Why I dig WSM [Archive] - Mandolin Cafe Forum

GTison

Aug-20-2005, 11:01pm

Golden West, #.... #I get absorbed in alot of them. #Melissa's waltz for J.B. popped up as I was playing tonite. #I havn't thought of that in a while. # I think I played 'Ebanezer Scrooge' #first, every time I picked up the mandolin for about a year. #Then heard Monroe on some live tape putting all the notes in between; more like what Butch Robbins recorded in his medley of it and Old Dangerfield.

evanreilly

Aug-20-2005, 11:48pm

'Malissa's Waltz for J.B'...Malissa was Bill's mom; Melissa was his daughter. J.B. was James Buchanan Monroe, his father.
Tunes... I like 'The Old Mountaineer' and 'Smoky Mt. Schottische'.

JimRichter

Aug-21-2005, 12:49am

Evan said: #"Smoky Mt. Schottische"

Evan---you must be the only one!

For me, a few of the tunes that get it are:

My Father's Footsteps (the version on Butch's Grounded album w/ Compton doing harmony is fantastic)

Goin' Up Caney

Tanyards (that B part--man)

Honky Tonk Swing. #I'm a sucker for the downstroke stuff and you got to imagine how radical that had to sound back in the mid 40's. #My blood boils everytime I hear it.

Stoney Lonesome

And, there isn't one bad note or melody on Master of Bluegrass--every da%% one of those tunes from Fair Play to Come Hither get me pretty hard.

Jim

Vincent

Aug-21-2005, 1:31am

as much as I dig the rocknroll numbers like bluegrass part one and the cool instrumentals mentioned above, what gets me are the older fiddletunes- grey eagle, turkey in the straw, jenny lynn, soldiers joy, etc. They remind me of my grandpa eating fruit with a knife- relaxed and confident.

Chris "Bucket" Thomas

Aug-21-2005, 7:00am

The power and intensity of "I Saw the Light" on Live at Mechanic's Hall ('63) is amazing.

evanreilly

Aug-21-2005, 12:22pm

Awww, Jim....
I'm not the only one who plays 'Smoky Mt. Schottische'...
Mike Compton does a good job on it also....
Speaking of whom, the website & blog are doing great....

Garrett

Aug-21-2005, 1:07pm

Body and Soul, Little Georgia Rose, Get Down on Your Knees and Pray, First Whipoorwill

I like it when he sings!

Spruce

Aug-21-2005, 1:29pm

Some of the most intense live music I've ever seen has been The Who in '68, Hendrix at Berkeley 5th row center, The Mahavishnu Orchestra in a small club cranked, the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and Ravi Shankar with Alla Rakah and Ali Akbar Khan in a small church in Berkeley...

But probably the most intense and amazing performance I've ever seen was WSM and the BGB at a high school gym in San Jose, Ca, playing through a sound system that would have made Led Zeppelin happy...

I mean it was smokin' loud and balanced, but it took a few songs to get it that way....

I forget what the opening tune was, but it sounded bad and loud--not a good thing.

Butch Robins stepped to the mic and did a quick soundcheck while the band vamped and acted like nothing was happening, telling the soundguy where to put the levels and then telling him to "leave 'em there!"....

They then stepped to the mic and ripped into "Kentucky Mandolin", and it was just stunning. #

I'll never forget that tune at that volume and the way it sounded, and I remember going home and learning the tune that same night...

Powerful stuff....

JimRichter

Aug-21-2005, 2:34pm

Great story, Spruce.

The acoustic act--and this is off topic from WSM--I always associate with being loud (sound system wise) and powerful was either incarnation of the New Grass Revival, but especially the second incarnation since they really had their mic vs pickup stuff down. # One of my favorite venues to see the second incarnation was the Saturday of the Kentucky Fried Chicken Bluegrass Festival down in Louisville in the 80's. #Those NGR songs sounded fantastic loud. #Nothing like hearing something like Pack of Fools or Fly Through the County at "Zeppelin" volume. #But, being a teen/twenty-something banjoist at the time, one of the most magical moments was hearing Fleck debut his instrumental "Bigfoot" (which was later on NGR's Friday Night in America). That moment was perfect. It brought tears to my eyes and influenced my notions about music for sometime after.

And WSM wasn't bad himself at the KFC fests http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

That is a festival that is sorely missed by yours truly.

Jim

Mando4Life

Aug-21-2005, 4:41pm

Goin Up Caney, In the Pines, Southern Flavor, The Dusty Miller, and Footprints in the Snow.

Some of many faves.

I'll never forget seeing Mr. Monroe sing In the Pines live....goosebumps all over.

