Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys
Bill Monroe (September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandol… Read Full Bio ↴Bill Monroe (September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist who helped create the style of music known as bluegrass. The genre takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys", named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. He is often referred to as The Father of Bluegrass.
William Smith Monroe was born on his family's farm near Rosine, Kentucky, the youngest of eight children of James Buchanan "Buck" and Malissa (Vandiver) Monroe. His mother and her brother, Pendleton "Pen" Vandiver, were both musically talented, and Monroe and his family grew up playing and singing at home. Bill was of Scottish heritage. Because his older brothers Birch and Charlie already played the fiddle and guitar, Bill Monroe was resigned to playing the less desirable mandolin. He recalled that his brothers insisted he should remove four of the mandolin's eight strings so he would not play too loudly.
Monroe's mother died when he was ten, followed by his father six years later. As his brothers and sisters had moved away, after bouncing among uncles and aunts, Monroe settled in with his disabled uncle Pendleton Vandiver, often accompanying him when Vandiver played the fiddle at dances. This experience inspired one of Monroe's most famous compositions, "Uncle Pen", recorded in 1950, and the 1972 album, Bill Monroe's Uncle Pen. On that album, Monroe recorded a number of traditional fiddle tunes he had often heard performed by Vandiver. Uncle Pen has been credited with giving Monroe "a repertoire of tunes that sank into Bill's aurally trained memory and a sense of rhythm that seeped into his bones." Also significant in Monroe's musical life was Arnold Shultz, an influential fiddler and guitarist who introduced Monroe to the blues.
In 1929, Monroe moved to Indiana to work at an oil refinery with his brothers Birch and Charlie, and childhood friend and guitarist William "Old Hickory" Hardin. Together with a friend Larry Moore, they formed the "Monroe Brothers", to play at local dances and house parties. Birch Monroe and Larry Moore soon left the group, and Bill and Charlie carried on as a duo, eventually winning spots performing live on radio stations— first in Indiana and then, sponsored by Texas Crystals, on several radio broadcasts in Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina and North Carolina 1934 to 1936. RCA Victor signed the Monroe Brothers to a recording contract in 1936. They scored an immediate hit single with the gospel song "What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul?" and ultimately recorded 60 tracks for Victor's Bluebird label between 1936 and 1938.
After the Monroe Brothers disbanded in 1938, Bill Monroe formed The Kentuckians in Little Rock, Arkansas, but the group only lasted for three months. Monroe then left Little Rock for Atlanta, Georgia, to form the first edition of the Blue Grass Boys with singer/guitarist Cleo Davis, fiddler Art Wooten, and bassist Amos Garren. Bill had wanted "Old Hickory" to become one of the original members of his "Blue Grass Boys", however William Hardin had to decline. In October 1939, he successfully auditioned for a regular spot on the Grand Ole Opry, impressing Opry founder George D. Hay with his energetic performance of Jimmie Rodgers's "Mule Skinner Blues". Monroe recorded that song, along with seven others, at his first solo recording session for RCA Victor in 1940; by this time, the Blue Grass Boys consisted of singer/guitarist Clyde Moody, fiddler Tommy Magness, and bassist Bill Wesbrooks.
While the fast tempos and instrumental virtuosity characteristic of bluegrass music are apparent even on these early tracks, Monroe was still experimenting with the sound of his group. He seldom sang lead vocals on his Victor recordings, often preferring to contribute high tenor harmonies as he had in the Monroe Brothers. A 1945 session for Columbia Records featured an accordion, soon dropped from the band. Most importantly, while Monroe added banjo player David "'Stringbean" Akeman to the Blue Grass Boys in 1942, Akeman played the instrument in a relatively primitive style and was rarely featured in instrumental solos. Monroe's pre-1946 recordings represent a transitional style between the string-band tradition from which he came and the musical innovation to follow.
A key development occurred in Monroe's music with the addition of North Carolina banjo prodigy Earl Scruggs to the Blue Grass Boys in December 1945. Scruggs played the instrument with a distinctive three-finger picking style that immediately caused a sensation among Opry audiences. Scruggs joined a highly accomplished group that included singer/guitarist Lester Flatt, and would soon include fiddler Chubby Wise, and bassist Howard Watts, who often performed under the name "Cedric Rainwater". In retrospect, this lineup of the Blue Grass Boys has been dubbed the "Original Bluegrass Band", as Monroe's music finally included all the elements that characterize the genre, including breakneck tempos, sophisticated vocal harmony arrangements, and impressive instrumental proficiency demonstrated in solos or "breaks" on the mandolin, banjo, and fiddle. By this point, Monroe had acquired the 1923 Gibson F5 model "Lloyd Loar" mandolin which became his trademark instrument for the remainder of his career.
