Bill Monroe

As the first generation of rock & roll artists are revered, so do they, almost without exception, revere Bill Monroe, who in their eyes is one of the most important figures influencing the big beat music that emerged in the '50s. True enough. As Elvis Presley halted a slow version of Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in mid-lyric with the words, "That don't move me. Now let's get real gone!," Bill Monroe had much the same thought when he stepped up to the microphone in 1940 to record a bright cover version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues."

Growing up in Kentucky, Monroe had become conversant with blues, traditional country, folk songs, and church hymns. His instrument was the mandolin, primarily because his brothers Birch and Charlie were already the family's fiddler and guitarist, respectively. The brothers began playing together on radio shows, building a loyal following and generating offers from other sponsors. After Birch left the band in 1934, Bill and Charlie continued on as a duo, expanding their repertoire and forging a distinctive style from the disparate musics they favored. In 1936 the Monroe Brothers made their first recordings for the Bluebird label and were soon the most popular brother team in the South. Personal differences over matters relating both to business and music split the brothers in 1938, with each forming separate bands. Bill's Bluegrass Boys won an audition for the Grand Ole Opry in 1939, which led to national exposure via WSM radio and ensuing recording contracts with RCA Victor and Columbia.

Working from a traditional foundation, Bill gradually shaped a unique music keyed by his breakneck mandolin runs and a high, lonesome, pinched voice that packed an emotional wallop. A devotee of discipline and style, Monroe made certain that his bands were well rehearsed and well dressed. He prides himself on having the first band to wear white shirts and ties at the Grand Ole Opry almost as much as he does their being the group to break out of the C, D, and G keys that were most common to Opry groups, thus encouraging spontaneity among the instrumentalists and freeing them for a greater range of expressiveness. Central to all of this was Monroe's own sense of where to take his new music. Rather than adhere to accepted notions of tempo and tuning, he blasted away the barriers, bringing what he called "driving time" and the unusual ambience of open tunings to the songs in his repertoire. And yet his music was traditional in feel and in its concern with family, love, hard times, impending doom, and fear of God. Through the years Monroe has hewed steadily to what worked so successfully for him in the '40s; the most dramatic change was probably the addition of a banjo player to the fiddle-mandolin-guitar-bass lineup. On the personnel side, apart from Monroe himself, the players most responsible for bringing a sharp focus to the bluegrass style were guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, who joined the Bluegrass Boys in 1945. Flatt and Scruggs were both forward-thinking instrumentalists, and their ideas freed Monroe to add more new touches to his sound.

For an introduction to Monroe, the best place to start is with the Legacy overview, 16 Gems, which includes the original versions of classics such as "Kentucky Waltz," "Summertime Is Past and Gone," and "Travelin' That Lonesome Road." Although the double-CD, 40-track box The Essential Bill Monroe 1945--49 would seem to be the set to own -- cuts include the original version of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (which would inspire a young Elvis Presley's barn-burning interpretation on his first Sun single, in 1954), "Kentucky Waltz," "Footprints in the Snow," "Rocky Road Blues," and several other monuments; however, 16 of the 40 tracks are not original versions but rather alternate takes. The 16 original versions compose the aforementioned 16 Gems. Columbia Historic Edition pares the Monroe years down to 10 cuts from the early '40s, which means no "Blue Moon of Kentucky" here, but rather "Kentucky Waltz," Jimmie Rodgers' "California Blues (Blue Yodel #4)," "Bluegrass Special" and other scintillating tracks on a too-skimpy package. A solid overview is to be found on Vanguard's The Early Years, comprising 14 tracks spanning 1945 to 1949.

One of the most exhilarating documents from the '50s is Smithsonian/Folkways' Live Recordings 1956--1959, which offers 27 tracks of vintage performances recorded not only onstage, but also at workshops and jam sessions -- hence the loose, down-home feeling to the whole affair. Another amiable live set, Live Duet Recordings 1963--1980, finds Monroe sitting in with gentleman picker Doc Watson; the two men range wide stylistically, but complement each other's artistry and generally have a fine time playing music near and dear to their hearts.

Monroe recorded steadily from 1950 to 1981 for Decca/MCA, and the peaks far overshadowed the valleys. As an overview of these years, The Very Best of Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys is a good single-disc compilation containing vivid reworkings of Monroe monuments such as "Uncle Pen," "Footprints in the Snow," and "Blue Moon of Kentucky"; a fervent take on Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light"; and a rousing interpretation of the gospel standard "Working on a Building." A deeper consideration of the same period is available via Anthology, a 50-track, four-star meal of solid Monroe artistry ranging from 1950's "New Mule Skinner Blues" to 1981's touching "My Last Days on Earth," all more than worth the price of admission as a perspective on the Decca/MCA years. Finally, the whole enchilada is available in the four-CD, 98-track The Music of Bill Monroe. No more thorough overview of Monroe's career is available; the set contains seven decades of recordings made for RCA, Columbia, and Decca/MCA. Pretty simple: This is the master at work, over time. The result of listening to these discs chronologically is to be amazed by the consistency of his music and by his unflagging commitment to bridging technique and heart, regardless of his lineup. (DAVID MCGEE)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide