When banjoist Raymond Fairchild burst upon the folk revival scene in the early '60s, he was hailed as the real deal. His picking borrowed from Earl Scruggs and others, but he had also carved out a distinct style that combined the three-finger method with single note runs. Plays the Classics was compiled from two albums that Fairchild recorded in the 1980s, Raymond Fairchild Plays Requests and World Champion Banjo. He's joined by guitarist Josh Crowe, bassist Wayne Crowe, and fiddler Arvil Freeman on 13 classics stretching from Flint Hill Special to Under the Double Eagle. It's amazing what Fairchild can do with even a simple piece like T for Texas, expanding this instrumental version beyond the four-minute mark and never running out of ideas. His single-note work is fluid, bluesy, and quite original here. Of course, he's just as adept at offering breakneck renditions of Rawhide and Foggy Mountain Breakdown. As good as Fairchild is, however, Plays the Classics isn't a one-person show. Josh Crowe offers some nifty flat-picking on pieces like Clinch Mountain Backstep and Freeman's bow work livens up tunes like Roll on Buddy. Whether the listener is a banjo player or a bluegrass fan, Plays the Classics is a fine recording and a good introduction to Raymond Fairchild's ingenious picking. ~ Ronnie Lankford, Jr., Rovi

1		Flint Hill Special
2		Dear Old Dixie
3		Turkey in the Straw
4		Clinch Mountain Backstep
5		Roll on Buddy
6		T for Texas (Blue Yodel No. 1)
7		Foggy Mountain Special
8		Rawhide
9		Daybreak in Dixie
10		Shuckin' the Corn
11		Katy Hill
12		Foggy Mountain Breakdown
13		Under the Double Eagle