Bill Monroe

[CarlM]

The other book about Bill Monroe that has a lot of stories is Bob Black's Come Hither to Go Yonder. It tells about Bill later in his career.

Mark Gunter shared some of these videos of Monroe stories from the Country Family Reunion TV show on to You Tube.

[JamesHall77]

The other book about Bill Monroe that has a lot of stories is Bob Black's Come Hither to Go Yonder. It tells about Bill later in his career.

Mark Gunter shared some of these videos of Monroe stories from the Country Family Reunion TV show on to You Tube.

I love those!!!! LOL!!! Showed 'em to my pastor, he cracked up!

[Willie Poole]

....I watched all of those shows on Country Family Reunions and just loved all of them, some great pickers that made their names playing it the traditional way, something that is not heard any more...DANG IT...Lots of stories from folks that picked with Mr. Bill on those programs....

I don`t think Lamar Grier thought too much of him though after he quit Bill, I seen Lamar right after he came back to live in this area after touring with Bill for some time, he said he had to take a part time job at an A&P grocery store to be able to pay his rent etc, Bill just didn`t pay his pickers very well, I guess since he was the star he took most of the money, which many people think is the way it should be...I also know that Mac Wiseman didn`t have a band that toured with him to festivals, he would always get the band members that played before his act to back him up, myself included, he didn`t pay us one red cent either, a lot of the time he would make sure he followed Eddie Adcock`s band and he would use them, I know Eddie got tired of it, or at least he said he did but he might have been just joshing around, I don`t know...Ronnie Stoneman also did that when she booked herself on a festival, no band, just pickers that she picked up from the jam sessions that were going on around the field area...

Didn`t mean to get off of the main subject, sorry...

Willie

[AlanN]

He was very likely the "Mick Jagger" of his day, in Nashville, and other areas where his music was popular.

Zooks! That means there are scads of little Big Mons running around?! I hope not!

[Willie Poole]

If any of you know Al Jones, he claims to be a son of one Bill`s escapades...At one time he dressed and looked like Big Mon...

Willie

[Mark Wilson]

I hope not!

Got that right. They'll be wanting that toaster back

[pops1]

I shook Bills hand twice, once after seeing him in concert, the second time I was fortunate enough to open a show with Bob Black and his band and Bob Playing with Bill. Since I left my mandolin back stage I went back stage after the show. Bill was sitting in a chair and I shook his hand and told him nice show. He was very polite. I also ran sound for the first half of the show. It was a fun evening. Many years later I ran into an old friend, Molly Darling, we talked several times and at one of those she told me about touring with Bill. She said a nice older gentleman was giving her mandolin lessons on the tour. Since there were several bands on the tour she didn't know it was Bill. It wasn't until later in the tour as they were walking to the stage together, and he had his hat on, that she discovered it was Bill. She was young at the time and Bill never said anything while giving her lessons about who he was. I know from Bob's book he could be a stickler for certain things. Most legends, as most people, are not perfect.

[Bill Kammerzell]

I agree with this. I found the stories of his personal life fascinating - they weren't prurient muckraking, but the fleshing out of a complex man, with explanation. In fact, in parts, Smith is too nice.He qualifies and hedges his bets. But, Monroe was a complex guy. He could hold the loyalty of band members he'd sack, almost on a whim, but drive someone to smash 2 mandolins into smithereens. He could call himself a Christian and have a genuine and deep faith. Yet he breaks the 6th (?) commandment regularly. He could write music that changed the world. Yet be so angry he couldn't speak to those who'd wronged him.

A great man? MOstl probably yes. A simple man ? Heck NO!

Most humans that say they have a belief, or a faith in an certain entity, are like that. I'm like that. I believe. But I'd never make the claim, that I was actually qualified to live my life like He did.

[jim simpson]

If any of you know Al Jones, he claims to be a son of one Bill`s escapades...At one time he dressed and looked like Big Mon...

Willie

Here's Al looking very Monroe like.

[David Lewis]

I hope not!

(6) You shall not murder.

Now THAT would be a revealing book. I think we'll have to settle for old #7.

(7) You shall not commit adultery.

And that’s why I was kicked out of theology school.

[Ivan Kelsall]

In post #4 - i put a link to all the remaining ''Bill Monroe Stories'' on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...monroe+stories Parts 1 & 2 seem to have been deleted,
Ivan

[mando-tech]

...met him one time, July 1975 in Dickson, Tenn....during intermission -shook hands, my wife got his autograph, and I asked him about Carter Stanley's passing,...all I remember was his giving me a 'laconic' answer by saying ...-"he drank a lot" !

[EvanElk]

David, it is interesting that Monroe made someone he knew personally angry enough at him that he entered his home and smashed both his Loars to pieces. I haven't read all the biographical material, but I've always puzzled over the minimal treatment this episode gets when it's written about. The episode is usually just described in passing as being perpetrated by "vandals with a grudge." I've heard theories in conversation about what the bigger story is there, but it's funny that the story hasn't been fully told.

[Iron]

David, it is interesting that Monroe made someone he knew personally angry enough at him that he entered his home and smashed both his Loars to pieces. I haven't read all the biographical material, but I've always puzzled over the minimal treatment this episode gets when it's written about. The episode is usually just described in passing as being perpetrated by "vandals with a grudge." I've heard theories in conversation about what the bigger story is there, but it's funny that the story hasn't been fully told.

Well, tell us your story about Bills Loars what did you hear ?

[EvanElk]

I don't have a big rumor to spread, but I've heard it said more than once that folks in the immediate community knew who it was right away and that for some reason stayed quiet about it. True or not, that in and of itself is a fascinating story. What I mainly find interesting is that in contrast to today's world of viral media communication and the way people are able to investigate and expose things, that any kind of information like that would stay a secret for this long...

[FLATROCK HILL]

David, it is interesting that Monroe made someone he knew personally angry enough at him that he entered his home and smashed both his Loars to pieces. I haven't read all the biographical material, but I've always puzzled over the minimal treatment this episode gets when it's written about. The episode is usually just described in passing as being perpetrated by "vandals with a grudge." I've heard theories in conversation about what the bigger story is there, but it's funny that the story hasn't been fully told.

Maybe not "fully told", but told enough that some of us might question your use of one specific pronoun.

[Joe Dodson]

Well... he was musically open-minded enough to not turn down a chance to play a pink electric guitar:

That was fun to watch. Bill "Kirchen" Monroe, chicken pickin' like a champ.

[f5loar]

All the stories that need to be told and details of stories that shouldn't be told are in the new Monroe book by Tom Ewing. Over 600 pages with a few photos. It's worth a read for any Monroe fan. Lost of details about the smash of the Loars and the lore that followed. The book was released last Sept. Easy to find on Amazon or ebay and I think still directly from Tom Ewing.