The 28 songs recorded by this version of the Blue Grass Boys for Columbia Records in 1946 and 1947 soon became classics of the genre, including "Toy Heart", "Blue Grass Breakdown", "Molly and Tenbrooks", "Wicked Path of Sin", "My Rose of Old Kentucky", "Little Cabin Home on the Hill", and Monroe's most famous song, "Blue Moon of Kentucky". The last-named was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1954, appearing as the B-side of his first single for Sun Records. Monroe gave his blessing to Presley's rock-and-roll cover of the song, originally a slow ballad in waltz time, and in fact re-recorded it himself with a faster arrangement after Presley's version became a hit. Several gospel-themed numbers are credited to the "Blue Grass Quartet", which featured four-part vocal arrangements accompanied solely by mandolin and guitar – Monroe's usual practice when performing "sacred" songs.
Both Flatt and Scruggs left Monroe's band in early 1948, soon forming their own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys, which met with notable commercial success in the 1950s and 1960s with such hits as "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", "Cabin on the Hill", and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett". In 1949, after signing with Decca Records, Monroe quickly regrouped, entering the "golden age" of his career with what many consider the classic "high lonesome" version of the Blue Grass Boys, featuring the lead vocals and rhythm guitar of Jimmy Martin, the banjo of Rudy Lyle (replacing Don Reno), and fiddlers such as Merle "Red" Taylor, Charlie Cline, Bobby Hicks and Vassar Clements. This band recorded a number of bluegrass classics, including "My Little Georgia Rose", "On and On", "Memories of Mother and Dad", and "Uncle Pen", as well as instrumentals such as "Roanoke", "Big Mon", "Stoney Lonesome", "Get Up John" and the mandolin feature "Raw Hide". Carter Stanley joined the Blue Grass Boys as guitarist for a short time in 1951 during a period when the Stanley Brothers had temporarily disbanded.
On January 16, 1953 Monroe was critically injured in a two-car wreck. He and "Bluegrass Boys" bass player, Bessie Lee Mauldin, were returning home from a fox hunt north of Nashville. On highway 31-W, near White House, their car was struck by a drunken driver. Monroe, who had suffered injuries to his back, left arm and nose, was rushed to General Hospital in Nashville. It took him almost four months to recover and resume touring. In the meantime Charlie Cline and Jimmy Martin kept the band together.
By the late 1950s, however, Monroe's commercial fortunes had begun to slip. The rise of rock-and-roll and the development of the "Nashville sound" in mainstream country music both represented threats to the viability of bluegrass. While still a mainstay on the Grand Ole Opry, Monroe found diminishing success on the singles charts, and struggled to keep his band together in the face of declining demand for live performances.
Monroe's fortunes began to improve during the "folk revival" of the early 1960s. Many college students and other young people were beginning to discover Monroe, associating his style more with traditional folk music than with the country-and-western genre with which it had previously been identified. The word "bluegrass" first appeared around this time to describe the sound of Monroe and similar artists such as Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Reno and Smiley, Jim and Jesse, and the Osborne Brothers. While Flatt and Scruggs immediately recognized the potential for a lucrative new audience in cities and on college campuses in the North, Monroe was slower to respond. Under the influence of Ralph Rinzler, a young musician and folklorist from New Jersey who briefly became Monroe's manager in 1963, Monroe gradually expanded his geographic reach beyond the traditional southern country music circuit. Rinzler was also responsible for a lengthy profile and interview in the influential folk music magazine Sing Out! that first publicly referred to Monroe as the "father" of bluegrass. Accordingly, at the first bluegrass festival organized by Carlton Haney at Roanoke, Virginia in 1965, Bill Monroe was the central figure.
The growing national popularity of Monroe's music during the 1960s was also apparent in the increasingly diverse background of musicians recruited into his band. Non-southerners who served as Blue Grass Boys during this period included banjo player Bill Keith and singer/guitarist Peter Rowan from Massachusetts, fiddler Gene Lowinger from New York, banjo player Lamar Grier from Maryland, banjo player Steve Arkin from New York, and singer/guitarist Roland White and fiddler Richard Greene from California.
