The Country Gentlemen Play It Like It Is - Rebel SLP-1486

Recorded at Recording, Inc., Baltimore, MD

Released: 1969

Song Tracks:

Personnel:

Charlie Waller - Guitar and Vocals
John Duffey - Mandolin and Vocals
Eddie Adcock - Banjo and Vocals
Ed Ferris - Bass

"Play It Like It Is" marks John Duffey's last recording as a member of The Country Gentlemen. He departed the group in the spring of 1969 to be replaced by Jimmy Gaudreau. Two years later, Duffey would be the focal point in the formation of another major bluegrass group, The Seldom Scene. One of the last selections he did was a re-recording of "Going To The Races", first recorded twelve years earlier.

The Country Gentlemen New Look, New Sound - Rebel Recods SLP-1490

Recorded at Recordings, Inc., Baltimore, MD

Released: 1970

Song Tracks:

Personnel:

Charlie Waller - Guitar and Vocals
Eddie Adcock - Banjo, Bass, and Vocals
Jimmy Gaudreau - Mandolin and Vocals
Ed McGlothin - Bass

Cut shortly before Eddie Adcock's departure, "New Look, New Sound" was a transition album between the old and the new. If anything, the album illustrates the improtance of Charlie Waller as the main element of the continuity in the group over the year.

The Best Of The Early Country Gentlemen - Rebel Records SLP-1494

Recorded at Wynnwood Studios, Falls Church, VA, CA (1963)

Released: 1970

Song Tracks:

Personnel:

Charlie Waller - Guitar and Vocals
John Duffey - Mandolin and Vocals
Eddie Adcock - Banjo and Vocals
Tom Gray - Bass
Pete Huykendall - Banjo

Reissues of early 1960's recordings. Seven of the selecitons were from the Mercury album, "Folk Session Inside".

One Wide River To Cross - Rebel Records SLP-1497

Recorded at R.D. Homer Studios, Clinton, MD

Released: 1971

Song Tracks:

Personnel:

Charlie Waller - Guitar and Vocals
Jimmy Gaudreau - Mandolin and Vocals
Bill Emerson - Banjo, Guitar, and Vocals
Bill Yates - Bass and Vocals

The Country Gentlemen's first all-gospel album. Bill Emerson returns on banjo while Bill Yates anchors the bass spot.

 

The Country Gentlemen Sound Off - Rebel Records SLP-1501

Recorded at R.D. Homer Studios, Clinton, MD.

Released: 1971

Song Tracks:

Personnel:

Charlie Waller - Guitar and Vocals
Jimmy Gaudreau - Mandolin, Guitar, and Vocals
Bill Emerson - Banjo, Guitar, and Vocals
Bill Yates - Bass and Vocals
Mike Auldridge - Dobro

Lots of good material on this 1971 classic. Crosby, Stills, and Nash's "Teach Your Children" was voted the Number One bluegrass song of the year. Bill Yates soloed on "I'll Break Out" and "Sea of Hearbreak" quickly became a Jimmy Gaudreau specialty piece. The most significant song on the album was "Fox On The Run". Originally done by the British rock group, Manfred Mann. Bill Emerson and previously recorded the song with Cliff Waldron and the New Shades of Grass. However, it is the Gentlermen's version that has become the regognized standard.

The Award Winning Country Gentlemen - Rebel SLP-1506

Recorded at R.D. Homer Studios, Clinton, MD.

Released: 1972

Song Tracks:

Personnel:

Charlie Waller - Guitar and Vocals
Bill Emerson - Banjo and Vocals
Doyle Lawson - Mandolin and Vocals
Bill Yates - Bass and Vocals
Mike Auldridge - Dobro

This album came out shortly after The Country Gentlemen walked away with a trunkload of awards following the 1971 bluegrass festival season. The selections were recorded in the fall of 1971 just after Doyle Lawson replaced Jimmy Gaudreau. The album produced another Gentlemen blockbuster. "The Legend Of The Rebel Soldier" was from the late Charlie Moore who had copied his version after an old Irish folk song that had been recorded by Mac Wiseman.

"Rebel Soldier" has become one of bluegrass music's all-time enduring classics. A recent listener's poll on Washington, D.C.'s public radio station, WAMU-FM voted the song as the all-time favorite bluegrass song.