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Fiddler et multi-instrumentiste Country US né Vassar Carlton Clements, le 25
Avril 1928 à Kinard (Floride). Vassar Clements est décédé le 16 Août 2005.
Combining jazz with country,
Vassar Clements became one of the most distinctive, inventive, and popular
fiddlers in bluegrass music. Clements first came to prominence as a member of
Bill Monroe's band in the early '50s,
but he never limited himself to traditional bluegrass. Over the next four
decades, he distinguished himself by incorporating a number of different genres
into his style. In the process, he became not only one of the most respected
fiddlers in bluegrass, he also became a sought-after session musician, playing
with artists as diverse as the Monkees,
Hank Williams, Paul McCartney, Michelle Shocked,
Vince Gill, and Bonnie Raitt.
Clements taught himself to play fiddle at the age of seven. Soon afterward, he
formed a band with two of his cousins. By the time he was 21, Clements' skills
were impressive enough to attract the attention of
Bill Monroe. Monroe hired the young
fiddler and Clements appeared on the Grand Ole Opry with the mandolinist in
1949. The following year, the fiddler recorded his first session with Monroe.
For the next six years, Clements stayed with Monroe's band, occasionally leaving
for brief periods of time. In 1957 he joined
Jim & Jesse's Virginia Boys, and stayed
with the band for the next four years. In the early '60s Clements was sidelined
for a while as he suffered from alcoholism. By the end of the '60s he had
rehabilitated, and he returned to playing in 1967. That year he moved to
Nashville and began playing the tenor banjo at a residency at the Dixieland
Landing Club. In 1969 he toured with Faron Young and joined
John Hartford's Dobrolic Plectorial
Society. The band only lasted ten months, and after its breakup Clements joined
the Earl Scruggs Revue; he stayed with
that band for a year.
Clements began playing sessions in 1971, appearing on albums by Steve Goodman,
Gordon Lightfoot, David
Bromberg, J.J. Cale, and Mike Audridge over the next two years. In 1972 he was
featured on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's
hit album Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which helped establish him as a country
and bluegrass star. Clements capitalized on the record's popularity in 1973,
when he released his first solo album, Crossing the Catskills, on Rounder
Records and began touring the festival and college circuits. That same year, he
appeared on a number of albums, including the Grateful Dead's Wake of the Flood,
Jimmy Buffett's A White Sport Coat
and a Pink Crustacean, and Mickey
Newbury's Heaven Help the Child.
In 1974, Clements signed a record contract with Mercury Records, releasing two
albums for the label -- Vassar Clements and Superbow -- the following year. That
same year, he appeared in the bluegrass supergroup Old & in the Way, which also
featured Jerry Garcia, David Grisman,
Peter Rowan, and John Kahn. He also
had a cameo role in Robert Altman's film Nashville in 1975. In 1977, Clements
released two albums for two different labels -- The Vassar Clements Band on MCA
Records and The Bluegrass Session on Flying Fish. It would be four years before
he released another solo album. During that time, he toured constantly and
appeared on numerous albums. Clements reappeared in 1981 with Hillbilly Rides
Again and Vassar, which were both released on Flying Fish.
During the '80s and '90s, Clements continued to record sporadically, but he cut
numerous sessions for other artists and played numerous concerts every year. In
1995, Clements reunited with Old & in the Way, which released That High Lonesome
Sound in 1996. The solo Back Porch Swing followed three years later; Full Circle
appeared in spring 2001. In 2004 he released Livin' With the Blues, his first
blues-based album.
