A couple of years after the pop hits stopped, Dan Fogelberg took this detour down the bluegrass/traditional acoustic music road.
The result is a fine collection of mostly original songs, an album that holds up better than much of his earlier, better-known work.
Accompanied by some of Nashville's top studio aces, Fogelberg sings of the California gold rush in the beautiful "Sutter's Mill," accompanies Doc Watson, Jerry Douglas and David Grisman on the instrumental bluegrass workout "Wolf Creek," and leads his all-star group speeding through several other bluegrass-flavored rave-ups.
There's a touch of gospel here as well, with Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs pitching in on vocal harmonies.
By the time of this album's release in the mid-'80s, pop radio was no longer playing the music of mellow singer/songwriters like Fogelberg, but the lovely ballad "Go Down Easy" found some airplay on contemporary country stations.
Although the set-closing "The Higher You Climb" is a too-long slow drag similar to some of the singer's earlier overblown productions, High Country Snows is a surprising musical high point for Dan Fogelberg.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mountain PassDan Fogelberg | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 02:45 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 2 | Sutter's MillDan Fogelberg | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 06:33 | 15 MB | 36 MB |
| 3 | Wolf CreekDan Fogelberg | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 02:58 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 4 | High Country SnowsDan Fogelberg | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | The OutlawJay Bolotin | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 6 | Shallow RiversDan Fogelberg | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 03:17 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 7 | Go Down EasyJay Bolotin | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 8 | Wandering ShepherdDan Fogelberg | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 15 MB |
| 9 | Think of What You've DoneCarter Stanley | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 02:40 | 6 MB | 15 MB |
| 10 | The Higher You ClimbDan Fogelberg | Dan Fogelberg | Play | 06:15 | 14 MB | 35 MB |
| 40 mins | 91 MB | |||||
| 40 mins | 223 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anita Ball | Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Joel Bernstein | Photography |
| 3 | Jay Bolotin | Composer |
| 4 | David Briggs | Piano |
| 5 | Jim Buchanan | Fiddle, Violin |
| 6 | Dianne Davidson | Vocals (Background) |
| 7 | Jerry Douglas | Dobro, Guitar, Vocals |
| 8 | Lester Flatt | Composer |
| 9 | Dan Fogelberg | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Handclapping, Keyboards, Piano, Primary Artist, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals |
| 10 | Vince Gill | Guitar, High Tenor Vocal, Tenor (Vocal) |
| 11 | Emory Gordy | Bass |
| 12 | David Grisman | Mandola, Mandolin |
| 13 | Michael Hanna | Keyboards, Synthesizer |
| 14 | Chris Hillman | Mandolin, Vocals |
| 15 | Russ Kunkel | Drums, Handclapping, Tambourine |
| 16 | Ron Larson | Art Direction, Design |
| 17 | Marty Lewis | Engineer, Producer |
| 18 | George Marino | Mastering |
| 19 | Charlie McCoy | Guest Artist, Harmonica |
| 20 | Dan Murakami | Handclapping |
| 21 | Tracy Nelson | Vocals (Background) |
| 22 | Herb Pedersen | Banjo, Bass (Vocal), Tenor (Vocal), Vocals |
| 23 | Al Perkins | Guitar (Steel), Pedal Steel |
| 24 | Earl Scruggs | Composer |
| 25 | Ricky Skaggs | Guest Artist, Violin, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 26 | Carter Stanley | Composer |
| 27 | Doc Watson | Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |