A who’s who of bluegrass musicians has recorded for Rebel Records, including Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, the Seldom Scene, Keith Whitley and the Country Gentlemen. It was the first label to record Del McCoury and Tony Rice, both in 1974. Some leading lights of the current scene, including the Lonesome River Band, Ronnie Bowman and Blue Highway, are part of its present roster.
This four-CD set does a remarkable job of telling Rebel’s story. Its 105 songs and 36-page book bring to light the love and admiration the people associated with Rebel have for the music. The label was started in 1960 in the Washington, D.C., area by Dick Freeland and two partners. The first release, a single by country singer Pete Pike titled “Cotton Dice”, was enough of a success that it allowed them to continue. They remained a singles-only label until 1964, when they issued their first album, Bill Carroll and Mickey Burke’s Down Home Bluegrass. Rebel’s second LP release, a four-record, 70-song set released without a sleeve and sold on country radio stations at a time when such advertising was relatively inexpensive, was a major success.
They were equally fortunate to be in an area that has long been a bluegrass center. Even today, the D.C. area has more than an average amount of bluegrass on the radio and in its clubs. It has also produced some of the genre’s top performers, including the Country Gentlemen. Their 1965 Rebel release, Bringing Mary Home, is considered a classic. The Seldom Scene were also from that area (some had been members of the Country Gentlemen); their emergence and first releases for the label in the early 1970s helped fuel Rebel’s success. Tracks from both groups add to the significance of this set, as does the work of bluegrass patriarch Ralph Stanley, whose career got a boost when he joined the label from 1971-73. He released an incredible eight albums during his short tenure on Rebel.
Also included in the set is a marvelous duet by soon-to-be country stars Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley on “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown”, cut when they were 17 and 16, respectively. Early recordings made by Del McCoury in the mid-1970s show, not surprisingly, that his striking vocal talents have been there all along, even though they have been more generally recognized recently.
Freeland sold the label in 1979 to Dick Freeman, who has continued to run Rebel in the spirit of its origins. In the ’80s, he brought the legendary Wilma Lee Cooper aboard for two albums, while also recording one of the genre’s loveliest new voices, Rhonda Vincent.
For those who know little or nothing about bluegrass, this box is a great place to start. If names such as Red Allen, Frank Whitfield, Don Reno, Eddie Adcock, Emerson & Waldron, Jimmy Arnold, the Virginia Squires and IIIrd Tyme Out are familiar, this is set is sure to give you many hours of thrills.
