Despite recording dozens of albums and scoring a number of minor hits in the '60s,
Family Tradition: The Stoneman Legacy is one of the few collections available that documents the achievements of the stoic
Pops Stoneman and his clan. After gaining attention as purveyors of old-timey/bluegrass music through their releases on the Folkways and King record labels, the Stoneman Family made a move to the much larger MGM in the mid-'60s. They didn't really change their style, and their songs were still rough-hewn portraits of Southern life drawn from the same musical well that fueled
Bill Monroe and countless other country/ bluegrass stars. Having a major-label budget, however, did lead to a change in
the Stonemans' overall sound and that is the period which
Family Tradition covers. The result of their barely polished hillbilly pop was a Top 40 hit in 1966 with "Tupelo County Jail," which is naturally featured here. The rest of the collection's generous 20 cuts include
Stoneman renditions of classics like "Orange Blossom Special," "Little Maggie," and "Mule Skinner Blues." There are a few omissions from the set, most notably the other chart hits, "Christopher Robin" and "Five Little Johnson Girls," but
Family Tradition fills a big gap in bluegrass history and does a fine job at that. ~ Wade Kergan