Carl Jackson – Songs Of The South

If Carl Jackson’s name is unfamiliar, it’s probably because you have things to do besides inspect album credits. For almost 30 years, Jackson has been kicking around the bluegrass, country and Americana scenes as a banjo player, guitarist, songwriter and singer, recording with everyone from Emmylou Harris and Dwight Yoakam to Garth Brooks and Glen Campbell, for whom he worked for more than a decade.

Songs Of The South focuses on the first of those jobs, reissuing virtually all of his 1980 tribute to Earl Scruggs, with four tracks from 1982’s Song Of The South interspersed among the older ones.

Jackson made his bluegrass reputation in the late 1960s and early ’70s as a teen phenom, playing with Jim & Jesse in the “melodic” style they encouraged, but you won’t find much of that here. Appropriately enough for a tribute, he sticks pretty closely to Scruggs, even when he plays guitar — and not only is there nothing wrong with that, it sounds great.

Which isn’t to say there’s no deviation from the original sounds; rather, that’s mostly left to the other pickers. The crew isn’t identified, but it’s not hard to pick out Vassar Clements (fiddle), Jerry Douglas (dobro) and a couple of others. Still, while there are some inspired variations, the general effect is respectful rather than innovative.

The seven vocals complement the instrumentals well. “Banjo Man”, the title track of the 1980 album, is an original, and so is “Jesse And Me”, while the others come mostly from the Flatt & Scruggs canon. As a singer, Jackson has a light touch and a pure tone, and it’s easy to see why he’s been in demand as a harmonizer; again, his singing partners aren’t named, but Harris, the Whites and the late Keith Whitley can be easily identified.

Songs Of The South is an unassuming collection, but it nonetheless unearths some real gems.