Vassar Clements died on August 16, 2005.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassar_Clements
Talents : Fiddle, Viola, Cello, Bass, Guitar, Mandolin, Dobro, Tenor Banjo, Sometime Singer, Composer
Style musical : Bluegrass, Jazzgrass
Years in activity :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 | 20 |
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles
| 04/1975 | SP MERCURY 73677 (US) | Listen To The Mockingbird / Night Train |
| 12/1975 | SP MERCURY 73748 (US) | Barnyard Boogie / Yakety Bow |
| 07/1977 | SP MCA MCA-40776 (US) | Band Jessica / Don't Mess With My Funk |
| 06/1980 | SP FLYING FISH FF-4004 (US) | There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight / Move |
| 09/1986 | SP FLYING FISH FF-4020 (US) | Hillbilly Jazz / ? |
| 02/1988 | SP SHIKATA SR-10102 (JAP) | I Hear The South / I Hear The South |
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Albums
| 1970 | LP 12" RURAL RHYTHM RRVC-236 (US) |
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SOUTHERN COUNTRY WALTZES - Lonesome Night Driver Blues / Katy Did / Texas Waltz / Drifting Back To Dreamland / Mississippi Waltz / La Golondrina / Gulf Coast Waltz / Red Rose Waltz / Fifty Years Ago / Alamo Waltz / Fort Worth Waltz / Maple Leaf Waltz / Before I Knew You / Our Last Waltz / Tampa Waltz / Polly Ann / Black Hawk Waltz / Duck Hill / Pride Of The Ball / Raindrop Waltz / Florida Waltz | ||
| 1972 | LP 12" ROUNDER 0016 (US) |
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CROSSING THE CATSKILLS - Paddy On The Turnpike / Liberty / Norwegian Wood / Wild Bill Jones / Faded Love / Half And Half / Stumble / Corrina Corrina / Florida Blues / A Good Woman's Love / Bill Cheatham / Crossing The Catskills | ||
| 1973 | LP 12" OLD HOMESTEAD OHS-90020 (US) |
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TOGETHER ONCE MORE - The DIXIE GENTLEMEN Features Vassar CLEMENTS - This Is The Girl I Love / Little Pal / Dueling Banjo / I'll Never Forget / I'll Wear The Banner / I'm Alone And Broken Hearted / Short Term Contract / Waves Of Sorrow / Walk Softly On My Heart / Dixie Ride / It's A Lonesome Road / Why Not Confess | ||
| 1974 | 2 LP 12" FLYING FISH FF-101 (US) |
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HILLBILLY JAZZ -
Vassar
CLEMENTS, Doug JERNIGAN & David BROMBERG :
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| 1975 | LP 12" SONET SNTF 721 (UK) |
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HILLBILLY JAZZ - VOLUME 1 - San Antonio Rose / Texas Blues / Take Me Back To Tulse / Delta Blues / Fais Do Do / Breakfast Feud / Browns Ferry Blues / It's Dark Outside / Panhandle Rag / Blues For Dixie / Cherokee / Sentimental Journey | ||
| 09/1975 | LP 12" MERCURY SRM1-1022 (US) |
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VASSAR CLEMENTS - In The Pines / Peking Fling / Sweet And Sassy / Long Way Around / Good Woman's Love / Night Train / Vassillie / Kissimmie Kid / Mocking Bird / Lonesome Fiddle Blues | ||
| 1975 | LP 12" ROUND RX 103 (US) |
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OLD AND IN THE WAY - Pig In A Pen / Midnight Moonlight / Old And In The Way / Knockin' On Your Door / Hobo Song / Panama Red / Wild Horses / Kissimmee Kid / White Dove / Land Of The Navajo | ||
| 11/1975 | LP 12" MERCURY SRM1-1058 (US) |
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SUPERBOW - Yakety Bow / Medley: Vassar's Boogie - One O'Clock Jump / Black Mountain Rag / Friday The 13th / Orange Blossom Special / Barnyard Boogie / King Of The Road / Cross Country Run / Oshkosh | ||
| 02/1976 | LP 12" FLYING FISH HDS 701 (US) |
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HDS SESSIONS - Vassar CLEMENTS, Jethro BURNS, Sam BUSH, Norman BLAKE, David HOLLAND, Butch ROBBINS & Tut TAYLOR - Sweet Georgia Brown / Sauerkraut 'n Solar Energy / The Old Brown Case / Take The "A" Train / Going Home / McKinley's Blues / Oconee / Vassar And Dave | ||
| 05/1977 | LP 12" MCA MCA-2270 (US) |
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THE VASSAR CLEMENTS BAND - Mixed Melody / Lillie Dale / 2 A.M. / That Old Black Magic / Jessica / Don't Mess With My Funk / Free Flow / Big City Woman / Necropolis | ||
| 1978 | LP 12" FLYING FISH FF-038 (US) |
