The annals of bluegrass are filled with the names of artists who labored in relative (and sometimes absolute) obscurity, but none are more deserving of resurrection than Pigeon Roost, Kentucky, native Harley “Red” Allen, who died in 1993. A singer whose soaring voice could evoke both heartbreaking loneliness and hard-bitten resentment, Allen enjoyed some success during his late-’50s partnership with the Osborne Brothers — he appeared on their influential hit “Once More” — but otherwise was more appreciated by his colleagues than by any but the most determined bluegrass faithful. A 2001 Smithsonian Folkways compilation began the job of revitalizing Allen’s reputation; these albums should finish it.
The two sets feature a dizzying array of personnel, including banjo players Bill Emerson and Porter Church, fiddler Scotty Stoneman, mandolinist Wayne Yates and bassist Bill Yates — all of them staples of the Washington, D.C., bluegrass scene of which Allen (otherwise a Dayton, Ohio, resident) was a part in the mid-1960s.
Of special additional interest are fiddler Richard Greene, a Stoneman disciple who would go on to become one of Bill Monroe’s first “citybilly” sidemen and then a cross-genre hero, and mandolinist David Grisman, then fresh out of school and a dedicated Allen enthusiast. Both sound, if not exactly tentative, at least exploratory — no surprise considering these were virtually their first recordings.
The Yates brothers, Emerson, et al., on the other hand, matched Allen stroke for stroke, instrumentally at least, to the best of their often considerable abilities. Vocally, it’s a somewhat different matter; though the Yateses were strong singers, Allen’s huge range and powerful volume made his voice the center of attention even when others were singing the lead. Whether racing through Ernest Tubb’s “Are You Waiting Just For Me” or wailing through Curley Seckler’s mournful “Purple Heart” — originally written about the Korean War, updated to refer to Vietnam — Allen dominates the recordings with his unique phrasing and unrepentant twang.
An infrequent writer himself, Allen drew for material on sources ranging from Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs to the Louvin Brothers and Kitty Wells. He would return to all of them again and again throughout his career, and more than occasionally to the same songs (indeed, several songs appear more than once on just these two discs). Still, more than just about anyone else, Allen was able to give masterful and individualistic readings of even signature songs — so much so that inquiry often reveals it was Allen, not the original artists, who was the source and inspiration for later versions by others.
