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An Introduction to Bluegrass: Part 1

Ep. 3

Although Bluegrass music is rooted in the ancient traditions of Appalachian Old-Time Music and the African-Amerian blues, it is generally accepted that the birth of this specific flavour of American culture happened in December 1945 when Bill Monroe hired Earl Scruggs (banjo) and Lester Flatt (guitar) to play in his band The Bluegrass Boys. The rest is history.


In this episode, I look the route Monroe took before eventually ending up with the quintessential bluegrass sound. Then, I'll take a snippet at what other musicians were doing in the immediate aftermath of Monroe's "opening of the floodgates".


Timestamps:


00:00 Snuffy Jenkins - "Cumberland Gap"


01:30 Snuffy Jenkins - "Careless Love"


05:59 Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers - "Dixie"


10:13 Bill & Charlie Monroe (78rpm, 1936) - "Foggy Mountain Top"


13:23 Charlie Monroe & The Kentucky Pardners (Radio, 1944) - "Under the Old Hickory Tree"


17:49 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys (Grand Ole Opry Appearance c. 1940) - "Muleskinner Blues"


21:52 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys feat. Clyde Moody - "Six White Horses"


25:30 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys (1945) - "Rocky Road Blues"


28:04 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys (1945) - "True Life Blues"


33:22 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys (Grand Ole Opry Appearance, 1946) - "Little Maggie"


37:00 Flatt & Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys (1949) - "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"


42:15 The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys (1947) - "Mother No Longer Awaits Me Home"


44:54 The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys (1948) - "Little Maggie"


48:44 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys feat. Mac Wiseman (1949) - "Can't You Hear Me Calling"


53:29 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys feat. Jimmy Martin (c. 1950) - "Poison Love"


1:00:00 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys feat. Del McCoury, Bill Keith & Kenny Baker (Live, 1963) - "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight" & "Devil's Dream"






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