What bill monroe record should i get?

[hendrix2]

The last few days I (finally!) discovered the music of the great Bill Monroe. I can't find his records in the stores here, but I'm gonna make an internet order and get some of his records.
But what are the best records to start with? And are there any records to avoid?

At the moment my favorite bill monroe song is Southern Flavor.

Any help would be appreciated!

thx,
regards
Kenneth

ps: excuse me for my english. it's one of the reasons why I don't post very often. I understand everything in English but to write it down on my own http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[swampstomper]

There is no contest: the MCA 4-CD set (very reasonably priced) "The Music of Bill Monroe from 1936 to 1994". MCAD4-11048. It has your favourite song and so more.

What is your native language? Your English seems fine to me.

[hendrix2]

Thanks for the reply.

My native language is dutch, I'm from Belgium. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[swampstomper]

Je bedoelt dat je moedertaal is Vlaams, dus? Engels is niet zo moelijk, blijkbaar een verbasterd dialect van nederlands, vindt je niet?

[hendrix2]

Inderdaad Vlaams http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Moest iedereen hier nu nederlands kunnen dan zou ik hier wellicht heel wat meer posten! Ben je zelf van Belgie/Nederland?

[swampstomper]

That was just a little fun to let you know that we are neighbours. I live in Enschede, that's politically in Netherlands but geographically and lingustically part of lower Saxony. English is indeed the language of the board. I know for a fact that we have members whose native language is Dutch, French, German, Danish, Czech, and Italian.

[12 fret]

Arie Luyendyck, sorry its the only Dutch I know.

Good second choice, Smithsonian/Folkways recording of Bill Monroe duets with Doc Watson.

[Wadefox]

The MCA 4-CD set is a great deal. It starts with Bill and Charlie Monroe and includes the early Bluegrass Boys with Flatt and Scruggs.

Some other ones I like:

American Traveler: It's all Monroe instrumentals.

Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe: Kenny Baker played fiddle for the Bluegrass Boys. The mandolin player for this record is . . . Bill Monroe. It's great.

I can't remember the name, but there's a Smithsonian CD of live duets of Bill Monroe and Doc Watson.

[Peter Hackman]

That was just a little fun to let you know that we are neighbours. I live in Enschede, that's politically in Netherlands but geographically and lingustically part of lower Saxony. #English is indeed the language of the board. I know for a fact that we have members whose native #language is Dutch, French, German, Danish, Czech, and Italian.
There have been a couple of Norwegians, but they are largely inactive.
Didn't know about any Danes, they must be lurking. More importantly,
there are a couple of Swedes: i.a. bluegrasstjej, jonas, kyswede and myself.

Back to the topic.

A very cheap introduction to older Monroe stuff is "The Legend Lives On".
Golden Stars (an European label).
It has 32 numbers (out of 40) from the Columbia days,
and 14 numbers form the "high lonesome period".

Instrumental: American Traveler, County Records

Gospel: The Gospel Spirit, MCA. Has 9 selections from I Saw the Light
(but not the best one, A Beautiful Life!)+
7 more (including two numbers with Jimmy Martin singing falsetto tenor
on the chorus).

Live: Two Days at Newport (label: ...And More Bears)
Mechanics Hall (AD).
Off the Record (Smithsonian-Folkways).

The first two feature Del McCourey and Bill Keith, but different fiddlers.


There are two live shows that SHOULD be issued on record. One is
from Bean Blossom, 1963; I believe it's among the tapes that Neil Rosenberg donated to the Library of Congress. The other is from the U of Wisconsin,
1966, possibly the best group Monroe had in the 60's, and the best
representation of that group (Greene, Grier, Rowan, J Monroe).

[Steve Cantrell]

"Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe" in my opinion, is Monroe's best studio performance, and the 4 CD MCA set is very good. The live CD with Doc is great because it removes a lot of noise and gives you a better idea of what Monroe was about. I also have a 6/20/1966 show taped at Tex Ritter's house by a young David Grisman that is absolutely hair-raising. Monroe is in especially fine form. The version of "Wayfaring Stranger" on the Grateful Dawg CD comes from this performance. It circulates a good bit.

[evanreilly]

Smithsonian/Folkways SF CD 40063: Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys; Live Recordings 1956 - 1969. Off the Record Volume 1.
Smithsonian/Folkways SF CD 40064: Bill Monroe and Doc Watson; Live Duet Recordings 1963 - 1980. Off the Record Volume 2.