Even after the folk revival faded in the mid-1960s, it left a loyal audience for bluegrass music. Bluegrass festivals became common, with fans often traveling long distances to see a number of different acts over several days of performances.
In 1967 Monroe himself founded an annual bluegrass festival at Bean Blossom in southern Indiana, a park he had purchased in 1951, which routinely attracted a crowd of thousands; a double LP from the festival featuring Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Lester Flatt, and Jim and Jesse was released in 1973. The annual Bill Monroe Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival is now the world's oldest continuously running annual bluegrass festival.
Monroe's compositions during his later period were largely instrumentals, including "Jerusalem Ridge", "Old Dangerfield" (originally spelled Daingerfield after town in East Texas), and "My Last Days on Earth"; he settled into a new role as a musical patriarch who continued to influence younger generations of musicians. Monroe recorded two albums of duets in the 1980s; the first featured collaborations with country stars such as Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, and the Oak Ridge Boys, while the second paired him with other prominent bluegrass musicians. A 1989 live album celebrated his 50th year on the Grand Ole Opry. Monroe also kept a hectic touring schedule. On April 7, 1990, Monroe performed for Farm Aid IV in Indianapolis, Indiana along with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and with many other artists.
Monroe suffered a stroke in April 1996, effectively ending his touring and playing career. He died on September 9, 1996, only four days before his 85th birthday.
Bill Monroe was made an honorary Kentucky colonel in 1966. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as an "early influence") in 1997. Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams Sr., and Johnny Cash are the only other performers honored in all three. As the "father of bluegrass", he was also an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. In 1993, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1995. His well-known song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" has been covered not only by bluegrass but also rock and country artists, most notably Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, and Patsy Cline. In 2003, CMT had Bill Monroe ranked No. 16 on CMT 40 Greatest Men of Country Music. Artists that claimed to be influenced by or to be playing the bluegrass genre were often bullied by Bill Monroe. He always considered himself the father and caretaker of bluegrass. He would often say of new bands that did not perform to his standards, "That ain't no part of nothin'." Even those who question the scope of bluegrass refer to Monroe as a "musical giant" and recognize that "there would be no bluegrass without Bill Monroe."
More than 150 musicians played in the Blue Grass Boys over the nearly 60 years of Monroe's performing career. Monroe tended to recruit promising young musicians who served an apprenticeship with him before becoming accomplished artists in their own right. Some of Monroe's band members who went on to greater prominence include singer/guitarists Clyde Moody, Lester Flatt, Jack Cook, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, Carter Stanley, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, Roland White, Roland Dunn and Doug Green; banjo players Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, Sonny Osborne, and Bill Keith; and fiddlers Tommy Magness, Chubby Wise, Vassar Clements, Byron Berline, Kenny Baker, Bobby Hicks, Gordon Terry, and Glen Duncan. Monroe also regularly performed with flat-picking guitar virtuoso Doc Watson.
Modern bluegrass singer and mandolin player Ricky Skaggs was influenced by Monroe. Skaggs was only six years old when he first got to perform on stage with Monroe and his band. He stated, "I think Bill Monroe's importance to American music is as important as someone like Robert Johnson was to blues, or Louis Armstrong. He was so influential: I think he's probably the only musician that had a whole style of music named after his band".
Pseudonyms used by Monroe as a composer:
Joe Ahr; Rupert Jones; Wilbur Jones; Albert Price; James B. Smith; James W. Smith
William Smith Monroe was born on his family's farm near Rosine, Kentucky, the youngest of eight children of James Buchanan "Buck" and Malissa (Vandiver) Monroe. His mother and her brother, Pendleton "Pen" Vandiver, were both musically talented, and Monroe and his family grew up playing and singing at home. Bill was of Scottish heritage. Because his older brothers Birch and Charlie already played the fiddle and guitar, Bill Monroe was resigned to playing the less desirable mandolin. He recalled that his brothers insisted he should remove four of the mandolin's eight strings so he would not play too loudly.
