View Full Version : Love, Lost and Found
Just arrived in the mail from Allen Mills. The band's brand new recording features the last recorded work of the late, great Dempsey Young, and the deft and musical picking of their current mando man, Scott Napier.
It's a great legacy to a great man.
Go here (http://www.lostandfoundbluegrass.com/) and order y'self one!
grassrootphilosopher
Apr-14-2009, 4:04am
Is there anywhere a place on the web to go and have a quick listen at the recording?
I saw the Lost and Found in 1990 (Lake Havasu, Az). Dempsey Young was great and they had a great guitar player who played Red Smiley´s D 45 if I understood right. Who might that have been. He was a good player. I didn´t like how Allen Mills made the anouncements and such though.
Michael Ramsey
Apr-22-2009, 11:51am
Just curious. What was the turn off about Allen's emcee work? He's one of the best in my opinion about drawing you into his living room with his very easy, personal emceeing style.
Skip Kelley
Apr-24-2009, 4:54pm
I heard the album on Sirius radios track by track show. Allen's new album is awesome!
grassrootphilosopher
Apr-29-2009, 4:07am
What was the turn off about Allen's emcee work? He's one of the best in my opinion about drawing you into his living room with his very easy, personal emceeing style.
I saw the Lost & Found in 1990 at the Lake Havasu festival. Other better known musicians with bands that did not ring a bell with me were Bob Applebaum and Pat Cloud (together in a "traditional" bluegrass band), Deanie Richardson, a band called Retired Grass (with a banjo player lead singer that blew my mind) and others.
The Lost and Found delivered a straight set with hardly any contact to the audience. There was very little emceeing (apart from anouncing the songs and a short rundown of the band members) done by Allen Mills. None of the other musicians said anything (neither to the audience nor to each other). The audience liked the music a lot. The request for an encore was answered by Allen Mills with:"Like Jimmy Martin says: No encores." That´s when they left the stage without turning back, talking to the audience after the show and so forth. I found that rather "abrasive". (compared to the Country Gentlemen for example)
Now if it´s a scheduled gig where you have so and so much time to deliver your music and you have to be off on the road and such, I can accept no encores and the band leaving. In such cases it would be nice to hear a word about why the band hit the road running. Mind you the circumstances were not that way here.
I liked the guitar player´s technique. If my feeble memory serves me right he had Red Smiley´s D-45 which sounded great. Other than that Bob Applebaum blew me away with his mandolin capacities (and of course the inimitable bebop banjo picker Pat Cloud). Bob Applebaum spoke about having practiced the mandolin in the New York subway.
Anyhow, I might be biased against the Lost and Found by that appearance and my opinion says nothing negative about their music. They had a tight band when I saw them.
Russ Jordan
Apr-29-2009, 5:32am
I have seen Lost & Found more times than I can count, and have never seen them do a show such as you describe. Allen Mills has a great stage presence, and loves to talk the audience.
This is my experience, as well.
Although I was not there, they were clearly far from home, on the road and likely had a tight schedule to follow. One must realize the rigors of the road. It ain't easy.
And thinking back on who made up the band in 1990, the guitar man was likely Steve Wilson or perhaps Barry Berrier. If either of those guys had Red Smiley's D-45, it is news to me.
Brian Aldridge
Apr-29-2009, 12:19pm
When was Bob Applebaum ever their mandolin player? It almost sounds like someone has the bands mixed up in their minds? I can't picture this scenario.
mandolirius
Apr-29-2009, 1:39pm
When was Bob Applebaum ever their mandolin player? It almost sounds like someone has the bands mixed up in their minds? I can't picture this scenario.
And Pat Cloud on banjo? There's just no way. :grin:
When was Bob Applebaum ever their mandolin player? It almost sounds like someone has the bands mixed up in their minds? I can't picture this scenario.
mandolirius
And Pat Cloud on banjo? There's just no way.
Read his post again fellas, he said ...other better known musicians with bands that did not ring a bell with me were Bob Applebaum and Pat Cloud (together in a "traditional" bluegrass band)...
From reading his previous posts I'd say the Philospher is well aware Dempsy Young is the only mandolin player The Lost and Found ever had up until his passing in 2006.
GVD
blacksmith
Apr-29-2009, 1:57pm
i saw L & F a couple of months ago, thoroughly enjoyed them. The M.C. work by Mills was ok, a bit of conversation between almost every song, and it made for a better connection with the audience than some other bands i've seen. The only problem i had with it was that every bit of patter was a constant reminder of the CDs for sale at the back of the room, almost a running commercial. It got a bit tedious after a while, you just knew that every time he spoke it was going to be a sales pitch.
grassrootphilosopher
May-05-2009, 4:23am
This is my experience, as well.
