Re: Bill Monroe's Lifestyle
Originally Posted by
Duane Graves
I suppose a good biography would be a necesarry read to get to that info....
A very complete recent biography is Richard D. Smith's Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe (Little, Brown & Co., published in 2000, 365 pp.) It goes in detail into Monroe's personal life (fairly tumultuous!) as well as his music. There's a full chapter on Monroe's final illness and his death in September 1996. One of the sad elements is that James Monroe tried to talk the estranged Jimmy Martin into visiting Monroe on his deathbed, but Martin wasn't sure Monroe would welcome him, and never went to the nursing home. The book also contains a detailed description of Monroe's funeral and interment; apparently, during all the dirge-like music in the church, Marty Stuart suggested the musicians play Raw Hide, and Ricky Skagg's yelled, "Take it, Bill!" for the last break.
Allen Hopkins
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