Monroe's mother died when he was ten, followed by his father six years later. As his brothers and sisters had moved away, after bouncing among uncles and aunts, Monroe settled in with his disabled uncle Pendleton Vandiver, often accompanying him when Vandiver played the fiddle at dances. This experience inspired one of Monroe's most famous compositions, "Uncle Pen", recorded in 1950, and the 1972 album, Bill Monroe's Uncle Pen. On that album, Monroe recorded a number of traditional fiddle tunes he had often heard performed by Vandiver. Uncle Pen has been credited with giving Monroe "a repertoire of tunes that sank into Bill's aurally trained memory and a sense of rhythm that seeped into his bones." Also significant in Monroe's musical life was Arnold Shultz, an influential fiddler and guitarist who introduced Monroe to the blues.
In 1929, Monroe moved to Indiana to work at an oil refinery with his brothers Birch and Charlie, and childhood friend and guitarist William "Old Hickory" Hardin. Together with a friend Larry Moore, they formed the "Monroe Brothers", to play at local dances and house parties. Birch Monroe and Larry Moore soon left the group, and Bill and Charlie carried on as a duo, eventually winning spots performing live on radio stations— first in Indiana and then, sponsored by Texas Crystals, on several radio broadcasts in Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina and North Carolina 1934 to 1936. RCA Victor signed the Monroe Brothers to a recording contract in 1936. They scored an immediate hit single with the gospel song "What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul?" and ultimately recorded 60 tracks for Victor's Bluebird label between 1936 and 1938.
After the Monroe Brothers disbanded in 1938, Bill Monroe formed The Kentuckians in Little Rock, Arkansas, but the group only lasted for three months. Monroe then left Little Rock for Atlanta, Georgia, to form the first edition of the Blue Grass Boys with singer/guitarist Cleo Davis, fiddler Art Wooten, and bassist Amos Garren. Bill had wanted "Old Hickory" to become one of the original members of his "Blue Grass Boys", however William Hardin had to decline. In October 1939, he successfully auditioned for a regular spot on the Grand Ole Opry, impressing Opry founder George D. Hay with his energetic performance of Jimmie Rodgers's "Mule Skinner Blues". Monroe recorded that song, along with seven others, at his first solo recording session for RCA Victor in 1940; by this time, the Blue Grass Boys consisted of singer/guitarist Clyde Moody, fiddler Tommy Magness, and bassist Bill Wesbrooks.
While the fast tempos and instrumental virtuosity characteristic of bluegrass music are apparent even on these early tracks, Monroe was still experimenting with the sound of his group. He seldom sang lead vocals on his Victor recordings, often preferring to contribute high tenor harmonies as he had in the Monroe Brothers. A 1945 session for Columbia Records featured an accordion, soon dropped from the band. Most importantly, while Monroe added banjo player David "'Stringbean" Akeman to the Blue Grass Boys in 1942, Akeman played the instrument in a relatively primitive style and was rarely featured in instrumental solos. Monroe's pre-1946 recordings represent a transitional style between the string-band tradition from which he came and the musical innovation to follow.
A key development occurred in Monroe's music with the addition of North Carolina banjo prodigy Earl Scruggs to the Blue Grass Boys in December 1945. Scruggs played the instrument with a distinctive three-finger picking style that immediately caused a sensation among Opry audiences. Scruggs joined a highly accomplished group that included singer/guitarist Lester Flatt, and would soon include fiddler Chubby Wise, and bassist Howard Watts, who often performed under the name "Cedric Rainwater". In retrospect, this lineup of the Blue Grass Boys has been dubbed the "Original Bluegrass Band", as Monroe's music finally included all the elements that characterize the genre, including breakneck tempos, sophisticated vocal harmony arrangements, and impressive instrumental proficiency demonstrated in solos or "breaks" on the mandolin, banjo, and fiddle. By this point, Monroe had acquired the 1923 Gibson F5 model "Lloyd Loar" mandolin which became his trademark instrument for the remainder of his career.
The 28 songs recorded by this version of the Blue Grass Boys for Columbia Records in 1946 and 1947 soon became classics of the genre, including "Toy Heart", "Blue Grass Breakdown", "Molly and Tenbrooks", "Wicked Path of Sin", "My Rose of Old Kentucky", "Little Cabin Home on the Hill", and Monroe's most famous song, "Blue Moon of Kentucky". The last-named was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1954, appearing as the B-side of his first single for Sun Records. Monroe gave his blessing to Presley's rock-and-roll cover of the song, originally a slow ballad in waltz time, and in fact re-recorded it himself with a faster arrangement after Presley's version became a hit. Several gospel-themed numbers are credited to the "Blue Grass Quartet", which featured four-part vocal arrangements accompanied solely by mandolin and guitar – Monroe's usual practice when performing "sacred" songs.
