John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson
Stories & Songs
Planetary Records

"If the banjo was any good, The Beatles would have used it." John McEuen, formerly of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band wrote that for me. Imagine that, the first line is a review was written by a musical legend. Actually, he didn't really write that for me, he just says it on the first track of this bluegrass/folk/bluegrass/rock album with a pinch of bluegrass and quarter cup of humor (Jimmy Ibbotson even made me laugh out loud at the word emphysema).

This isn't your straight live album. Usually, the artist seems to have a way of never messing up their words on "live" CDs. That's not the case on this album. These guys are messing up words left and right. And even the occasional strange fingerpick or strum. It's what "real" live music is like.

John and Jimmy cover everyone from Kenny Loggins to Rodney Crowell.

What bothers me most about this album is that the stories are short, and only sometimes entertaining. If you're going to name a disc "Stories and Songs," I would rather hear more stories than this album gives us.

That aside, I would recommend this disc to my bluegrass friends. Almost anyone who goes to the Telluride Folk Festival, or the Lyons Colorado Folks Festival needs to have a copy. Five stars (out of a possible five if you're a bluegrass fan; out of 10 if you're not and out of 100 if all you listen to is rap).

-DJ

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