probably asking for it

[billkilpatrick]

on the "song-a-week" group we're currently doing bill monroe's "the kentucky waltz." an excellent mandolinist, BG aficionado and fellow SAW'yer intimated privately that my version of same might cause some thrashing about inside the casket of the venerable gentleman - a mortifying notion, on my part, to be sure - and i was wondering if anyone would care to give a listen to this second attempt - monroe purists in particular - and judge whether it might cause BILL any offense:

x_uiXmulZk4

... thank you - bill

[Jake Wildwood]

What was the line in Shakespeare in Love?

The argument wasn't over the bill, it was over the Bill!

I like this. :cool:

[Bill Snyder]

Well Bill, if you get yourself a proper Stetson and grow some lamb chop sideburns you would look the part. :)

[Mike Bromley]

and judge whether it might cause BILL any offense:
... thank you - bill

Note to self: Subscribe to this thread.....

Note to Bill: I'll pass judgement as soon as the mental maniac in the IT department lets me view Youtube....better yet, when I get home on Friday....

Note to the other Bill: Ya must be getting sore from rolling over from all the gaffes...but I'll bet that all the tributes, no matter how lousy, would make you R.I.P. like no other.:mandosmiley::popcorn:

[pelone]

Bill---don't pay attention to Mike's subtle allusion to gaffes. You are outstanding. I have been telling friends that you are the Fret Killr of mando with your plethora of postings---your just not embarrassed to show your face and you are manly enough to allow the occasional "error" to play through.

For those who may not know about Fret Killr--check out youtube. Don't you agree that Bill is likely to be this anonymous genius?

[barney 59]

Today I was noodling around on a morning manic coffee jag and in some wild Statmanesque run I heard "Kentucky Waltz" and then it morphed into a wild Statmanesque - intentional- version of "Kentucky Waltz"--I think the worst that could happen from your version is that maybe you could roll old Bill back rightside up after what I played today.
With a guitar behind you and maybe a fiddle you have a really nice backporch version of Kentucky Waltz going there. It's like I'm home again in West Virginny--you got it beat --your having fun!

[billkilpatrick]

i get the feeling that playing anything by bill monroe requires a crash course in court etiquette - one shouldn't approach him just-like-that - no-no. i imagine kow-tows will suffice - just - but shuffling along the marble tiles on your hands and knees towards the golden throne, while whimpering, must be the better method. i love this stuff and i'd like to do more but i don't want to offend anyone by not showing due deference or genuflecting at inappropriate moments.

lamb chop side burns, eh! ...

[barney 59]

Enough of Bill Monroes stuff has been kicking around long enough that have really entered the public lexicon and I think exist independent of their creator. They are at this point "folksongs" as such. More people are probably familiar with the "Kentucky Waltz" than are familiar with Bill Monroe. I think that your playing of that song is completely appropriate and maybe more appropriate than a much more advanced players attempt at recreating "Monroe's Kentucky Waltz" but falling short.

[Mike Bromley]

I don't want to offend anyone by not showing due deference or genuflecting at inappropriate moments.

lamb chop side burns, eh! ...


Bill---don't pay attention to Mike's subtle allusion to gaffes.

At your age, Oh Genuflector, one must be careful that one's Flection is Recoverable. Getting errant muttonchop hairs snarled in the Terrazzo Grout becomes ye not.....~o)

[Bill Snyder]

More people are probably familiar with the "Kentucky Waltz" than are familiar with Bill Monroe.

That could be. As best as I can recall I had never heard Kentucky Waltz until last week. Heard of Bill Monroe decades ago. Of course I would be a sampling of 1. Not statistically significant. :mandosmiley:

[Dan Hoover]

Very cool Bill..if you want to grow muttonchops,you go right ahead,don't let anyone here tell you no,it's a free world?? yankee ball cap on top though,no stetson...
i think ol'bill would love the percussive shaker in the back ground of his song too...

[journeybear]

Bill---don't pay attention to Mike's subtle allusion to gaffes. You are outstanding ...