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THE BLUEGRASS SESSION - Reno Shuffle / Vasillee LL / It's Mighty Dark / Stompin Grazz / Nine Pound Hammer / Six More Miles / Scuffin / White House Blues / Swingin Low / Rocky Top / Silly Millie | ||
| 1979 | LP 12" FLYING FISH FF-073 (US) |
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NASHVILLE JAM - VASSAR CLEMENTS, DOUG JERNIGAN, JESSE McREYNOLDS, BUDDY SPICHER - Roanoke / Stella’s Breakdown / Beaumont Rag / Doc’s Place/ Osmosis / Me And My Fiddle / Rawhide / Long Way ‘Round / HCBT Blues / I Wonder Where You Are Tonight / Farewell Blues / Roly Poly | ||
| 12/1980 | LP 12" FLYING FISH FF-232 (US) |
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VASSAR - No Teardrops Tonight / Foolin' Round / Little Woman / Peking Fling / Space Grass (Nobody's Perfect) / Skokiaan / Rumpus / Up Town & Country / Prove To The World / Move | ||
| 1984 | LP 12" MIND DUST MDM-1002 (US) |
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WESTPORT DRIVE - Just Because / Gentle On My Mind / Westport Drive / Lillie Dale / Got Anything Good / Peacock Rag / House Of The Rising Sun / Redwood Hill / Jug Harris / Orange Blossom Special / Steam Powered Aero Plane / Turn Your Radio On | ||
| 1985 | LP 12" ROUNDER 0207 (US) |
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VASSAR CLEMENTS - JOHN HARTFORD - DAVE HOLLAND - Pea Patch Jig / You Can't Run Away From Your Feet / Memories Of Home / Home Cooking / Ten Past Eleven / Scapin' Out On The Roof / Till Something Better Comes Along / You And The Way You Do / Evening Prayer / Illinois River Rag | ||
| 1986 | LP 12" FLYING FISH FF 385 (US) |
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HILLBILLY JAZZ RIDES AGAIN - Hillbilly Jazz / Don't Hop, Don't Skip / Air Mail Special / Say Goodbye To The Blues / Swing Street / Woodsheddin' / Be A Little Discreet / Your Mind Is On Vacation / Caravan / How Can I Go On Without You? / Triple Stop Boogie / Take A Break | ||
| 1987 | LP 12" FLYING FISH FF 421 (US) |
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TOGETHER AT LAST - Vassar CLEMENTS & Stephane GRAPPELLI - Alabamy Bound / Webster / Tennessee Waltz - Danny Boy / Bluesette / It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) / Lonesome Fiddle Blues / Young At Heart / In My Life / I Can See Clearly Now / Tune Up / For Jeannie | ||
| 1987 | CD SHIKATA CD-1001 (JAP) |
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NEW HILLBILLY JAZZ - VASSAR CLEMENTS & HIS HILLBILLY JAZZ - Midnight Moonlight / Orange Blossom Special / Pan American / Knee Deep In The Blues / Gone Gone Gone / Golden Rocket / Sweet Kentucky Woman / Knee Deep In Trouble / I Hear The South / Cajun Fiddle / Kissimme Kid / + 3 | ||
| 1989 | LP 12" ROUNDER 0240 (US) |
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BLUEGRASS ALBUM - VOL. 5 - SWEET SUNNY SOUTH - Rock Hearts / Big Black Train / Thinking About You / Out In The Cold World / On The Old Kentucky Shore / Preaching Praying Singing / Someone Took My Place With You / Foggy Mountain Rock / My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains / Along About Daybreak / Sweet Sunny South | ||
| 08/1991 | CD ROUNDER CD-0287 (US) |
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GRASS ROUTES - Beats Me / Westport Drive / Come On Home [Vocals version] / Florida Blues / Other End / Rain, Rain, Rain [Vocals version] / Ramblin' / Rounder Blues / Fiddlin' Will / Non Stop / Flame Of Love / Turkey In The Straw | ||
| 12/1992 | CD FLYING FISH FFCD-592 (US) |
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ONCE IN A WHILE - (Back Home Again In) Indiana / Slow Boat To China / Once In A While / Perdido / Greensleeves / Cherokee / Sonnymoon For Two / Sweet Lorraine / Sweet Georgia Brown | ||
| 10/1995 | CD WINTER HARVEST WH-3306 (US) |
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AN AMERICANA CHRISTMAS - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Angels From The Realms Of Glory / Blissful Meadows / Trim The Tree Waltz / Star Of Bethlehem / Christmas Hornpipe / O Come All Ye Faithful / Cradle Hymn / Angels We Have Heard On High / Country Christmas / Yuletide Magic / Holiday Shuffle / Black Hawthorne / Star Of The East | ||
| 02/1996 | CD ACOUSTIC DISC ACD-19 (US) |
