Country Road

Released in late 1971/early 1972, "Country Road" is one of the Blue Ridge albums I will never tire of listening to!

It begins with Donnie Seabolt singing lead on "The Keys To The Kingdom", followed by the upbeat "The Unclouded Day". Bill Crowe's smooth baritone is featured next in "One By One." Donnie, LaVerne Tripp, and Burl Strevel all take part in "He'll Go With You", and side one finishes out with "When We Sing Around The Throne Eternal." I'll never forget seeing them perform this song live the first time, starting out slow and dramatic, then speeding up with each following stanza. The crowd cheering them on as they sang faster and faster was electrifying!

Side two starts out with the title song, "Country Road", a song co-written and made famous by John Denver. No doubt it was recorded by the Blue Ridge because of it's reference to the "Blue Ridge Mountains" for which the quartet was named. Next up is "Oh Come, Angel Band", and then LaVerne sings lead on "The Old Account Was Settled" while Burl drives me crazy with some mighty fine bass lines. This timeless LP concludes with "The Unseen Hand", and then Donnie and LaVerne taking turns with verses of "No Not One."  Not a bad song or sour note throughout the entire listening experience, but of course, that's why the Blue Ridge earned the title the "Sweetest Singing This Side Of Heaven"!