the best mandolin player this side of David Grisman, and the best bluegrass banjo, guitar, and arguably fiddle player of all time. It’s a wonder the stage didn’t catch fire
This is definitely from the 1992 Merle Watson Memorial Bluegrass Festival, before the name was officially changed to "MerleFest" (everyone called it that though). It was filmed for a PBS 10 part TV special called "Pickin' For Merle" which as far as I know still has not yet surfaced in complete form. There are a handful of other clips, all of which I think are from a single "best of" episode that aired on and off during pledge drives for a few years. Agreed with several other commenters that this might be the single most potent recurring lineup in the history of bluegrass. It's true that this lineup (or minor variations of it) played together at many festivals over the years, but I was at this one (and many of the others too) and remember it quite clearly & recognize the stage, the outfits, etc... At the time I was barely wise enough about bluegrass to know how lucky I was to witness this go down - but I was, and as the years have passed and I've learned the music better, the performances have only grown in my estimation. There is also a Doc Watson led jam session featuring many of the same players from this weekend that is equally stunning. Great upload, thank you.
@@wentworthcaniac if there is any chance you would be willing to lend those tapes or make copies of them it would be a major service to the bluegrass community. I have responsible, reliable friends all over the country and if you are willing to help we can make this thing happen in whatever way you're comfortable with. You are the first person to have a copy of the tapes I've found in over 2 decades of looking!
Thanks so much. 'Wish they'd put the 'where and when' in the youtube description! Nice to know it was Merlefest... A comparable lineup (arguably) happens every year with the Telluride All Star Band... But Tony is/was irreplaceable. Now there's Bryan Sutton, who IS awesome too...
I am so glad i got to see every one of these amazing performers through the years and many more during my bluegrass magical mystery tour back in the day. Bluegrass sure isn't like it use to be.
This is from 1992...awesome display from a stage full of talent..i never tire of listening to these guys pick..i was there ..i had to move back to Texas in 1995.. i surely miss the Merlefest ( my first Merlefest was 1989)..some of the best times of my life were in those hills of Wilkes County...may God bless you all
Sounds about right. I remember I bought a Tony Rice video on VHS about 20 years ago and it had this performance on it, along with a bunch of other numbers.
Tony Rice might wear a suit, but he's no city boy, that's for sure! Dude is just standing there with a straight back, casually shredding an acoustic guitar with bluegrass riffs that he's been practicing for 40+ years daily.
Just fantastic live music being played by real musicians, not like today with all the digital and electronic garbage that make nonentities sound good and also make them rich
Mark O'Connor is the fiddle player. He has a ton of his work on RU-vid. He is an awesome musician and pretty good composer as well. Check out his performance at his induction into the Fiddle Players Hall of Fame.
This is so fast, it's nearly musically incoherent, but they somehow hold the groove. I think what happened is Sam kicked it into high gear with his first solo and there was no turning back then...(you can even see Tony mouth what I think was "too fast"). Ha ha...amazing.
Bela Fleck posted an article about Tony after he passed. He said that Tony didn't like rehearsals so they got in one room and recorded the album Drive pretty much live. Get some?
Sitting in Charelston SC parked on the side of an industrial park drive with all the windows down and this performance cranked to 11 in my Peterbilt, daring anyone to tell me to turn it down.
I do that in my car in the summertime, have been since I was a teenager. I wait until I'm beside some punk in traffic blasting rap and turn up my bluegrass full blast 🚥😂 🎶
Merlefest had a seated section in front of the main stage in the old days and they wanted you to sit so old people could see from their camp chairs. It was a different vibe back then
Great song and performance! I just posted a note for note transcription video of Tony Rice's break on this song on my channel. His guitar solo is killer!
don't you just wish this band would learn to play before they start practicing in public? ha! ha! i could listen to these ole boys all day long. very very hard to beat.