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THAT HIGH LONESOME SOUND - OLD & IN THE WAY - Hard Hearted / The Great Pretender / Lost / Catfish John / High Lonesome Sound / Lonesome Fiddle Blues / Love Please Come Home / Wicked Path Of Sin / Uncle Pen / I'm On My Way Back To The Old Home / Lonesome L.A. Cowboy / I Ain't Broke (But I'm Badly Bent) / Orange Blossom Special / Angel Band | ||
| 09/1996 | CD WINTER HARVEST 3311 (US) |
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VASSAR'S JAZZ - GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY - Take A Break / Windjammer / Ramblin' / Mixed Melody / Fiddle Vamp / Lonesome Fiddle / Nikki Sue Blues / Kissimmore Kid / Molita / Foolin' 'Round / Other End | ||
| 1996 | CD ROUNDER CD-0330 (US) |
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BLUEGRASS ALBUM - VOL 6 - BLUEGRASS INSTRUMENTALS - BLUEGRASS ALBUM BAND - Wheel Hoss / Misty Morning / Ground Speed / Stoney Lonesome / Lonesome Moonlight Waltz / Brown Country Breakdown / Tall Timber / North Country Waltz / Foggy Mountain Chimes / Monroe's Hornpipe / Home Sweet Home / Roanoke-Instr. | ||
| 11/1997 | CD ACOUSTIC DISC ACD-28 (US) |
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BREAKDOWN - LIVE RECORDINGS 1973 - OLD & IN THE WAY - Introduction / Home Is Where The Heart Is / Down Where The River Bends / On And On / Hobo Song / Old & In The Way Breakdown / 'Til The End Of The World Rolls 'Round / Panama Red / You'll Find Her Name Written There / Kissimee Kid / Goin' To The Races / Midnight Moonlight / Working On The Building / Muleskinner Blues / Pig In A Pen / Drifting Too Far From The Shore / Jerry's Breakdown / Wild Horses / Blue Mule | ||
| 10/1998 | CD RURAL RHYTHM RHY-236 (US) |
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20 FIDDLE TUNES & WALTZ FAVORITES - Columbus Rag / Alomo Waltz / Polly Ann / Black Hawk Waltz / Drifting Back To Dreamland / Fast Travelin' / Golondrina / Gulf Coast Waltz / Katy Did / Rain Drop Waltz / Old Clem / Before I Knew You / Ft. Worth Waltz / Duck Hill / Mississippi Waltz / Fifty Years Ago / Londonary Air / Our Last Waltz / Pride Of The Ball / Red Rose Waltz | ||
| 04/1999 | CD BOTTOM LINE / KOCH 47405-2 (US) |
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THE BOTTOM LINE ENCORE COLLECTION - RECORDED LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE 1975 - Vassillie / Night Train / Osh Kosh / Boogie In The Barnyard / Lonesome Fiddle Blues / Cross-Country Run / Jessica / Kissimmee Kid / Will The Circle Be Unbroken / Black Mountain Rag / Orange Blossom Special / Down Yonder / Vassar's Boogie | ||
| 11/1999 | CD CEDAR GLEN 4203 (US) |
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BACK PORCH SWING - VASSAR & THE LITTLE BIG BAND - King Porter's Stomp / Hillbilly Jazz / If That's Love / String Of Pearls / Four Brothers / Ezra's Holler / Bad Is Bad / Nur Shab Da / Old Black Magic / Clemency / Take It Easy On The Heart | ||
| 2000 | CD CEDAR GLEN CGM 1018-2 (US) |
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DEAD GRASS FEATURING VASSAR CLEMENTS - DEAD GRASS - Brown-Eyed Women / Casey Jones / Attics Of My Life / Broke-Down Palace / Alabama Getaway / Ripple / U.S. Blues / Dire Wolf / Friend Of The Devil / It Must Have Been The Roses / Mexicali Blues | ||
| 10/200 | CD 1-800 PRIME CD PCD73 (US) |
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THREE AUGUST NIGHTS LIVE - NORTHERN LIGHTS & Vassar CLEMENTS - Untitled / Goodbye Old Pal / Midnight Moonlight / John Hardy / Hold Whatcha Got / Dixie Breakdown / Kinfolks In Carolina / Rainmaker / Northern Rail / Wild Horses / Got The Spirit / Can't Buy Your Way / Heartache Tonight / Dueling Banjos / T For Texas | ||
| 06/2001 | CD OMS OMS-25090-2 (US) |
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FULL CIRCLE - White Room / Your Love Is Like A Flower / When The Golden Leaves Begin To Fall / Tall Timber / I've Just Seen A Face / Makin' Music Macon Georgia Style / Yesterday / Hard Hearted / Face Lost In The Crowd / Old Home Place / Unforgotten One / Mr. Bojangles / Out In The Middle Of Nowhere | ||
| 03/2002 | CD DEEP DIVIN' DAN 02501 (US) |
