Ricky Skaggs

[Bradley]

As I read thru the threads there is probably as many slams
against Skaggs as there are comments on why Nickel Creek isnt bluegrass.

Today the comment was made on another thread against Ricky being the "Torchbearer" after Big Mons death.

My question is this,if he isnt the Modern leader of Bluegrass music then who is? I will say that I am a huge fan of RS,and consider him a great leader in the Bluegrass arena.It seems that there is either a love or hate feeling for him sometimes.

So who is the "Torchbearer"

What is a "torchbearer" in this context? #If you mean promoting Bill Monroe's memory, that is his self-proclaimed role. #If you mean playing music closest to the Monroe "tradition", that would have to be Del McCroury - Ricky has too many people on stage with him.

[SeanFan]

I certainly don't have anything bad to say about him, mostly because of the fact that I don't really know who he is, but I had no idea that some people don't think Nickel Creek is bluegrass. That's like my favorite group!!

[Bradley]

I mean Torchbearer as someone who is there to carry on the Bluegrass Tradition...I.E.-Someone to do the work that Bill would do if he were still here/following in his footsteps.

In regards to the N Creek comment,I love them.Absolutely one of the best concerts I have ever seen.But I do not consider them Bgrass...And I do not mean this in negative light, but I cant understand not knowing who Skaggs is but believing NC is Bluegrass.Guess that shows the impact NC has had on a new group of listeners.

(and again, I didnt throw rocks at SeanFan)

[kebmando]

I think there is an undercurrent that Ricky Skaggs feels he is the heir-apparent to WSM. I'm not sure Skaggs thinks that, but I think people think he thinks that.

I don't think too many would argue that Del McCoury and his band is probably the closest thing to the WSM-style BG that is going now, but if you think about it, he does some stuff that is certainly not in the WSM style...lots of "spooky" songs (it's just the night, city of stone) that seem to be his own style, and also the Ronnie McCoury instrumental stuff sometimes seems to be almost in a Celtic influence, much moreso than any of WSMs instrumentals.

Anyway I guess it doesn't really matter. If you liek a band, you like em. As for Nickel Creek, they sure aren't bluegrass, but that doesn't mean there not any good.

[kebmando]

Oh yeah...and do you think Monroe would have done any cover tunes? No way, but Del & the Boys do a bunch of covers, really well, too.

[doanepoole]

Bradley,

I have deleted that post and sorry if I offended you. I meant it as kind of a joke because it seems that every PBS special has Ricky Skaggs a s the host so you have to smooch up to be seen as a top-tier BG act. The joke was in poor taste. I sincerely did not mean to offend anyone.

[Mike Bunting]

Monroe did covers-Long Black Veil for one.

[Bradley]

No...I didnt take it that way at all...No apologies needed, Honestly.I really wasnt even trying to start a Flame


I just have noted that there is either a hate or love thing for Ricky....And always the "self appointed" comments come into play in any bluegrass arena.And since so many people say "he isnt", I was just wandering what the votes were on "who is"

[doanepoole]

Well, I guess my vote goes to Earl Scruggs or Ralph Stanley.

[doanepoole]

Gotta add Brakeman's Blues to the Monroe cover list. I'm not sure Monroe would have been to keen on covering Dylan tunes or Flatt & Skruggs tunes, though

[GTison]

peach pickin time in GA., long black veil, cotton fields, bugle call rag, mule skinner blues, blue yodel# , I'm so lonesome I could cry, .............. shall I go on?

earl scruggs ain't bearing a bluegrass torch. Ralph is carrying on. Ricky is doing well. It doesn't hurt my fellings if we call him a torch bearer. He does the music justice. He does cover the "standards" but how he does it is vibrant and alive. Bluegrass is rather popular right now. Del has a good video on CMT!! ricky don't , but Del in not traditional in his songs anymore, but I love it. I like the old (ricky) and the new (Del) and the old Del too.

[jlb]

There are no bands that sound like the bluegrass of "the good old days"...I'd agree with consensus that Del McCoury is the closest.

Just talking out of my patootey, but I haven't heard a bluegrass band that sounded like they grew up poor in a long time.

[pathfinder]

Actually, Bill did lots of covers. #His first Opry number in 1939 was a cover of "Muleskinner Blues" by Jimmy Rodgers. #He recorded "Fox on the Run" made famous by the Seldom Scene. #And I was listening to him today on an old 1958 album, doing "I Saw The Light" by Hank Williams Sr.

No one specific "Torchbearer" exists any more. #Monroe became a legend over 60 years for preserving traditional rural music, for composing a lot of songs and instrumentals, and for recording, touring and being on the Opry for 55 years. #He was also a legend for for being a man of strong convictions, and for stubbornly refusing to abandon an acoustic string band sound for all the electrical innovations that were emerging during his lifetime. #

No one can fill Bill's shoes. #And Ricky Skaggs would be the first to admit this. #He's caught a lot of undeserved flack for being an articulate "go to" guy that documentary film makers and networks tend to use when they need a spokesperson to interview about Bluegrass music.

The thing is, Bill' music has branched out into channels even Bill couldn't envision. #Today's young folks (like Nickel Creek) grew up in the cities and suburbs during the '70's and '80's, and can't really identify with songs about growing up poor in a cabin in the mountains during the Great Depression.

So they sing about their own circumstances and the world they see unfolding in 2004, not 1934. #That's only natural and appropriate. #And I think it can still be bluegrass, just as long as they keep the honesty in the music and the acoustic sound intact. #IMHO.