Although I was not there, they were clearly far from home, on the road and likely had a tight schedule to follow. One must realize the rigors of the road. It ain't easy.
The road surely ain´t easy and I don´t hold a grudge against them. Like I said, they had a tight band. The music was okay overall. From what limited experience I had I like other bands better.
Brian Aldridge Re: Love, Lost and Found
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When was Bob Applebaum ever their mandolin player? It almost sounds like someone has the bands mixed up in their minds? I can't picture this scenario
I never said that Bob Applebaum was in the Lost & Found. I referred to Bob Applebaum and Pat Cloud being in a "traditional" band when I posted about some of the other bands that were there (Deanie Richardson´s band was called 2nd fiddle by the way; she had a good selling recording of Glenn Millers "In The Mood" if I remember right). Bob Applebaum´s and Pat Cloud´s Band was not the Lost & Found of course. Bob Applebaum and Pat Cloud guaranteed that the music they played (like "Rubeeeee" [Osborne Bros.]) sounded far from traditional. They played mind-opening music.
AlanN Re: Love, Lost and Found
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And thinking back on who made up the band in 1990, the guitar man was likely Steve Wilson or perhaps Barry Berrier. If either of those guys had Red Smiley's D-45, it is news to me.
I do not remember the guitar player´s name. He played a Martin D-45 though that had the big hexagonal inlays. I remember the referrence to Red Smiley´s D-45 being made. But of course - other than my impression with their show - I am careful with my presumtion of the guitar provenance. But the guitar picker played very nicely.
I'm glad we cleared all that up, I was Lost but now I'm Found <g>.
Just to expand a bit on this band: Active since 1973, they carved a niche (I believe) for themselves as mixing trad with country with pop with show tunes, all under the auspices of a solid grass band. The core was always Allen and Dempsey. Each lead singer (guitar man) and banjo picker they have had over the years brought a slightly different tinge to their sound. Sometimes more country, sometimes more folk, sometimes more Western. An early number they did was Where Have All The Flowers Gone (see Pete Seeger thread), in a very 'modern', but down-home fashion. Alley Cat was part of their show, as well - rather un-heard of at the time.
Dempsey Young was a 'stylist', as General Mills called him (hi Russ). He did things nobody else did, from fat chord voicings to sophisticated, understated lead lines. With Dempsey, you hardly needed a fiddle man, although the great Gene Elders, Steve Thomas, Glen Duncan (I believe) recorded with them. I have a live show from around '85, at the Red Creek, where both Steve Thomas and Steve Wilson were in the band at the time. They pick Rawhide, and Dempsey adds his little hooks to it (particularly on the B part), just great. They also pick Cheyenne, and Dempsey's break includes the B part, not usu. done by mandolin pickers.
One of the last times I saw Dempsey perform was at Willow Oak in Roxboro, NC a few years ago. His brother's band was on the bill and I handed my F-5 to Dempsey when he joined them on stage. I was honored and humbled to watch him pick that night. I'll always miss him.
They carry on today, with a very good, stable line-up. Their shows are always entertaining and pleasing. Catch 'em if you can.
Russ Jordan
May-06-2009, 3:04pm
In 1989 the Lost & Found released New Day. Ricky Skagg's dad borrowed one of Red Smiley's guitars for them to use on Reno & Smiley's One Teardrop and One Step Away. Ronnie Bowman was the guitar player at the time. Red's guitar was never used on stage with the Lost & Found. I imagine General Mills mentioned the use of Red's guitar on the recording when introducing the song at Lake Havasu.
This is what I thought, but I checked with the General before posting and he confirmed. He thinks Ronnie Bowman was still in the band when they played the Lake Havasu festival.
grassrootphilosopher
May-17-2009, 11:53am
In 1989 the Lost & Found released New Day. Ricky Skagg's dad borrowed one of Red Smiley's guitars for them to use on Reno & Smiley's One Teardrop and One Step Away. Ronnie Bowman was the guitar player at the time. Red's guitar was never used on stage with the Lost & Found. I imagine General Mills mentioned the use of Red's guitar on the recording when introducing the song at Lake Havasu.
This is what I thought, but I checked with the General before posting and he confirmed. He thinks Ronnie Bowman was still in the band when they played the Lake Havasu festival.
Nice to know. The guitar player picked a D-45 like guitar though (might have been a genuine whatever year D-45 or a D-45ed Martin [like "they" did back then]). I liked Ronnie Bowman´s picking. He had a good rythm-thing going. Forgot who was on banjo though. He broke a string in one of the shows at the festival and quick as a fox changed it. In the meantime (less than a tune) the rest of the band played on. It sounded like a multitrack recorder on which you silence one track. This taught me something about ensemble playing and song arrangements.