A great many people were touched by the reminiscences we shared for guitarist Alan Senauke last month. Seven of his friends and musical colleagues paid tribute to his huge contributions to bluegrass and acoustic music, from his early days in duet with Howie Tarnower as The Fiction Brothers, through to his time with the Blue Flame String Band, The Bluegrass Intentions, High Country, and The Bay Ramblers.
We had missed Alan’s passing late in 2024, and prompted by his friend, banjoist and multi-instrumentalist Sandy Rothman, we were able to solicit some remarkable memories from Tarnower, Kathy Kallick, Marty Cutler, Matt Glaser, Yoshihiro Arita, Suzy Thompson, and Rothman for a lovely remembrance of a talented soul whose music left an impact in the northeast and the west coast, as well as his spiritual life which touch people worldwide.
Now Sandy has prepared an audio CD of live performances by The Bay Ramblers in 1985, called Live in ’85, in Alan’s memory. In the band were Alan Senauke on guitar, Sandy Rothman on banjo, Markie Sanders on bass, Tom Bekeny on mandolin, and Paul Shelasky on fiddle.
Included are 35 live tracks recorded at Paul’s Saloon in San Francisco on May 9 and June 13, 1985, and at the Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley on June 14-15, 1985. Talk about a piece of history!
The selections are drawn from the great classics of bluegrass music, with fiddle standards like Fire on the Mountain and Katy Hill, along with songs from Mac Wiseman (I’d Rather Live By the Side of the Road), Jimmy Martin (20-20 Vision, Stepping Stones), The Stanley Brothers (Traveling the Highway Home, Nobody’s Love is Like Mine, Little Birdie), Flatt & Scruggs (My Little Girl in Tennessee, I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow), Bill Monroe (I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling), Doc Watson (The Train That Carried My Girl from Town), Red Allen (That’s How I Can Count on You), and some traditional favorites like Down in the Willow Garden and The Old Spinning Wheel among them.
It’s a great look back at a different time in bluegrass, featuring several prominent west coast, third generation grassers. Rothman cautions listeners that Live in ’85 is a “warts and all” project, and that he even let through a serious banjo clam because he wanted Alan’s vocal to be featured.
Or as he put it in their defense…
“It was 40 years ago, we were still in our 30s, and around half is from an ordinary weekday gig at Paul’s Saloon with maybe 5 people in the audience. We took requests and sang things for the first (and likely only) time. In other words, it’s pretty rough in places. I could’ve made a stronger single CD (it’s a double), but took the ‘anthology’ approach because I figured it was the one and only chance for people to hear this band.”
Of course, he means “rough” in the exacting sort of way that professional musicians criticize themselves, so I’m sure most of us will find it quite solid.
Sandy has taken this on as a passion project, and is making these CDs available for sale directly through himself by mail. To obtain a copy, simply contact Sandy Rothman by email and he will explain how to get payment to him, and a CD to you.
Hats off to Sandy for making this happen as a tribute to his longtime friend.
