The Osborne Brothers - Are You Mad at Your Man? (Complete As & Bs 1956-1962) (2020)

One of the most beloved of all of Bluegrass and country music's many 'brother acts', Sonny and Bobby Osborne reigned supreme in their chosen field of music for over 50 years. Apprenticing with Bluegrass founding father Bill Monroe and fellow foundation artist Jimmy Martin respectively, the brothers forged their own act and own sound with third vocalist Red Allen in 1953. For the next couple of decades they were seldom far from the charts.

Jasmine's new compilation 'Are You Mad At Your Man' focuses on the brothers' first six years of success and brings together the A and B sides of every single they released (the first seven of them with Allen) between 1956 and 1962. It documents their transition from a hardcore bluegrass act to a slightly more mainstream harmony duo - a transition that was made with no damage to their popularity or credibility.

Although very few of these singles were actual hits - those would come between 1966 and 1980, when the Brothers racked up 17 of their 18 country chart hits - they include in their number several songs that have gone on to become bluegrass standards, in the original versions that have been copied by younger bluegrass bands for decades.

Happily both still alive, Bobby and Sonny Osborne retired in 2005 but their musical legacy and unimpeachable reputation will live on forever in bluegrass circles. These are the recordings with which that reputation was forged, presented in chronological order of release and remastered from the finest possible sources.