Both Flatt and Scruggs left Monroe's band in early 1948, soon forming their own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys, which met with notable commercial success in the 1950s and 1960s with such hits as "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", "Cabin on the Hill", and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett". In 1949, after signing with Decca Records, Monroe quickly regrouped, entering the "golden age" of his career with what many consider the classic "high lonesome" version of the Blue Grass Boys, featuring the lead vocals and rhythm guitar of Jimmy Martin, the banjo of Rudy Lyle (replacing Don Reno), and fiddlers such as Merle "Red" Taylor, Charlie Cline, Bobby Hicks and Vassar Clements. This band recorded a number of bluegrass classics, including "My Little Georgia Rose", "On and On", "Memories of Mother and Dad", and "Uncle Pen", as well as instrumentals such as "Roanoke", "Big Mon", "Stoney Lonesome", "Get Up John" and the mandolin feature "Raw Hide". Carter Stanley joined the Blue Grass Boys as guitarist for a short time in 1951 during a period when the Stanley Brothers had temporarily disbanded.
On January 16, 1953 Monroe was critically injured in a two-car wreck. He and "Bluegrass Boys" bass player, Bessie Lee Mauldin, were returning home from a fox hunt north of Nashville. On highway 31-W, near White House, their car was struck by a drunken driver. Monroe, who had suffered injuries to his back, left arm and nose, was rushed to General Hospital in Nashville. It took him almost four months to recover and resume touring. In the meantime Charlie Cline and Jimmy Martin kept the band together.
By the late 1950s, however, Monroe's commercial fortunes had begun to slip. The rise of rock-and-roll and the development of the "Nashville sound" in mainstream country music both represented threats to the viability of bluegrass. While still a mainstay on the Grand Ole Opry, Monroe found diminishing success on the singles charts, and struggled to keep his band together in the face of declining demand for live performances.
Monroe's fortunes began to improve during the "folk revival" of the early 1960s. Many college students and other young people were beginning to discover Monroe, associating his style more with traditional folk music than with the country-and-western genre with which it had previously been identified. The word "bluegrass" first appeared around this time to describe the sound of Monroe and similar artists such as Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Reno and Smiley, Jim and Jesse, and the Osborne Brothers. While Flatt and Scruggs immediately recognized the potential for a lucrative new audience in cities and on college campuses in the North, Monroe was slower to respond. Under the influence of Ralph Rinzler, a young musician and folklorist from New Jersey who briefly became Monroe's manager in 1963, Monroe gradually expanded his geographic reach beyond the traditional southern country music circuit. Rinzler was also responsible for a lengthy profile and interview in the influential folk music magazine Sing Out! that first publicly referred to Monroe as the "father" of bluegrass. Accordingly, at the first bluegrass festival organized by Carlton Haney at Roanoke, Virginia in 1965, Bill Monroe was the central figure.
The growing national popularity of Monroe's music during the 1960s was also apparent in the increasingly diverse background of musicians recruited into his band. Non-southerners who served as Blue Grass Boys during this period included banjo player Bill Keith and singer/guitarist Peter Rowan from Massachusetts, fiddler Gene Lowinger from New York, banjo player Lamar Grier from Maryland, banjo player Steve Arkin from New York, and singer/guitarist Roland White and fiddler Richard Greene from California.
Even after the folk revival faded in the mid-1960s, it left a loyal audience for bluegrass music. Bluegrass festivals became common, with fans often traveling long distances to see a number of different acts over several days of performances.
In 1967 Monroe himself founded an annual bluegrass festival at Bean Blossom in southern Indiana, a park he had purchased in 1951, which routinely attracted a crowd of thousands; a double LP from the festival featuring Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Lester Flatt, and Jim and Jesse was released in 1973. The annual Bill Monroe Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival is now the world's oldest continuously running annual bluegrass festival.
Monroe's compositions during his later period were largely instrumentals, including "Jerusalem Ridge", "Old Dangerfield" (originally spelled Daingerfield after town in East Texas), and "My Last Days on Earth"; he settled into a new role as a musical patriarch who continued to influence younger generations of musicians. Monroe recorded two albums of duets in the 1980s; the first featured collaborations with country stars such as Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, and the Oak Ridge Boys, while the second paired him with other prominent bluegrass musicians. A 1989 live album celebrated his 50th year on the Grand Ole Opry. Monroe also kept a hectic touring schedule. On April 7, 1990, Monroe performed for Farm Aid IV in Indianapolis, Indiana along with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and with many other artists.
