The Stoneman Family is the family of Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman, a popular early country artist who appears on the periphery of the Stoneman Family's efforts, sometimes singing or strumming an autoharp but often just nodding approvingly while rocking in his rocking chair. In the mid-'60s, the Stoneman Family updated their sound considerably and scored a few hits on MGM, but this generous anthology is devoted to the recordings they made for King in the early '60s. Although still hewing closely to a classic bluegrass sound at ...
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The Stoneman Family is the family of Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman, a popular early country artist who appears on the periphery of the Stoneman Family's efforts, sometimes singing or strumming an autoharp but often just nodding approvingly while rocking in his rocking chair. In the mid-'60s, the Stoneman Family updated their sound considerably and scored a few hits on MGM, but this generous anthology is devoted to the recordings they made for King in the early '60s. Although still hewing closely to a classic bluegrass sound at this stage, hints of things to come can be heard on the teen-oriented "Out of School" and an over the top rendition of "White Lightning" ("White Lightning #2"), replete with slap bass and impressions of Kitty Wells and Ernest Tubb. Most of the material is more traditional sounding than that, though, and the collection concludes with a remake of Pop's classic "The Sinking of the Titanic." ~ Greg Adams, Rovi
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