I think you misread Mike's post. He was alluding to the vast numbers of gaffes committed by legions of musicians in tribute to Bill Monroe over the years, not bill's in specific - which is actually well-done. Mike hasn't seen bill's rendition yet due to technological difficulties in the Kurdish hinterland which permit only sporadic (if any) viewing of youtube.


... More people are probably familiar with the "Kentucky Waltz" than are familiar with Bill Monroe ...

I seriously doubt this. I believe more are familiar with Bill Monroe than any of his songs, even "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" - and that has the double claim to fame of being covered by Elvis. Perhaps more people are familiar with the "Tennesse Waltz," as it was a big hit for Patti Page, as well as being covered by others as disparate as Patsy Cline and Sandy Bull. I'm siding with Bill Snyder on this one, doubling the size of the sample. This version brings the number of times I've heard this song to a round handful, still in single digits. I'm no scholar of bluegrass, but I've heard lots of other songs a lot more times than this.

Just sayin' ...

[JeffD]

I believe more are familiar with Bill Monroe than any of his songs, even "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" - ...

I don't know. Growing up in New Jersey, in the popular culture bluegrass was invisible. Heck the mandolin was like the accordion, something somebody knew somebody was forced to play for a cub scout badge or something. I didn't know who Bill Monroe was till I had been playing mandolin for a while, but more to the point, I didn't know anyone who had ever heard of him until sometime after that.

I was playing Kentucky Waltz before I knew who Bill was. Monroe was just the name on the upper right hand corner of the page of the beginner book I was learning from.

Later, when I was playing Blue Moon of Kentucky, and then was surprized to discover that was a Bill Monroe tune.

[journeybear]

I also grew up in the Northeast, where (for me anyway) country was a faint glimmer off in the distance, and bluegrass virtually nonexistent - other than The Beverly Hillbillies theme song, which may or may not qualify. Country for me was songs like "Flowers On The Wall" by The Statler Brothers, "Stand By Your Man" and "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" by Tammy Wynette, and I suppose Johnny Cash. I was much more into rock, folk, and psychedelia as a teenager. My mom gave me a mandolin in 1968, which was foreign to me, having previously seen or heard it in movies or Italian restaurants.

My first experiences with the instrument involved basically learning how to play it, then how to apply this to the music I liked. Any interest in bluegrass was still years away. So when I started researching the instrument's heritage and discovered Bill Monroe, it took a long time for me to learn his catalogue and those of other bluegrass pioneers. I never took the time to seek out everything they ever did, and as a result I'm still learning, ever so gradually.

My understanding is "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" is generally considered his biggest hit or most well-known song. Whether or not that's true is not the point here (and this thread doesn't have to devolve into a listing of his or anyone's hits); I'm just saying that through the circuitous path I have taken, what I have heard from him (or anybody) has been affected by the amount these songs have crossed this path. I have very likely heard "Kentucky Waltz" before, but it hasn't registered. I think that if you stopped people on the street and asked them if they knew who Bill Monroe is (was), and asked those who answered in the affirmative if they could name any of his songs, you would find more people would be familiar with him than any particular song or songs. Unless you were in Kentucky or Tennessee or ... well, you know. ;)

I think this is really pretty common - a lot of people are more aware of performers than their works, at least until they dig a little deeper than what they may happen to hear on the radio. But that's just me. I could be wrong. Of course, I could also be right ... ;)

[billkilpatrick]

first time i heard one of bill monroe's tunes - though i wasn't aware it was his till i logged-on-to the cafe - was in the early 60's, in nyc, in washington square: two guys my age - in suits, no less, with string ties(!) and immaculately cared-for cowboy boots - played "uncle pen." i can still hear their tight, nasal-y harmonies on "you can hear it talk, you can hear it sing" - coolest ever.

the only other time i remember hearing his name was when someone recounted how he had asked elvis: "why'd you do my song that way?"

... then came the beatles.

[CES]

Bill,

Thanks for posting...enjoyed it, and will probably start working on it myself (I'm getting tired of my flubbing Rawhide about 6 measures in...this is probably more my pace :) )