WBL

johnhgayjr

Aug-21-2005, 10:07pm

Definitely agree about Master of Bluegrass - all the tunes are cool - especially like Evening Prayer Blues and Come Hither to go Yonder. #Also like Monroe's Blues - got to hear Monroe and Kenny Baker play live a number of times and always loved Monroe's Blues. #Also Dusty Miller and one called Old Tennessee River that Compton taught at NashCamp.

Here's part of a tune I came up with a while back - kind of a mixture of Southern Flavor and Jerusalem Ridge:

track 13 (http://www.harddrivebluegrass.com/audio/track13.mp3)

Compton also taught us Smokey Mtn Schottiche - not very popular. #The class renamed it jam buster!!!

John Gay
Memphis

Moose

Aug-22-2005, 10:08am

This is a GOOD "thread"! - Thanks. I "picked-up" on a common "theme" that WE - on this forum - share ; here it is: I first encountered Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys some 50++ years ago, listening - sitting on the floor - in front of a VERY old - and large - Philco radio; Bill would come thru on Saturday nite..., WSM-AM 650 ; late at nite - listening in the dark - my ear close to the BIG speaker in that Philco - I would get big "goosebumps" ALL over! - Some 50++ years later I'm older ; worn-down and in lots of ways...burnt-out ; BUT I STILL get those SAME "goosebumps" ; Bill's music "affects" me today as if it were only yesterday IT has remained constant - and young - I'VE gotten.....old. Thanks, Bill.., and thanks to ALL the great musicians who have created THAT Music.... Sorry to ramble, but I needed to say it. Everyone have a great day. Moose. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

bsimmers

Aug-22-2005, 12:51pm

"Go Hither to go Yonder" rocks! It is a MANDOLIN tune!
"Wheel Hoss" '...bring it on home now.'
"Last days on Earth" speaks for itself.
Bill's kickoff on "Roanoke" is pretty energetic!
"Traveler's Blues" is one you seldom hear, but it's a keeper.
"Santa Claus" is a mandolin break that is such a standard now, most people overlook the genius of those pentatonic licks.
"Tombstone Junction" is a classic in your face mandolin piece. You gotta love the mandolin when you hear it.
Why I dig WSM?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif? That mandolin is a part of him. And the music that comes out it is what John Duffey once called, "White soul music." I think it's everyone's soul music. It rocks!

sgarrity

Aug-22-2005, 5:58pm

Old Dangerfield, Old Ebeneezer, Smoky Mt. Schottische, My Fathers Footsteps, Evening Prayer Blues, Kentucky Mandolin

Old Ebeneezer is the first Monroe tune I learned and what really got me to playing the mandolin.

luckylarue

Aug-22-2005, 8:04pm

What are the quintessential recordings of Old Dangerfield and Old Ebeneezer? My cd collection/mandolin library is incomplete without them.

Spruce

Aug-22-2005, 8:44pm

"What are the quintessential recordings of Old Dangerfield and Old Ebeneezer? "

Well, Monroe's "Master of Bluegrass" remains unreleased on CD, which is absolutely ridiculous...
It's #1 on my list of LPs that need to be released onto CD, regardless of genre...

There's a nice version of the two tunes combined on Butch Robin's CD "Grounded Centered Focused" (http://www.butchrobins.com/Detail.bok?no=26) called "Old Ebeneezer Dangerfield"...

David Grier and Mike Compton played "Ebeneezer" alot, and it's on numorous recordings floating around of their gigs...
It's also on the infamous David Grier/Chris Thiele recording from the Prism.....
All the above are unreleased, but it's on Grier's "True Life Blues" CD....
Here's (http://alltabs.com/print/oldebenezerscrooge_grier.htm) the tab...

My favorite version of both tunes is another unreleased recording, that of Portland's Greg Clarke, who sat down in a kitchen and recorded 2 CDs worth of his favorite solo mandolin tunes (in alphabetical order no less), and both those tunes are on there...
Great stuff....

evanreilly

Aug-22-2005, 11:43pm

Bsimmers mentioned Monroe's intro to the Jimmie Rodgers' song 'Travellin' Blues'. I gots to say that that break is one of my most, best, greatest, fav-o-rite Monroe breaks. It combines Monroe's bluesy style with his tremolo to perfection. And Monroe was a really big fan of Jimmie Rodgers, so his dozen or so covers of JR are all pretty interesting.
Go find it and listen to it. Or coerce me to put it up on my website somewhere http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif But I am lazy. Go find it!

danb

Aug-23-2005, 12:47am

"Scotland" is my favorite..

