Since Sunday was just a day before the anniversary of William Smith Monroe's 99th birthday, and just a few days after the anniversary of his death in 1996, this entire show was dedicated to music by, of, about, and in honor of Bill Monroe.
Notable tributes included songs or tunes from Mark Newton, The Wildwood Valley Boys, Frank Wakefield, Rhonda Vincent, Dolly Parton, Peter Rowan, Cadillac Sky, and the late Randy Howard.
In addition to the many artists performing the songs of Bill Monroe, we brought you several interesting recordings of Bill himself that included a very late 1995 studio performance with Earl Scruggs (first time in the studio together since the 1940s) and Byron Berline, a duet with Emmylou Harris, and an instrumental duet with Doc Watson. We also heard from The Monroe Brothers (Bill & Charlie), and what is certainly one of the strangest tunes Bill ever wrote, "My Last Days On Earth."
We played the last two studio recordings made by Bill Monroe. The songs appeared on a tribute project by Billy & Terry Smith released in 1997. You may know Terry Smith as the bass picker with The Grascals, and Billy Smith as a great songwriter who records by the name Billy Boone Smith.
Probably the rarest tune we played was an undocumented radio air check of Bill playing an otherwise unknown instrumental called "Orange Blossom Breakdown" that sounds like it came from a version of the Blue Grass Boys with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs which would date it in the late 1940s. (Airing this tune caused one listener to nearly run his car off the road.)
If you haven't ye
t supported the campaign to have the USPS issue a stamp for Bill Monroe, you can do it now by going to http://www.billmonroestamp.org/
We hope you enjoyed our tribute to Bill. We have come to love our annual celebration of Monroe because it keeps the source of our favorite music in our minds and relevant, and we hope you feel the same way.
Amy will make the banjos and fiddles ring next Sunday, so be sure to tune in.
Also, the new schedule at WHUS will begin later this week, and you now can look forward to another bluegrass program on Monday afternoons from 3 to 4pm ET titled "Bluegrass Rules" with long time "Bluegrass Cafe" listeners and sometime fill-in hosts James Ward and Cathy Ward. Be sure to check them out at 91.7 FM or whus.org
Good pickin'
Jim Beaver
Song / Artist / Album / Label
- Tennessee Blues / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Mule Skinner Blues / RCA
- White House Blues / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Blue Grass 1950-1958 / Bear Family
- With Body And Soul / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / High Lonesome (Soundtrack) / CMH
- Sally Goodin / Byron Berline with Bill Monroe & Earl Scruggs / Fiddle And A Song / Sugar Hill
- Monrosine / Mark Newton / Living A Dream / Rebel
- Kentucky Waltz / Bill Monroe with Emmylou Harris / Bill Monroe's Friends / MCA (LP)
- This Is For Bill / Frank Wakefield / Ownself Blues / Patuxent
- Bluest Man In Town / The Johnson Mountain Boys / At The Old Schoolhouse / Rounder
- Mule Skinner Blues / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Mule Skinner Blues / BMG
- The Big Man From Rosine / Wildwood Valley Boys / Songs From Wildwood Valley / Rebel
- Wheel Hoss / Dan Menzone / Frostbite / Self-released
- Uncle Pen / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Blue Grass 1950-1958 / Bear Family
- Is The Grass Any Bluer / Rhonda Vincent / The Storm Still Rages / Rounder
- Stay Away From Me / Audie Blaylock and Redline / Cryin' Heart Blues / Rural Rhythm
- I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome / The Grascals / The Famous Lefty Flynn's / Rounder
- Watson Blues / Bill Monroe & Doc Watson / Off The Record Vol. 2 / Smithsonian Folkways
- Orange Blossom Breakdown / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / NA / Unidentified Radio Transcription
- Bluer Pastures / Dolly Parton / Little Sparrow / Sugar Hill
- On And On / Ted Lundy, Bob Paisley & The Southern Mountain Boys / Self-titled / GHP
- Travelin' Down This Lonesome Road / The Dreadful Snakes / Snakes Alive! / Rounder
- Weep Not For The Dead / Peter Rowan / Bluegrass Boy / Sugar Hill
- Molly And Tenbrooks / Alan O'Bryant, Craig Smith, others / True Life Blues - The Songs Of Bill Monroe / Sugar Hill
- Georgia Rose / Fred Pike, Sam Tidwell & The Kennebec Valley Boys / The Last Log Drive / Revonah
- My Long Journey Home / Bill & Charlie Monroe / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
- Never Been So Blue / Cadillac Sky / Blind Man Walking / Skaggs Family
- Cheap Love Affair / Bob Paisley and the Southern Grass / Steeped In Tradition / Brandywine
- Come Hither to Go Yonder / The Virginia Cutups / Cherishing Memories / Fayette County
- Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine / Billy & Terry Smith with Bill Monroe / Bill Monroe Tribute / K-Tel
- Letter From My Darlin' / The Bluegrass Album Band / The Bluegrass Compact Disc, Vol 2 / Rounder
- Blue Moon of Kentucky / Billy & Terry Smith with Bill Monroe / Bill Monroe Tribute / K-Tel
- Used To Be / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Blue Grass 1950-1958 / Bear Family
- So Long, Bill / Randy Howard / I Rest My Case / Sugar Hill
- Toy Heart / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / The Essential / Columbia
- Jerusalem Ridge / Bill Monroe with Kenny Baker / The Music Of Bill Monroe 1936 - 1994 / MCA
- On The Old Kentucky Shore / The Bluegrass Album Band / Volume V, Sweet Sunny South / Rounder
- Walls Of Time / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Blue Grass 1959 - 1969 / Bear Family
- Goodbye Old Pal / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / 16 Gems / Columbia
- She's Young (And I'm Growing Old) / The Johnson Mountain Boys / Live At The Birchmere / Rounder
- What Would You Give In Exchange? / Bill & Charlie Monroe / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
- Walking In Jerusalem (Just Like John) / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys featuring Jimmy Martin / The King & The Father / Universal Music
- That Home Above / David Peterson & 1946 / The Howling Blue Winds / Self-released
- You're Drifting Away / Nashville Bluegrass Band / To Be His Child / Rounder
- Wicked Path Of Sin / Old And In The Way / That High Lonesome Sound / Acoustic Disc
- A Voice From On High / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / High Lonesome (Soundtrack) / CMH
- Get Down On Your Knees And Pray / The Johnson Mountain Boys / Live At The Birchmere / Rounder
- What Would You Do / Fred Etheridge with Nick Anderson and Mark Doyle / Pickin & Sing'n / Self-released
- My Last Days On Earth / Bill Monroe / The Music Of Bill Monroe 1936 - 1994 / MCA
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