CD REVIEW – SUMMERDOG COMPILATION CD

By Brian McNeal
Summerdog – Compilation CD
Independent

Released: March 2012

Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Summerdog 30 Year Reunion Concert and Barn Dance.

We’re going to bring to the stage some old friends of yours and some special guests. But first, I want to talk to you just a bit.

You’ll notice some CDs for sale this evening. These are a special compilation of the best from the 3 original Summerdog 33rpm LPs recorded in the 1970s. If you haven’t got one yet, you’ll want to get one tonight while you can.

I thought I’d share some thoughts that went through my mind when I listened to this CD for the first time.

First, without a doubt, I was struck by the difference of what I was hearing compared to what I was expecting. There must be something wrong with the disc…in the process of getting this music onto a CD they had to leave out all the old familiar pops, scratches and hisses. Yeah. I’d played my LPs so much I had so many pops and scratches I though the mandolin was chucking ON THE BEAT.  I was expecting to hear nothing new but the remastering and digital improvements have transformed the music.  Listening now to these tunes I’ve known for so long in in their old skin is like looking at the son who is the spitting image of the father from years ago when the father was the same age as the son is now.

Really, the quality of the digital processing and clarity was like pure oxygen being pumped into a 4-alarm smoke-out.

Here on this CD are some old familiar friends transformed back 30 years but still something new, like old friends in brand new clothes – and, boy, do they look sharp. It’s like opening a time capsule but everything that you expected to be rusty and old came through time with a brand new polish – full of luster and brilliance.

The quality of the musicianship took me aback. Even after listening to those 33rpm discs all these years, I heard sounds on this CD that never came through on the turntable.

One thing that struck me profoundly was the word “authenticity”. There is something very authentic about the Summerdog sound. Call it bluegrass, call it old-time, call it mountain music, or as the band began to call it: The Summerdog Bluegrass Experience, Mariachi and Swing Ensemble – there is nothing else like it. It’s the music that mandates a barn clean-out just to force a dance to happen.

The other thing most profound that went through my thoughts as I listened to this new CD is that the difference between Summerdog and the band “The Dillards”, besides the fact that the Dillards were about a decade ahead of these boys, was The Dillards had a TV Show. Even though the Dillards only taped six episodes of the Andy Griffith Show, the reruns for the next 50 years strategically placed them into literally every living room in America. In other words, give the Summerdog boys a contract for a hit TV show in the 1960s and who knows how many lives would have been transformed.

The only thing missing from the Summerdog band then and now is a major recording contract. These guys need to be a household name.

Hello world, let me introduce you to: SUMMERDOG!

Track Listing

1. Ragtime Annie
2. Makin’ Quite A Living
3. Fiddle Medley
4. Whistlin’ Rufus
5. Ericas Tune / 38th of Kunagonda
6. Black Smoke
7. New Money
8. Wah Hoo
9. Violiddle
10. Fiddle Train
11. The Ballet
12. Fiddling Fool
13. Riverside Slide
14. New Moon

For more information on Summerdog CDs, contact:

• Chip Curry – www.ChipCurry.com– 408-356-286
• Ron Doering –www.RonDoering.com – 605-660-7206