Get your boots on and get ready to stomp your feet to some of the best the good ole' Smokies have put out in years! Both volumes of Smoky Mountain All-Time Greatest Hits have been a hit everywhere I have played them. I have really enjoyed both albums and this collection contains tunes that should be very familiar to every music lover.
Producer John Dockery has created a sound that is easy to listen to, but challenging to just sit idly by without at least a little foot tapping. The instrumentation is truly a work of art and includes the sounds of the hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, autoharp, jawharp, and a bunch of guitars. The sound at times brings me back to my early childhood, listening to my Great Aunt Helen's music box. The more I listened, the more it made me feel like that young child-anxious to "crank it up" and start playing those tunes with a sound different from any others I had come to know and love.
Smoky Mountain All-Time Greatest Hits includes all-time American favorites like "You Are My Sunshine" and "Cotton Eyed Joe." As you enjoy these and the many others, you may find yourself drifting off in your mind's eye to enjoy the beauty of God's creation-a true mountaintop experience. The hand-crafted instruments bring alive that peaceful outdoor feeling of a great big blue sky with trees gently blowing in the breeze while you lay lazily on the soft green grass watching the billowing clouds drift by overhead. (Somehow I see Huck Finn with a piece of wheat in his mouth in all of this.)
Smoky Mountain All-Time Greatest Hits, Volume Two includes even more of my favorites. I can see why they couldn't release just the first volume with so many more all-time greats to be enjoyed. I can't imagine anyone who has ever enjoyed music not being familiar with at least one of these: "Rocky Top," "Camptown Races," "Dixie," or "Amazing Grace." Each one of these tunes brings back a flood of memories for me and I bet you'll find at least a couple of songs that will do the same for you.
Lyrically, well, that's all left up to you-but you've got a great band playing for you if you're looking for the role of lead singer (and your family will allow it!).