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A NIGHT OF BLUEGRASS AT SHERWOOD FOREST - Kathy CHIAVOLA, Bobby CLARK, Vassar CLEMENTS & James McKINNEY - Foggy Mountain Special / Cry Cry Darlin' / Avalanche / I've Been Going Home Since Friday Night / The Mocking Bird / I Can't Get You Off Of My Mind / Roanoke / Carolina / Stella's Breakdown / I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome / Flint Hill Special / Caravan / Well All Right / Turkey In The Straw | ||
| 10/2002 | CD ACOUSTIC DISC ACD-51 (US) |
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OLD AND IN THE GRAY - Good Old Boys / Pancho And Lefty / Meadow Green / The Flood / When The Springtime Comes Again / Barefoot Nellie / Childish Love / Victim To The Tomb / Vassars Fiddle Rag / Two Little Boys / On The Old Kentucky Shore / Honky Tonk Women / Let Those Brown Eyes Smile At Me / Rainmaker | ||
| 06/2004 | CD OMS 25170-2 (US) |
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RUNAWAY FIDDLE - Buddy SPICHER & Vassar CLEMENT - Sweet Kind Of Love / Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star / The Way You Used To Do / I Didn't Realize / A Good Woman's Love / Just Because / There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight / Dardanella / Yearning Just For You / Runaway Fiddle / Misery / Dill Pickle Rag / Charmaine / Hang Your Head In Shame | ||
| 08/2004 | CD ACOUSTIC DISC ACD-58 (US) |
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LIVIN' WITH THE BLUES - Cypress Grove / Dirty Drawers / Honey Babe Blues / Mambo Boogie / Phonograph Blues / Green Onions / Rube's Blues / Dead Cats On The Line / That's My Thing / Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning / I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle / Mama I'm All Out And Down / Fiddlin' & Faddlin' / Cool Drink Of Water / Don't Stand Behind A Mule | ||
| 12/2006 | CD FLATT MOUNTAIN FMR001 (US) |
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VASSAR CLEMENTS, TONY RICE & THE LOW COUNTRY ALL-STAR BAND - Ground Speed / Mountain Girl / Kissimee Kid / Billy In The Lowground / Dark Hollow / Salt Creek / Toy Heart / I Wonder Where You Are Tonight / Unwound / Lonesome Fiddle Blues / Wayfaring Stranger / Wheel Hoss | ||
| 10/2007 | CD KOCH 4491 (US) |
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AN AMERICANA CHRISTMAS - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Angels From The Realms Of Glory / Blissful Meadows / Trim The Tree Waltz / Star Of Bethlehem / Christmas Hornpipe / O Come All Ye Faithful / Cradle Hymn / Angels We Have Heard On High / Country Christmas / Yuletide Magic / Holiday Shuffle / Black Hawthorne / Star Of The East | ||
| 200? | CD VASSILLIE PRODUCTIONS VPCD7 (US) |
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LIVE IN TELLURIDE 1979 - THE VASSAR CLEMENTS BAND - PeKing Fling / Mockingbird / Handpicked / Nine Pound Hammer / Jessica / I Love The Night / Avalanche / Boogie Medley / Necropolis / Orange Blossom Special / Will The Circle Be Unbroken |
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| 200? | CD VASSILLIE PRODUCTIONS ? (US |
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MUSIC CITY USA - Music City / U.S.A. / I Played While You Danced / Take Me Back To Dixie / Lonesome / Back On The Right Track / She's Gone Too Far / I Can't Be Bothered With The Blues / I'm Losing Again / Gotta Move / Burning Memories / Fairweather Friends / Everybody Knew The Truth But Me / Fiddlin' Bill |
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| 02/2011 | CD GRC ? (US) |
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RED WHITE AND BLUE (GRASS) PICKIN' UP - Vassar CLEMENTS & Byron BERLINE - Voice From On High / It's Mighty Dark To Travel / Tomorrow Is A Long Time / Palmerdale Postal Service / Fixin' To Die / Dark Hollow / California Royalty / This Last Day / Shoutin' Glo / Amazing Grace / Will The Circle Be Unbroken / 350 Bluegrass Ave. / Mariel / Bitter Weeds | ||
| 04/2011 | CD Clay Pasternack 611 (US) |
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Hartford - Rice - Clements - John HARTFORD - Tony RICE - Vassar CLEMENTS - Bound To Ride / If I Should Wander Back Tonight / I Know You Don't Love Me No More / My Baby's Gone / The Wings Of A Song / Sweet Sunny South / We Can't Be Darlings Anymore / Long Journey Home / Love Grown Cold / Love Please Come Home / Heavenly Sunlight / Poor Ellen Smith / Where Is Your Heart Tonight |
© Rocky Productions 21/05/2012
