Beatles influenced by Bill Monroe?

[mandocrucian]

Hopefully Bill's personal life doesn't influence anyone !

except for Gene Simmons

[mandolirius]

See post #9, you young whippersnapper!

I missed your mention of that session. I guess these days if you don't include a link, no one notices.

[mandolirius]

That The Beatles were influenced by The Everlys and The Everlys were influenced by Bill Monroe is fact and not conjecture.

There's a YouTube video floating around of Ricky Skaggs drawing a straight-line from The Monroe Bros influencing the Louvins, who influenced the Everlys who definitely influenced John and Paul. McCartney has mentioned them in various interviews.

[jaycat]

But did the Beatles influence Rockpile?

[Rob Meldrum]

Paul covered "Blue Moon of Kentucky in his MTV Unplugged concert (available on CD). If nothing else it proves he was well aware of who Bill Monroe was. They were definitely fans of Rockabilly in their "formative" years.

I think what made them so special is that everone sang lead on at least one song per album; Once they got moving George would get two of his own songs per album, and he sang lead on those; John and Paul each would sing leads on the songs they wrote the most of. John's voice was a little lower than Paul's, so on Paul's songs you get a nice harmony under the melody and on John's song you get Paul's amazing voice floating harmonies over John. That's why their albums never get boring: each song is different from the ones before and after.

By the way, my observations are generalizations and I'm sure exceptions can be found... :-)

[SincereCorgi]

Paul covered "Blue Moon of Kentucky in his MTV Unplugged concert (available on CD). If nothing else it proves he was well aware of who Bill Monroe was.

I think for %99 of people, it would prove he was well aware of Elvis Presley, an obscure singer/guitarist of the '50s-'70s.

[MikeEdgerton]

I think for %99 of people, it would prove he was well aware of Elvis Presley, an obscure singer/guitarist of the '50s-'70s.

I agree, the only thing the McCartney/Blue Moon thing proves is that he'd heard Elvis. That's probably pretty much a given. I heard the Elvis versions decades before I heard the Monroe version.

[Rex Hart]

Come to think of it, Lennon first played the guitar tuned like a ( I hate to say it,) banjo. His mom taught him a few banjo chords that she knew to get him started on the guitar. So I guess Earl influenced the Fabs more than Mr. Monroe!

[MikeEdgerton]

except for Gene Simmons

I think Gene is about the same age as Bill is in this picture

[Spruce]

I agree, the only thing the McCartney/Blue Moon thing proves is that he'd heard Elvis. That's probably pretty much a given. I heard the Elvis versions decades before I heard the Monroe version.

Yeah, but that McCartney version I posted is in waltz time, ala Monroe...
Not Elvis' rockin' 4/4...

I remember when that show aired 20 years ago that McCartney was giving a nod to Mr. Bill....
...and I still do.

[MikeEdgerton]

OK, but what we need to know is what did the President know and when did he know it? I'd be willing to bet that The Beatles knew who Elvis was prior to 1963. It's a stretch to think they knew who Monroe was. fast forward to 20 years ago. McCartney and company probably did some homework in the 30 years. One thing he might have done is look at who the song was attributed to and wonder who is this guy? It really is a stretch to think they were buying Bluegrass records in the 50's. When asked every British group mentioned the American Blues influence, I don't remember any of them ever mentioning Bluegrass. Now, I'm old. I don't remember what I had for lunch most days. I'd love to see a video of the fab four saying they were influenced by WSM but I don't think anyone is going to find it. With that said, Paul married the daughter of a guy we used to do business with. I'll try and call and see if she remembers seeing me walk past her thirty some years ago at a trucking function in New Jersey. I'm sure I can get to the bottom of this.

[mandolirius]

I vote for "indirect" influence as well, but one that is pretty easy to trace, imho.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Jon Hall - "That The Beatles were influenced by The Everlys and The Everlys were influenced by Bill Monroe is fact and not conjecture.". If you read the Beatles 'Anthology',they say that they were influenced by The Everly Bros. ( & Buddy Holly) - not by Bill Monroe !. My inference is that it was a sort of 'handed down' vocal duet style,previoulsly used by many Brother Duets & by Bill Monroe. The 'Anthology', possibly the most concise book written about the Beatles 'by the Beatles themselves', mentions only one Monroe - 'Marylin' on page #10. The Everly Bros.are widely mentioned as an influence. The fact that the Everly Brothers 'might' have been influenced by Bill Monroe,isn't mentioned.I personally think that the Everly's were more influenced by the Brother bands that had preceded them - but that's my own take on what might have happened,
Ivan

[mandolirius]

From Jon Hall - "That The Beatles were influenced by The Everlys and The Everlys were influenced by Bill Monroe is fact and not conjecture.". If you read the Beatles 'Anthology',they say that they were influenced by The Everly Bros. ( & Buddy Holly) - not by Bill Monroe !. My inference is that it was a sort of 'handed down' vocal duet style,previoulsly used by many Brother Duets & by Bill Monroe. The 'Anthology', possibly the most concise book written about the Beatles 'by the Beatles themselves', mentions only one Monroe - 'Marylin' on page #10. The Everly Bros.are widely mentioned as an influence. The fact that the Everly Brothers 'might' have been influenced by Bill Monroe,isn't mentioned.I personally think that the Everly's were more influenced by the Brother bands that had preceded them - but that's my own take on what might have happened,
Ivan

Ivan, have you seen the video I mentioned? Skaggs lays it out quite clearly - Monroe Bros. to Louvins, Louvins to Everlys, Everlys to Lennon/McCartney. Seems like a logical path to me.

