The early Columbia material from the Bill Monroe band with Flatt & Scruggs defines the genre.

The early Flatt & Scruggs bands with Curly Sechler singing the high harmonies. The sound (and content, but that's another story) went down after he left.


The old LP called just "The Stanley Bros. & The Clinch Mountain Boys" with the likes of "How Mountain Girls Can Love" and Clinch Mountain Backstep" turned a lot of us onto them and the real stuff in its day.


Living in Washington DC, The Country Gentlemen (try "25 years") and the Seldom Scene (try the aforementioned "Old Train") are favorites and local barroom favorites.


For the gospel side of Bluegrass, "Cry From The Cross" bu Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys or "Rock My Soul" by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver are, in my opinion, unbeatable.


For just a solid Bluegrass album from start to finish, a particular favorite has always been Larry Sparks-"John Deere Tractor"