The Lilly Brothers & Don Stover - What Will I Leave Behind (CD)

True to a very traditional brother duet sound

By Joe Ross  Jun 24, 2003

Everett and Michael "Bea" Lilly are two brothers, originally from West Virginia, who made their home in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1948, they joined the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree as the Lilly Mountaineers. From 1952-1953, Everett played mandoli...n with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs on many of their classic early recordings. From 1953 to 1970, the brothers performed almost every night at Boston's Hillbilly Ranch. After including banjo player Don Stover and fiddler Tex Logan, the band became known as "The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover." They're credited with bringing bluegrass to New England and influenced such future bluegrass artists as Peter Rowan, Jim Rooney, Bill Keith, and others. The band quit playing in early 1970 after Everett's son died in an auto accident, and Everett returned to West Virginia. A few years later, the band reunited to tour Japan and record this album of sacred music, most of the material dating back over a hundred years. Don Stover passed away in 1996. In 2001, the brothers began performing again with their band "The Lilly Mountaineers" (with Everett's sons, Mark and Don), and in 2002, they were inducted into the IBMA's Hall of Honor.This album is a resissue of the only gospel album that the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover ever did (County LP-742, originally released in 1973). That time period of the 60s was a prolific one for this group. Other bands were exploring new directions in bluegrass music, but the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover always remained true to a very traditional sound characteristic of the Delmore, Bailes, Bolick, Monroe and Stanley Brothers. This album is obviously being reissued because some might consider it a classic. I'm also very pleased that Rebel has also reissued County LP-729 on CD (Rebel CD-1688) with this band's early recordings from 1956-57. Both albums would be great additions to the library of every serious traditional bluegrass music collector. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now) Read more Less