It's taken Tom Ewing over 30 years to put together the definitive autobiography on Bill Monroe. "The Life and Music of the Blue Grass Man" and he should add to that title "and his Blue Grass Boys" which lived the life with Bill and helped create his style of music. It's a big book with 639 pages and few dozen pages of photos, many never seen before. I got the book 2 days ago and have read it (hard to put down). My quicky review is you will find out details about this you knew about and you'll find details about things you never heard about. Stories from the 149 official Blue Grass Boys to the constant "tiffs" between Monroe and his on/off bass player, Ms. Bessie Lee Mauldin. A lot of details of the repairing of the Loar F5 and use of others while it was out for repairs. It seems the million Dollar Loar has had several dozen fretboards in 50 years, neck breaks, back seam breaks
So if you a true Father of Bluegrass fanatic , than you will want one. you can order direct from Univ. of IL Press or Amazon or Target. I've really enjoyed it , but then I'm one of the research contributors.
Bookmarks