[Flowerpot]

"No one specific "Torchbearer" exists any more. "

Exactly. Bill didn't pass the torch to anybody in particular. In interviews given near the end of his life, he conspicuously refused to comment on the future of Bluegrass after his time was up. Which I interpreted at the time to mean that either bluegrass had a life of its own, and needed no particular caretaker, or that bluegrass was so linked to its father that in Monroe's mind, the music would cease to be bluegrass after his death. I often think he believed the latter. But bluegrass having a life of its own certainly turned out to be the case. Ricky may have pledged Bill to devote his remaining career to "carrying the torch", but I don't think it was at the request of the Big Mon.

[evanreilly]

Bill Monroe recorded lots of covers; he recorded 12 of Jimmie Rodgers' numbers alone. Did you ever hear his recording of 'Changing Partners', the big Patti Page chart-topper??
I don't have a recording of Bill Monroe doing 'Fox on the Run', tho....
As far as Skaggs goes, he believes he is the heir to Monroe's mantle; that is his proclamation. Monroe did not lay hands on Skaggs' head while Monroe lay on his dying bed, anointing Ricky Skaggs the successor.
Personally, I think Del McCoury, having played as a Blue Grass Boy, has a better claim. I also hear the DMB as, to my ear, playing closer to Monroe's style than RS&KT. RS&KT are a bit too smooth where Monroe was more edged and sharp.

[mmukav]

Great thread........ I really don't know if you could replace Bill Monroe like that, with someone else 'playing the part' as it were. I don't know if there's anyone who could take his place, as torchbearer. I think there a few people like Ricky, Del, etc. that are helping to carry the torch, but not totally by themselves.

[jlb]

RS&KT are a bit too smooth where Monroe was more edged and sharp.

That's a really good way to put it. I don't know it could just be me, but when I listen to Bill Monroe it sounds almost like the man is angry and depressed, or sometimes one and sometimes the other. It comes by in his singing, but maybe even more in his picking. And then you hear the occasionall song that he sings or plays that sounds joyous, and it almost wants to make you cry becuase it is so happy comared to the anger/depression you have been listening to up to that point...I think when I hear Monroe play Soldiers Joy is a great example of the "happy" Monroe vs. the "angry" Monroe. It is intensity of emotion, a raw sound in music that is hard to some by these days.

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

When he sticks to bluegrass music, the Bill Monroe torchbearer is without any doubt, the ONE and ONLY ... PETER ROWAN ! If by any chance you've seen the DVD "Gather At The River", you'll know what I mean. But now who's Ray Charles torchbearer ? #

[Scotti Adams]

..yep..Peter Rowan gets my vote....when he plays 'grass of course...he sounds like Mun and nowadays even looks like Mun. I believe the story goes as Bill layed dying and Skaggs was there to visit Skaggs told Bill.."dont worry, I will carry on your music" or something to that effect.....so Skaggs more or less passed it to himself. Theres also the story when Skaggs was at the memorial sevice at the Ryman he turned and seen a clock..the clocks hands were pointed to certain numbers....Skaggs took that as a sign because that clock setting had the same numbers as a scripture that more or less told Skaggs that he was indeed the "Torchbearer" and he was to carry on where Bill left off.

[mandoanon]

I am not in music circles or such - I just listen, play, and enjoy bluegrass music. I say if Ricky Skaggs, or anyone else for that matter, wants to promote Bill Monroe and bluegrass music - power to them.

[Dagger Gordon]

To some extent I think you have to differentiate between Monroe as a bandleader, as a singer and as a mandolinist.
Looking at it that way, there is no need to single out one person.

Skaggs and McCoury have certainly strong claims to be the torch-bearing bandleaders. However times have moved on, and although I would hesitate to suggest that Alison Krauss is Monroe's torchbearer, she could reasonably claim to be one of the leading bluegrass bandleaders today, certainly in the general public's eyes.

The popularity of 'Man of constant sorrow' surely makes Dan Tyminski, who is of course a member of her band, a contender on the vocal side. I would also put in a mention for Tim O'Brien.

Thirdly, there are a number of different ways to view his contribution as a mandolin player. There are players who try to sound very like Monroe, which is fair enough, but one of his biggest achievements was popularising the mandolin as an instrument. It seems to me that the 2 people who have done most to popularise the instrument since Monroe (and I'm not necessarily comparing their music to his) are Grisman and Thile.

[ourgang]

Who is the "torch-bearer" of Bluegrass Music?? I AM. Me and every other mucician who spend their week-ends running the back roads to get to a music job, usually not even making gas money. But we do it for the love of the music. We're the ones who carry on the tradition

[cutbait2]

the current torch bearer of BG is Peter Rowan? please, lets get serious. Del McCoury is the only answer with Ricky Skaggs a close second followed by AK.....

[GVD]

cutbait2 Posted
the current torch bearer of BG is Peter Rowan? please, lets get serious. Del McCoury is the only answer with Ricky Skaggs a close second followed by AK.....

I believe the operative phrase that Phil and Scotti used was "When he sticks to bluegrass music". I can't argue with that. Of course he does have a tendency to stray a little from strictly bluegrass don't he? As far as Skaggs being a torch bearer I don't remember Big Mon being a big talker. I only saw him live once but he probably played at least 20 songs in less than 1 hour. I saw Ricky Monday night and he only played 12 songs in a little over 2 hours. It was the most excruciating performance I've ever sat through in my whole life. He did tell the story that Scotti mentioned about Monroes death bed and looking at his watch at 11:11 and reading some 11:11 scripture while at the Ryman but by then my eyes and ears had pretty much glazed over so I can't even remember the details. Which is sad considered I normally love hearing anything about Monroe's life.

If Rickys the torch bearer then the torch has been snuffed out by all that wind coming out of his pie hole.

GVD