BENNY MARTIN’s 'TURKEY IN THE GRASS' FIRST TIME AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL & STREAMING VIA CMH RECORDS

1977 CLASSIC TITLE SHOWCASES MARTIN’S DISTINCTIVE VOICE

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Falcon Publicity

In an effort to honor and preserve seminal classic country and bluegrass albums, CMH RECORDS (Country. Music. Heritage.) has remastered and rereleased Benny Martin’s Turkey in the Grass. Now available for the first time ever on digital and streaming platforms, this 12-track collection is unique among his discography as it showcases his distinctive voice and knack for showmanship.

Benny Martin’s Turkey in the Grass is available now on all digital platforms here: https://lnk.to/turkeygrass

Originally released in 1977 for CMH Records, Turkey in the Grass (credited as Benny Martin and His Electric Turkeys) shows Martin plowing his way through a collection of originals and old favorites. His voice is charmingly woozy atop his unceasingly barn-burning band. This album is what you get when you combine some of the best musicians around with one of the greatest personalities in the biz.

Inventor of the eight-string fiddle, prolific sideman, stylistic innovator and outstanding showman, Benny Martin is a legend in his own right with a big personality. Born in 1928 Sparta, Tennessee, Martin started his musical career playing with The Martin Family band at the young age of nine. It wasn’t long before he was recruited by Bill Monroe in 1948 to join the historic Bluegrass Boys. He went on to play with bluegrass pioneers Don Reno, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs before embarking on a solo career and taking residence at The Grand Ole Opry.

Martin became known for his bombastic personality, which was equally well-matched by his approach to the violin, characterized by heavy bow pressure, percussive syncopation, generous slides and frequent double-stops. Over the course of his career, he appeared on over 150 albums and released over a dozen of his own. CMH is proud home to four of those albums, including The Fiddle Collection (1976), Turkey in the Grass (1977), Big Daddy of the Fiddle & Bow (1979) and The Great American Fiddle Collection (1980).

Founded in 1975 by Martin Haerle, CMH Records has released albums from artists whose monumental influence on American roots music is unparalleled. The ‘70s and ‘80s represent the foundational recordings in CMH Records’ bluegrass, old time and traditional country history, with material being put out by Merle Travis, The Osborne Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Joe Maphis, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Grandpa Jones, Lester Flatt and Eddie Adcock. Throughout the ‘90s and into the new millennium, CMH Records continued to cut records with artists such as Wanda Jackson (aka “The Queen of Rockabilly”), Raul Malo, Larry Cordle, Pine Mountain Railroad, Jimmy Gaudreau, and many others. Producing songs rich in American heritage by artists with their own distinct style created a strong backbone and history for the label.

The label remains a proud family business, now run by Martin’s son David. Described by the Los Angeles Times as a “stubborn, curious Silver Lake music company,” the label has been a strong proponent for honest music and has found success with its classic catalogue and its ongoing “Pickin’ On” series, which features bluegrass interpretations of contemporary artists, including recent hit albums dedicated to the music of Nirvana and Modest Mouse. The Times piece added that CMH “meets unsung needs in the music industry” and cited its “creative diversification.”