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The Primitive Quartet
35th Anniversary

The Primitive Quartet are a mainstay in SG/Bluegrass gospel culture.  Their latest project is a celebration of 35 years in gospel music.  The group has basically consisted of the same core quartet for over 30 years with brothers Reagan (Lead), Mike (Baritone) & Larry Riddle (Bass) and Norman Wilson (Tenor).  Randy Fox and Jeff Tolbert both have served long terms with the groups, 20+ years and 8+ years respectively.  Consistency is one of the traits attributed to this quartet, both with their personnel and their music.  Having been nominated numerous times for Band of the Year in the Singing News awards, The Primitive Quartet have proven time and again that they are among the top instrumentalists in their field. 

The first track is a new cut of the old song “John Knew”, originally recorded on their Fallen Leaves album roughly 30 years ago.  The 2 cuts are so different in comparison that you can’t really put the 2 in the same category.  Lets just say that the Primitive Quartet has made great strides in their music quality in the past 35 years. The rest of the song list is:

1. John Knew
2. The Precious One
3. Reaping From Fields I’ve Never Sown
4. Didn’t He Shine
5. Dear Jesus, I Love You
6. Someday
7. I Love To Walk With Jesus
8. He’s Still Been A Good God To Me
9. He Didn’t Stay Dead
10. Grace Is There

Highlights from this project include “Didn’t He Shine”, “Dear Jesus, I Love You” & “John Knew”.  Overall, this project is much stronger than the last few released by The Primitive Quartet.  This project is unique because Reagan Riddle only penned one of the tracks (”Didn’t He Shine”).  I did not say that to imply that this album is better because of that, but typically an album from this quartet includes mostly songs written by the lead singer. 

There’s nothing cutting edge about this project. However, this project should please any fan of the Primitive Quartet because they stay true to form with their quality and sound, which is far and above most any other “mountain” music group on the road today.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 2008
Nashville, TN

Tim Parton, pianist for Legacy Five, has announced his plans to leave the group to pursue other interests.

According to Tim… “I enjoyed filling in for Roger Bennett during his illness and was glad to stay on board after his death. I have had to try and balance other musical opportunities that have come my way and it is time for me to do one or the other. I cannot continue to do both the road work with Legacy Five and the additional musical endeavors that I enjoy. I want to say thank you to Scott Fowler, Scott Howard, Glenn Dustin, Frank Seamans and our bus driver Gary Buckner for being so understanding. And to all the Legacy Five friends out there, thank you for welcoming me and accepting me into the Legacy Five family. I will always remember you and appreciate you all for being so kind and gracious to me.”

Scott Fowler, manager of Legacy Five states, “Tim has been an incredible blessing to Legacy Five. He really helped us through a very rough transition and he did it with his typical humility and class. There isn’t an unkind bone in Tim’s body. He’s one of my favorite people and all the guys will miss him but we wish him all the best.”

Tim will remain with Legacy Five until a replacement is named.

Pianists wishing to inquire about auditioning for the position should contact Scott Fowler at scottfowler@legacyfive.com.

Website: www.legacyfive.com

You’ll have to act quick for this one, but there’s no telling what you may find in this lot.

Brandon at Coomer Cove asked a question that was really good.  I started to post a reply in his comments section, but my response was getting way too long, so I’ll do it here.

I too have noticed that many older SG projects on eBay are bootlegs.  They are typically advertised as reissues or some similar nomenclature, but in actuality, they are usually bootlegs.  I’ve contacted several sellers and some still insist that they are legit because they bought them from a “reputable” seller. 

A year or so ago, I actually tracked several projects to a distributing company, which shall remain nameless.  They claim they bought the rights to distribute these “copies” but I question their sincerity because they were more than happy to talk with me when they thought I was going to buy their product.  I got a cold shoulder really quick when I started questioning these CDs. 

In my local grocery store, there is a rack of gospel music for sale that has obviously been manufactured in someone’s basement or office.  Among these were several Hinsons projects, along with several other prominent SG groups.  There were/are perforations along the artwork edges, which is an obvious clue that these aren’t on the up and up.  I mean, come on….if you are going to steal these artists projects, do it with some class and at least get some decent paper for the artwork (or buy something better than a $50 inkjet printer for your counterfeiting company to print these with).  Or better yet, stop yer blame stealing before someone presses charges and has you locked up on piracy charges……idiots!