Article: Bill Monroe Receives his Mandolin from Gibson - The Video

[Mandolin Cafe]

You can view the page at https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/content.php?359-Bill-Monroe-Receives-his-Mandolin-from-Gibson-The-Video

https://www.mandolincafe.com/graphics/billmonroe.jpg (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/content.php?359-Bill-Monroe-Receives-his-Mandolin-from-Gibson-The-Video)

[MikeEdgerton]

Well, that will bring tears to your eyes. Big day for Bill Monroe, big day for Charlie. Nice, really nice.

This is a video of historical importance and we get to see it. Thanks Scott.

[danb]

Well that's cool as heck

[JFDilmando]

Let me tip my hat to you Scott, and all you have done... this is just another brilliant accomplishment for sure... One question that I might ask, given the understanding that there is a desire to avoid editing the material, to honor the integrity, of the original material, might there be a way to have an edited version that syncs the audio with the video ?

[MikeZito]

I would not consider myself a Bill Monroe fan, but I fully appreciate that as one of the most significant historical mandolin videos of all time. I am grateful to have seen it.

[Drew Egerton]

Very cool to see, thanks for sharing!

[George R. Lane]

It is great to see Mr. Monroe was a big time noodler too.

[Logan M Chandler]

Is that George Gruhn in the crowd?

[Bob Bass]

Thanks Scott!

[BradKlein]

A great moment!

[f5loar]

I remember the day like it was yesterday. Yes, sir that would bring tears to a glass eye! At the time Monroe arrived he didn't know if it was going to be able to play or just hang as a museum piece. When you see Charlie at first kneeling to hide from Monroe, he wanted to make sure it was in tune when it went into the display box they had built for it. You can tell Monroe upon the first lick was surprised it was in tune and put back into the condition to be able play it. Not sure why Charlie had it in Monroe's old '64 Gibson case, as by this time he was already using the custom leather bound Pag. case. I'm guessing Monroe kept it to use for the '78 F5L he used the most during the repair time. Monroe had written the new tune "Lloyd Loar" for the Gibson employees and Charlie had already heard it. He only performed it live once or twice that I know of on stage. It was never recorded by Monroe. Too bad Chet didn't know the chords to "Wheel Hoss" and didn't get that "G" run in there.

[CES]

Yeah, they kind of threw Chet into the fire without any idea what was coming. He's awesome and did just fine, but would have been nice if they'd given him a little prep. I agree it was cool how Bill just couldn't stop playing it, and how Charlie just couldn't stop smiling :)

[Denny Gies]

Outstanding, Scott. What a treat. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and the bottom of my mandolin.

[addamr]

Enjoyed that. That is awesome.

Adam

[goose 2]

Amazing snapshot of mandolin history. Thanks so much for sharing this. Monroe is
One of my musical heroes and the video really brings to memory talking mandolins with Charlie. What a great guy he was.

[John Soper]

Thanks, Scott for making this available. An important moment in mandolin history.

[Jack Roberts]

Thank you! This was additional sunshine in my morning!

[JEStanek]

That's pure bluegrass history. A wonderful tribute to Charlie and Bill.

Jamie

[AlanN]

Pure gold is when CD is telling/yelling the chords to CA.

[MikeEdgerton]

Chet was trying. :cool:

Henry seemed to have trouble finding words.

[AlanN]

Henry seemed to have trouble finding words.

Indeed. At least he let Charlie do the hand over.

[Nathan Kellstadt]

Pure gold is when CD is telling/yelling the chords to CA.

Seriously, that made me chuckle.

[Larry S Sherman]

A special moment...I had no idea that film existed!

[Don Grieser]

How cool is that whole video!

[greenwdse]

And smart closeups from Wright at 9:00. Stirring stuff. Shows a real love of the subject. Yeah I noticed that about the Nashville Network too. SVHS tape stuffed in a basement somewhere?

[Tom Haywood]

Thank you, Scott!

[Demetrius]

That was by far one of the coolest videos I've ever seen...
So great to see that and thankyou so much for posting it.

[Russ Jordan]

Chet with a flatpick!

[Tom C]

Charlie was either so cool, or scared shirtless. He just stood there and watched like he let the mando and Bill speak for themselves ...and finally got the approval thank you handshake.

[Mandolin Cafe]

This has been a lot of fun. Spent part of the morning organizing and going through and selecting the next tape or set of tapes to publish and am beginning work on that project. We've yet to actually see all of the tapes but believe the last 8 include live concert footage from a show in Boulder. At least that's how they're marked. Should know by the end of the week if all goes as planned.

Keep finding out little bits and pieces about the day and the people in the video in attendance. Jim Triggs was over before the tape went live. Jim came in as the Custom Shop manager a few months after the presentation and identified a number of Gibson employees by name. Walter Carter was having a conversation with us and pointed out John Hedgecoth, the mandocellist with Butch Baldassari's old Nashville Mandolin Trio is seen holding a camera at the point where The Nashville Network camera is shown and George Gruhn is visible. This is sort of like Where's Waldo 31 years later.

