Jimmy Martin probably deserves his reputation as a cantankerous hell-raiser. Still, it would be a mistake to assume his life is equal parts rhinestones and sequins, women and coon dogs, and booze. With this album, an extended soundtrack to the documentary King Of Bluegrass: The Life And Times Of Jimmy Martin, producer George Goehl continues his crusade to remind the world of that other vital component of Martin’s life: bluegrass music.
Most of the sixteen tracks here feature the classic Sunny Mountain Boys, with Paul Williams on mandolin and tenor vocals, plus a young J.D. Crowe singing baritone and playing some brilliant five-string. Their trio vocal turns (with Martin singing lead) shine, not only on gospel numbers such as “Who’ll Sing For Me” and “I Like To Hear Em Preach It”, but also on such Martin standards as “Ocean Of Diamonds”, “Sophronie” and “Hit Parade Of Love”.
A handful of previously unreleased live recordings from the Louisiana Hayride archives are especially interesting. Too much stage banter can be a bad thing, but it provides a degree of context to hear Martin promoting his connection to the Grand Ole Opry and Decca Records, or hawking his then-new album Good ‘N’ Country: Martin typifies the good-old-boy routine with cornball humor and heavy doses of sentiment: “I wonder if my sweet mother is listening in up around our hometown in good old Sneedville, Tennessee?”
But far more powerful than those old cuts are three live numbers from 2000 and 2001. When Martin tears into “You Don’t Know My Mind” and “Freeborn Man”, his voice sounds more hale than ever. He hollers, yelps and growls, feeding off his band as the fiddle and dobro push him deeper into the blues. He even manages a soulful, soaring yodel to cap off “Brakeman’s Blues”.
In the end, though, all that hard living seems to have taken its toll. By the time Martin closes with a verse and chorus of “Time Has Made A Change”, recorded in the living room of his home, he sounds positively worn: “In my childhood days I was tough and strong/I could climb these hillsides all day long/Now I know my friends, they can plainly see/Time has made a change in me.”
