Chris Thile does Bill Monroe

[Drew Egerton]

Guy can't win doing his own thing or dang near mirroring Big Mon. lol
I enjoyed it, thanks for sharing and thanks Jeff for sharing the original.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Nick - "....but just plain ole bias against Thile...". Maybe not so much Nick. Some folks like myself just don't care for really 'fast' tunes regardless of 'who' plays them. The Flatt & Scruggs version that i posted is really only a tad slower,but to my ears it's much easier to listen to. Maybe because going back 50 years or so,it was one of the actual songs that i played over & over & over & ....... to learn how to play it & at that time,i'd never heard Bill Monroe's version. There were far more Flatt & Scruggs recordings on sale over here at that time than Bill Monroe recordings,no doubt in some ways because of the Folk music boom in which F & S had become part,the popularity of the Beverly Hillbillies TV show & the theme tune to the film Bonnie & Clyde. Bill Monroe was 'known' over here,but the whole 'father of Bluegrass' thing was years away. Even at the concert i saw over here with the recently 'discovered' Doc Watson & The New Lost City Ramblers,when Ralph Rinzler mentioned that ''Next year,we're hoping to bring over Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys'' - Bill Monroe was just another musician who had a Bluegrass band,
Ivan

[Nick Gellie]

I have listened to both now. I reckon the banjo, fiddle, and mandolin breaks in Thile's mob have lots of intensity, punch, and drive that make it a worthy version of the original.

[Franc Homier Lieu]

And of course the recordings posted above are absolutely definitive versions, and those guys never played it any faster or slower than in those versions....

I think something that most of Thile's fans love about him is that he got over "playing just like" anybody else when he was about 8 years old, and has not looked back since. In the intro to this PHC clip it is clear that this rendition is a respectful tribute to legendary musicians and the historic stage they played on. It was not some pointless exercise in 'duplicating' anything (whatever that would mean).

[roberto]

Bluegrass Boys = better. All boys. Thile's banjo player I bet is a monster though. played that song like nothing.

Thile is genius no doubt. just different. and that is ok. Just not pure. no big deal.

But Monroe was not pure either. He was an innovator. As Thile.

[CES]

Cracks me up when Critter bumps Aoife out of the way and gives her the grin, while maintaining perfect rhythm and tempo

Yes Noam is a beast. More in the Bela Fleck camp than Earl, but he can play anything. The album mentioned is very good, as is Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail. If you've got a few minutes look up the Punch Brothers latest Tiny Desk concert and watch him go on "Magnet..."

[Charlieshafer]

And Britt trying to get around Aoife is even funnier. Those two have grown up using their own microphones, and Britt's only done the shared mic thing as duo. Takes practice, as those who do it know! Personally, I loved it. Any of those up there can stand with anyone, and surpass just about everyone. Faster. slower, it's just a tune. It doesn't need to be compared to the original or played like the original. You have the original to listen to if you prefer that, not it's time to move on and let the younger players do whatever they want. I know most people here are just stating preferences, but it always bugs me when a very few people will state things like "no one can do it like..." or in an earlier post implying that the older is better because they're all boys.

I get it that some don't like Thile's style, but to compete dismiss what he does is just weird.

[FPhil]

Yes, the banjo player, Noah Pikelny is a monster. Check out his CD Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe.

No mando content, but from the same show an incredible song from his soon to be released new album:

[John Parrott]

Great to hear Chris and all get after this fine tune and give tribute one of my favorite breaks of Bill's.

It also warms my heart when people start pulling out metronomes to compare recordings.

The 1946 studio recording of "Why Did You Wander?" is on County ccs 105 "Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys: Classic Bluegrass Recordings Volume 2". It's in the key of G.

The version in post #5 is in A, but the mandolin break is identical to the G version. The voices have a whiff of helium as well. I think the tape speed on the stage recording has changed the key.

[guidoStow]

God I'd love to really see CT do this kind of thing. Curse my being in the UK!