And not to gloat, but got a private mini-concert by Monroe in the headphones last night from him sitting on his front porch on the farm. To be broadcast in the future.

[rhicksnm]

Very historic! Glad to see this great event recorded!:mandosmiley:

[Mark Gunter]

How cool to get to experience this through Wright's footage! And more good stuff to come! Thanks Scott, and a big thank you to everyone involved in making this happen.

[tim noble]

The warmth and gratitude on Bill's face while cradling the mandolin in his arms is timeless. Charlie and crew created magic and thanks Scott for preserving the history.
Tim

[Bobby Branton]

Thanks for helping keep history alive. BTW, enjoyed the podcast with Bradley Laird.
He is doing a great job with his podcast.

[Mandolin Cafe]

A note to anyone that wishes, we've opened up the video so it can be posted by anyone on the internet. It was initially restricted to just the Cafe for posting but it was always our intention to allow it to be shared widely once we got some bang out of the buck for our effort.

Bluegrass Today just ran their own story right here (https://bluegrasstoday.com/historic-bill-monroe-video-at-gibson-released/).

Stay tuned. If all goes as we intend we'll have another surprise for everyone this coming Sunday night.

[brit-maxwell]

Fab + brilliant! many thanks for posting this- one should probably add: RIP Charlie Derrington, Gibson owes him a lot..!

[Strings Jr.]

Thanks to everyone responsible for making this video available. It truly was a great day. I was working for Gibson at the time, and can be seen at the end of the video at 15:55 (guy on the right). I have always been amazed at what Charlie was able to do with this mandolin. Seeing the "before and after" condition made me appreciate his work even more.
I'd like to offer one of my own photos of the mandolin to the forum. This is the mandolin when it was still in clamps on Charlie's workbench.

156870

[Mandolin Cafe]

At 5:30 p.m. today (Sunday) we're going to release 30 minutes of never before seen interview with Monroe on his farm just North of Nashville. Some great moments in it, including him playing his mandolin on the front porch.

And of special note: you do NOT want to miss the brief conversation between interviewer and camera operator while Monroe goes inside the house to get the mandolin. Priceless.

[MikeEdgerton]

Thanks to everyone responsible for making this video available. It truly was a great day. I was working for Gibson at the time, and can be seen at the end of the video at 15:55 (guy on the right). I have always been amazed at what Charlie was able to do with this mandolin. Seeing the "before and after" condition made me appreciate his work even more.
I'd like to offer one of my own photos of the mandolin to the forum. This is the mandolin when it was still in clamps on Charlie's workbench.

156870

Thanks, I don't think I've ever seen that picture.

[JimRym]

Well, that was sure some part of something. Thanks Scott. -Jim

[Mandolin Cafe]

A quick note to let everyone know we finally got the audio and video synced on this historic video. The first upload was badly out of sync. Hard to find folks with expertise in converting massive video cassette tapes used for television in the 80s and converting them to web. This is the only video that exists in public of Bill Monroe receiving his mandolin post-repair from Gibson at the factory with Charlie Derrington and Henry J. making the presentation.

Chet Atkins on guitar backing up Monroe playing "Wheel Hoss" with Charlie calling out the chords to Chet--priceless.

See if you can spot a very young George Gruhn in the crowd as Scott Wright pans video of folks watching the presentation.

See the new video here (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/content.php?359-Bill-Monroe-Receives-his-Mandolin-from-Gibson-The-Video).

[AlanN]

Great to fully watch. At the end, he picks Lloyd Loar.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Noting today's anniversary of this historic video we shared for the first time exactly one year ago.

[Mandolin Cafe]

It's the anniversary of the return of Monroe's mandolin post-repair from Gibson and we have the only surviving video of the moment known to exist!

[Mandolin Cafe]

Always heartened to see this video on the day of the anniversary, and at the same time sad to see Charlie Derrington who is missed by many.

[Mike Romkey]

Good to see this. Thanks! ... I was fortunate enough to see Bill Monroe play the mandolin later that year at NAAM in Chicago. Seems like yesterday. He said, talking about the restoration, that he "taked it back to Gibson." That is a direct quote as spoken. I thought about that phrase long and hard. We also got to see Chet play the electrified nylon-string Gibson made under his name. My only time at NAAM but quite memorable.

[Mandolin Cafe]

We'll be making an announcement about this series of historic tapes, including this one, in the near future. They're headed to a new home for long-term keeping and public display.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Published 3 years ago today (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/content/359-Bill-Monroe-Receives-his-Mandolin-from-Gibson-The-Video).

[Mandolin Cafe]

Noting the anniversary of this date. The tape with this video and others that are part of the Scott Wright collection are now a part of the Country Music Hall of Fame permanent collection.

[Mandolin Cafe]

It's the anniversary of the famed Monroe video!

[Mandolin Cafe]

Noting this important anniversary.