The All Music Guide dismisses this underrated, now-classic bluegrass album with the following one-sentence review: "Sparks updates his bluegrass sound for the 1990s on Silver Reflections." This review is inaccurate for two reasons. Number one: this material was recorded in 1986 and 1987, not in the 1990s. Number two: Larry Sparks did not "update" his sound for this album. As you would expect, Larry's soulful singing, his bluesy, unpredictable guitar breaks, and his impeccable rhythm playing are all represented here, and his band (featuring Art Stamper and Glen Duncan on fiddle, Barry Crabtree on banjo, and Tim Sargent on dobro) plays the same type of hard-driving, traditional bluegrass that is present on all of Larry's albums. I think what makes this album stand out is not the updating of Larry's sound, but the uniform strength and freshness of the material. Many of these songs, particularly the Goble/Drumm compositions "Blue Virginia Blue" and "Tennessee 1949," can hold their own standing alongside the works of Bill Monroe and The Stanley Brothers. Don't let the generic cover shot fool you -- Silver Reflections belongs in every bluegrass collection. As an interesting side note, the original album cover showed the reflection of Larry's 1953 Martin D-28 on a glass table (image on right), echoing the album title. Rebel Records cut off the bottom third of the cover when they printed the CD edition (image on left).
AMG Rating: ***
My Rating: ****1/2
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