With Stewart Duncan, Sarah Jarosz, Julian Lage and Aoife O'Donovan in the house band tonight, I'm thinking they may have some fireworks planned... Hopefully the stream will work for you in the UK. Starts at 11:00pm GMT tonight.

https://youtu.be/KAADrYKKfHI

Cheers!

[Charlieshafer]

The regular housebound was killing' it just fine!

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Guido - "Hopefully the stream will work for you in the UK.." Well ,it worked fine for me - i shall be re-visiting it & downloading it a bit later on today with mandolin in hand - many thanks,
Ivan

[guidoStow]

I'm so glad it worked for you Ivan!

[AndyPanda]

Whenever I watch video of APHC I always cringe when Chris has his mandolin just hanging without either hand on it. Is it just me?

[Bernie Daniel]

I listened to both the original 1946 version and the modern one again this morning and the one new thought I came up with (and I do not think has been mentioned) is what a huge duet Bill Monroe Lester Flatt made -- his guitar work stood out too.

Later version of Bill and the BGB doing the song? The breaks are cleaner and with mando intro....

[Charlieshafer]

That comes with playing together for years! The house band at PHC doesn't have that luxury, unfortunately..

[FLATROCK HILL]

Later version of Bill and the BGB doing the song? The breaks are cleaner and with mando intro....

Of the recorded versions that I know of (Monroe's), this clean one in a solid 'G' is my favorite. The version posted by JeffD in 'A' seems too high to me, including the vocals. The version Ivan posted is nice, but it's not G, it's not A...not even really A flat I don't think. Somewhere in the cracks just far enough to drive me nuts.

[CWRoyds]

I love this stuff.

Man, Bill was cruising in that solo.
He was going so fast he lifted off the ground in a few places.
It was remarkably smooth when compared to his later style.

I wonder why one would label this as too many notes.
The guy plays all kinds of speeds.
He loves a slow waltz.
He loves the fast stuff.
He rocks it all.

If a player only has one speed, and that speed is stupid fast, then it gets super boring.
But the occasional flood of mandolin speed is really effective.
I loved this solo.

[JeffD]

Let me repeat, I love this stuff. No ifs. No ands. No buts. I just straight out love this stuff.

I know we all like to shave the ice thin, and sometimes really thin. Myself included.

Where else can we complain when it is being played way way way faster than we can ever hope to play it, and like it much better when its only way faster than we can ever play it.

But its out of love. Love of the music. Love of the playing. Love of its history. Love of the characters. Love of the details.

[Larry Simonson]

A week or so ago I finally saw an "Earls of Leicester" show and was blown away as was the huge Joe Val Festival audience. If I closed my eyes I could easily imagine it was Lester and Earl on stage. I would love to hear similar bands doing Monroe and Stanley Brothers shows.

[guidoStow]

The bluegrass equivalents of the Dark Star Orchestra -- a band that specializes in recreating period correct renditions of Grateful Dead shows...

[Drew Streip]

Whenever I watch video of APHC I always cringe when Chris has his mandolin just hanging without either hand on it. Is it just me?

I'd put money on him using some kind of strap lock -- I just bought these because they don't alter the instrument in any way and they give me some security for the stage.

http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_..._Set_of_2.html

Just because Chris has a backup Loar, I'm sure he doesn't wanna drop one!

[lonestar_shawn]

A week or so ago I finally saw an "Earls of Leicester" show and was blown away as was the huge Joe Val Festival audience. If I closed my eyes I could easily imagine it was Lester and Earl on stage. I would love to hear similar bands doing Monroe and Stanley Brothers shows.

A few years ago I saw the Traveling McCoury's with Peter Rowan sitting in on guitar and vocals, and Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland playing twin fiddle. That's probably as close as we could hope to get these days to Monroe in his prime, and it was phenomenal!

[wooq]

I don't know what some of you folks are talking about, that was the most Monroe-like, traditional-bluegrass-mandolin thing I've ever heard Chris Thile play.