[DataNick]

Ivan, have you seen the video I mentioned? Skaggs lays it out quite clearly - Monroe Bros. to Louvins, Louvins to Everlys, Everlys to Lennon/McCartney. Seems like a logical path to me.

Great movie: "Bill Monroe, The Father Of Bluegrass Music"...and I think as I recall he puts the Delmore Brothers in there somewheres...

[roberto216]

I think you're crazy and it's a stretch, a big stretch. The Beatles were most interested in the music emerging in their day like Skiffle and Rock n Roll. Artists such as Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Lonnie Donegan, Larry Williams, etc. influenced their early sound.

[mandolirius]

Yeah, The Delmores and The Blue Sky Boys were likely influences on the Everlys as well, in addition to several lesser-known brother duets like the Sauceman Bros and others I can't think of right now. Probably The Stanley Bros. too.

[DataNick]

I think you're crazy and it's a stretch, a big stretch. The Beatles were most interested in the music emerging in their day like Skiffle and Rock n Roll. Artists such as Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Lonnie Donegan, Larry Williams, etc. influenced their early sound.

We're just agreeing with Ricky Scagg's assessment of the "Brother Duets" singing style influence heard in John & Paul's early singing. I for one think that Scaggs makes some valid points...

[brunello97]

On page 67 of Neil Rosenberg's "Bluegrass: A History" he states that Bill Monroe often ate a simple breakfast of oatmeal. In Episode 4 of "The Beatles Anthology" during an interview with Paul McCartney, it is quite obvious that he has pot of oatmeal cooking on the stove behind him. Further proof that Monroe directly influenced the Beatles.

Mick

[Ivan Kelsall]

Mandolirious - Yes i have seen the DVD,& it quite clearly states exactly what you say - BUT - the influence was several 'influences away'. Monroe's influence wasn't direct - the Everly Brothers influence was.To take it to the most stupid extremes,who influenced Bill Monroe & who influenced them ............................. ?. So,Bill Monroe did not influence the Beatles 'directly', or surely they would have said so instead of quoting the Everly's as their influence. I understand fully the 'roundabout' way in which Monroe's influence was handed down,but the OP was asking if Bill Monroe himself influenced the Beatles,& the answer is no.The influence came indirectly via the Everly Bros. Since BM's name isn't mentioned in the 'Anthology',even in connection with the Everly's,we can't even be certain if the Beatles had ever heard of Bill Monroe back then ( i feel that they had),but the bottom line is that BM isn't mentioned at all by any of the Beatles who co-wrote the Anthology, as an influence.
DataNick - The points that Ricky Skaggs made are indeed valid,but as he himself says,the influence was the 'handed down' variety.
Roberto - You are so right. The 'other' bands that influenced the Beatles were inumerable.Chuck Berry in particular was a great influence on them. I suppose like most other bands at the time,'their style' was an amalgam of lots of things they heard other bands play. Buddy Holly was a great favourite of the Beatles & influenced the way they put together some of their own songs,

Ivan

[Mike Bunting]

One of the biggest influences on Paul was Little Richard.

[mandolirius]

Mandolirious - Yes i have seen the DVD,& it quite clearly states exactly what you say - BUT - the influence was several 'influences away'. Monroe's influence wasn't direct - the Everly Brothers influence was.To take it to the most stupid extremes,who influenced Bill Monroe & who influenced them ............................. ?. So,Bill Monroe did not influence the Beatles 'directly', or surely they would have said so instead of quoting the Everly's as their influence. I understand fully the 'roundabout' way in which Monroe's influence was handed down,but the OP was asking if Bill Monroe himself influenced the Beatles,& the answer is no.The influence came indirectly via the Everly Bros. Since BM's name isn't mentioned in the 'Anthology',even in connection with the Everly's,we can't even be certain if the Beatles had ever heard of Bill Monroe back then ( i feel that they had),but the bottom line is that BM isn't mentioned at all by any of the Beatles who co-wrote the Anthology, as an influence.
Ivan

I mentioned that it was an indirect influence in post #62. I don't think anyone believes The Beatles were actually listening to and digging Monroe.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Mandolirious -Yes of course you did. I should have addressed the remarks i made more directly to the OP. However,it's not beyond belief that the Beatles actually heard Bill Monroe back then. At that time they were listening to many styles of music - so who knows ?,
Ivan

[jesserules]

"somebody's knocking at the door, somebody's ringing the bell,
open the door
and let 'em in:
Sister Susie, brother John,
Martin Luther, Phil & Don ..."

[MikeEdgerton]

They were having a hard time rhyming Monroe that day.