Twenty years ago Ronnie Reno released an album called Portfolio with The Reno Tradition, which featured he and the band’s recordings of songs from Ronnie’s long career in bluegrass music.
And what a career it has been, starting with his father’s group, Don Reno & Red Smiley, through time with other legendary entertainers like The Osborne Brothers, Merle Haggard, and his own family band, The Reno Brothers. The record included new versions of classic songs from each of those endeavors, plus a song he wrote that was a hit for Conway Twitty in the ’70s.
Now, Portfolio has been reissued through Reno’s arrangement with 615 Hideaway Records, and is offered for the first time for download or streaming options.
Thinking back to when he was getting ready to record this project twenty years ago, Ronnie said that it was like a stroll down memory lane.
“Portfolio came about because I was thinking back about some of the highlights of my career and wanted to put it to music. My dad was the first part of my journey while being with Don Reno and Red Smiley, so, I picked a couple of songs from their great catalog to record. The journey continues with The Osborne Brothers, while thinking about my time singing with them featuring the great harmonies. Moving on to my time with Merle Haggard, for 8 years I recorded many songs singing harmony with he and Bonnie. September In Miami was a song Merle wrote for me which I recorded on my first solo album in 1974. Finally, the Reno Brothers Band (Dale, Don Wayne, and I) who as a family band toured together for many years. I was also able to put Boogie Grass Band on this project, which was a hit country song I wrote in 1978 for Conway Twitty. Hope you enjoy the great songs and can take this musical journey with me. Many thanks for all the great years.”
The songs he picked reads like a ‘greatest hits of bluegrass’ anthology, with Reno singing numbers that are now standards, originally sung by Red Smiley, Bobby Osborne, Merle Haggard, and Conway Twitty.
Check out the audio samples below.
The newly reissued Portfolio is available now from popular download and streaming services online.
The post Ronnie Reno reissues Portfolio album from 2002 appeared first on Bluegrass Today.