The 4 CD MCA set is the best intro to the Music of Bill Monroe. I beleive it contains 104 tunes and songs.

[evanreilly]

Steve Cantrell refers above to a show taped at Tex Ritter's house on 6/20/66. This is probably Tex Logan, who put on a show/party for Monroe and his band every year at his home in New Jersey. I have heard several tapes of those shows and they are really good. Monroe was in excellent form for those performances.

[EggerRidgeBoy]

Well I'll go ahead and second (third? fifth?) that four cd box set, "The Music of Bill Monroe, from 1936-1994" ( http://www.amazon.com/Music-B....&sr=8-3 (http://www.amazon.com/Music-Bill-Monroe/dp/B000002OSF/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/104-0871109-0106337?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1187448741&sr=8-3) ). #It is definately the best overview of Bill's music, and the only multi-label, career spanning collection that I know of. #It takes you from his pre-bluegrass work with his brother Charlie all the way to his last recordings in 1994. #

If that is a bit too much of an investment, the two-disc "Anthology" ( http://www.amazon.com/Antholo....&sr=8-2 (http://www.amazon.com/Anthology-Bill-Monroe/dp/B00008WI8K/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-0871109-0106337?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1187449161&sr=8-2) ) is a solid collection that covers most of Bill's career, with the notable exception of the seminal 1940's Columbia recordings with Lester and Earl that gave birth to bluegrass.

There are several one-disc collections of varying quality which are bascially "greatest hits" packages of about 16 to 22 tracks. #The best of these is probably "The Very Best of Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys" ( http://www.amazon.com/Very-Be....&sr=8-5 (http://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Bill-Monroe-Grass/dp/B00006GF9S/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5/104-0871109-0106337?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1187452013&sr=8-5) ). But I would definately suggest buying one of the more comprehensive compilations if possible.

After starting with one of those collections, I'd suggest adding some live recordings. #Several good ones have already been mentioned, such as the two Folkways albums, "Off The Record, Volume One: Live Recordings 1956-1969" and "Off The Record, Volume Two: Live Duet Recordings 1963-1980" (with Doc Watson). #I'd probably start with Volume One, simply because it allows you to hear Bill in a wider variety of settings, but Volume Two is just as good. ( http://www.amazon.com/Off-Rec....sr=8-22 (http://www.amazon.com/Off-Record-Vol-Recordings-1956-1969/dp/B000001DJ3/ref=pd_bxgy_m_text_b/104-0871109-0106337?ie=UTF8&qid=1187449569&sr=8-22) and http://www.amazon.com/Off-Rec....sr=8-22 (http://www.amazon.com/Off-Record-Vol-Recordings-1963-1980/dp/B000001DJ5/ref=sr_1_22/104-0871109-0106337?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1187449569&sr=8-22) ).

After that, if you wanted more live recordings, you could start checking out some of the individual shows that have been released recently, such as "Two Days at Newport" ( http://www.amazon.com/July-1963-Two-Days-Newport/dp/B00009Z51L ) or "Live at Mechanics Hall" ( http://www.acousticdisc.com/acd_html/acd59.html ).

If you wanted to focus on the early days of Bill's career, as he was developing his sound and helping to create what we now call bluegrass music, you could check out "The Essential Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys" ( http://www.amazon.com/Essenti....sr=8-11 (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Bill-Monroe-Blue-Grass/dp/B0000028MD/ref=pd_bbs_11/104-0871109-0106337?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1187452318&sr=8-11) ), a two-cd box set that includes all of his 1945-1949 Columbia Recordings, or the very reasonably priced four-disc "All The Classic Releases 1937-1949" ( http://www.amazon.com/Classic....&sr=8-4 (http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Releases-1937-1949-Bill-Monroe/dp/B00008Y3UU/ref=pd_bbs_4/104-0871109-0106337?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1187453009&sr=8-4) ) , which covers the Monroe Brothers, the early Blue Grass Boy line-ups, and the classic recordings with Flatt and Scruggs.

Then, after you've bought all of that, you can start emptying the bank account and getting all the Bear Family box sets. # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Happy listening!

[Steve Cantrell]

Sorry Evan, I do mean Tex Logan. Don't know where the Ritter came from....

[hendrix2]

Just ordered the "The music from Bill Monroe, 1936 - 1994" box

I'll start with that one. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
But I have to wait for another 3 weeks 'till it's here http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

Thank you all for replying!