Flatt & Scruggs & The Stanley Brothers - The Very Best Of Bluegrass: Selected Sides 1947-1953

The great Bill Monroe was rightly named 'The Father Of Bluegrass': he originally contributed most to the invention of the style and even coined the name. For all that, as with any musical form the involvement of other parties is required in order to extend the medium. In the development of bluegrass music that happened most notably with two groups: Ralph and Carter Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys; Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys. In both cases the two front men combined vocal harmony and dexterous interplay of guitar and banjo with accompaniment that included fiddle, mandolin and upright bass, becoming as much a part of the history of bluegrass as Monroe. This 4CD set features 42 of The Stanley Brothers' most renowned recordings and 52 by Flatt & Scruggs. There is also an authoritative essay about the two groups.