evanreilly

Aug-23-2005, 1:24am

"Scotland" is probably the best example of Monroe's use of drone strings.

johnhgayjr

Aug-23-2005, 9:43am

Several of these instrumentals are also on the late Jimmy Campbell's CD called Pieces of Time. #Jimmy played fiddle with Monroe during the early 90's. #Monroe played on several of the tracks. #Compton's on there too. #

John Gay
Memphis

Moose

Aug-23-2005, 9:45am

Ahhhh! - "Scotland" - Love that number! - Thanks for the memory "jog"... Recorded April 8, 1958. The GREAT twin fiddle work of Bobby Hicks AND Kenny Baker ; two masters of Bluegrass fiddle! - Talk about "goosebumps"...!!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

swampstomper

Aug-24-2005, 3:59am

Can't believe no one mentioned it -- but Mon would certainly -- RawHide !! it gets me every time. I mean, that was meant as an exhibition of just how fast and wild a mando could be played.

For sheer WSM energy -- how about Blue Grass Ramble? 1950. With Vassar (RIP) and Rudy.

Oh I could go (travelling) on and on.... Jim Rooney said it the best in the title of his book about Mon and Muddy ... BOSSMAN!!

Moose

Aug-24-2005, 10:17am

Hey 'stomper! - Now THERE'S a good "number" "ON and ON": Recorded Jan. 25, 1954. Read this personnel data!: Bill Monroe/mandolin ; JIMMY MARTIN/guitar ; Charlie Cline/fiddle ; "RUDY" Lyle/banjo ; Ernie Newton/bass.(Rosenberg,c1974)- Not sure but I believe all THAT "classic" band have now "slipped-behind-the-curtain". RIP boys & Thanks for the great Music. Moose. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

AlanN

Aug-24-2005, 10:27am

On and On, done as a trio vocal throughout, right? Nowadays, most bands who do it only trio on the chorus.

Funny, but the comment these days is "too many trios". Bands of yore would 'feature' the trio sparsely, making it special. Now, it's commonplace.

Aug-24-2005, 12:41pm

A WSM song that I like is "Nanook of the North" that he never recorded, but fiddler James Bryan recorded on his first Rounder album.

evanreilly

Aug-24-2005, 5:50pm

James Bryan also recorded 'Monroe's Farewell to Long Hollow', which David Davis later recorded as 'Farewell to Long Hollow'.

Steve Cantrell

Aug-24-2005, 7:45pm

How about Wheel Hoss?

Moose

Aug-25-2005, 11:00am

Yeah! - Have ya' got those quick "drops"...?!! - ...like from G to' A(if in "G") or, A to G(for key of "A") - now THAT'S quick! - a great number!! - Moose. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

Steve Cantrell

Aug-25-2005, 6:42pm

That's the trick, isn't it? I'm dedicating the next month to learning Monroe fiddle tunes. Having a blast, too.

Moose

Aug-29-2005, 10:34am

"Git-R'-done!! - and enjoy! RIP Big Mon.

evanreilly

Aug-29-2005, 11:53am

Bill Monroe wrote specific tunes for specific instruments. Mostly, he wrote for the fiddle, but also for the banjo and mandolin. He also wrote a tune for trombone and mandolin, or at least the mandolin sounding like a trombone!

tree

Aug-29-2005, 12:21pm

Peter Hackman

Sep-16-2005, 12:38pm

Lord Protect My Soul - the mando break between verses 1 and 2 just takes the top of my head off . . .

Were You There - can you really get away with playing mando like that in church?

Midnight On The Stormy Deep - the duet with Peter Rowan is just as emotional as it gets. Another version, with Doc Watson, is also very good but different. Amazing how flexible he was in his approach; he didn't need to always do things the same way but still managed to get the same feeling.

Molly and Tenbrooks - and there ain't a mando break in the song, but it sure gets my heart rate up there.

Cheyenne - the changes, wow. Unbelievable.

Clark B.
Haven't heard the duet with Watson in a long time (if ever)-
my guess it's in a lower key. The Decca version is in E.

I've heard a tape from Bean BLossom where Monroe does
two versions of John Henry - one in G,
much like the recorded version, the other, slower in E,
with a slightly different tune.

Sep-17-2005, 2:25am

its mighty dark to travel, listen to the mandolin break behind the vocals.
that song is way drivey!

shine hallelujah shine, my favorite WSM gospel tune.

evanreilly

Sep-17-2005, 10:49am

Monroe probably played more backup mandolin behind Lester than with any other lead singer. I find that phenom very interesting, both from the sound produced, and wondering why he seemed to stop that in later versions of the BGB.