Monroe suffered a stroke in April 1996, effectively ending his touring and playing career. He died on September 9, 1996, only four days before his 85th birthday.
Bill Monroe was made an honorary Kentucky colonel in 1966. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as an "early influence") in 1997. Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams Sr., and Johnny Cash are the only other performers honored in all three. As the "father of bluegrass", he was also an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. In 1993, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1995. His well-known song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" has been covered not only by bluegrass but also rock and country artists, most notably Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, and Patsy Cline. In 2003, CMT had Bill Monroe ranked No. 16 on CMT 40 Greatest Men of Country Music. Artists that claimed to be influenced by or to be playing the bluegrass genre were often bullied by Bill Monroe. He always considered himself the father and caretaker of bluegrass. He would often say of new bands that did not perform to his standards, "That ain't no part of nothin'." Even those who question the scope of bluegrass refer to Monroe as a "musical giant" and recognize that "there would be no bluegrass without Bill Monroe."
More than 150 musicians played in the Blue Grass Boys over the nearly 60 years of Monroe's performing career. Monroe tended to recruit promising young musicians who served an apprenticeship with him before becoming accomplished artists in their own right. Some of Monroe's band members who went on to greater prominence include singer/guitarists Clyde Moody, Lester Flatt, Jack Cook, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, Carter Stanley, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, Roland White, Roland Dunn and Doug Green; banjo players Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, Sonny Osborne, and Bill Keith; and fiddlers Tommy Magness, Chubby Wise, Vassar Clements, Byron Berline, Kenny Baker, Bobby Hicks, Gordon Terry, and Glen Duncan. Monroe also regularly performed with flat-picking guitar virtuoso Doc Watson.
Modern bluegrass singer and mandolin player Ricky Skaggs was influenced by Monroe. Skaggs was only six years old when he first got to perform on stage with Monroe and his band. He stated, "I think Bill Monroe's importance to American music is as important as someone like Robert Johnson was to blues, or Louis Armstrong. He was so influential: I think he's probably the only musician that had a whole style of music named after his band".
Pseudonyms used by Monroe as a composer:
Joe Ahr; Rupert Jones; Wilbur Jones; Albert Price; James B. Smith; James W. Smith
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
18I'm Going Back to Old KentuckyBill Monroe and the Bluegrass BoysBill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys
19Molly And Tenbrooks (The Race Horse Song)Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass BoysBill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys Lyrics
A Beautiful Life Each day I'll do (each day I'll do) A golden deed…
A Fallen Star A star fell from heaven right into my arms A brighter…
A Good Woman I was a rover, on land and on sea Til a…
A Little Talk With Jesus I once was lost in sin but Jesus took me…
A Lonesome Road I'm traveling down this lonesome road, oh, how I hate…
A Lonesome Road To Travel I bid farewell to my home so dear And started down…
A Voice From on High I hear a voice callin' It must be our Lord It's comin'…
All The Good Times Are Passed And Gone I wish to the lord I'd never been born Or died…
Along About Daybreak When we were young and we thought we loved each…
Angels Rock Me To Sleep My heart is sad my soul is weary While sailing oe'are…
Blue Moon of Kentucky Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining Shine on the one…
Blue Ridge Mountain Blues When I was young in my prime I left my home…
Blue Yodel #7 She's long she's tall, she six feet from the ground She's…
Blue Yodel No. 4 She's long she's tall, she six feet from the ground She's…
Blue Yodel No. 7 She's long she's tall, she six feet from the ground She's…
Bluegrass Stomp Blue Grass Stomp is an instrumental created by Bill Monroe.…
Brakeman Portland main is just the same as sunny Tennessee Portland m…
Brand New Shoes I'm breaking in a brand new pair of shoes Don't look…
Bugle Call Rag You're bound to fall for the bugle call; You're gonna brag…
Cabin of Love I'm only a dreamer of romance My love dreams can never…
Can The days are long, the nights are lonely Since you left…
Can't You Hear Me Callin' The days are long, the nights are lonely Since you left…
Can't You Hear Me Callin? The days are long, the nights are lonely Since you left…
Careless Love Love oh love careless love Love oh love careless love Love o…
Changing Partners We were waltzing together to a dreamy melody When they calle…
Cheap Love Affair Don't go so far away love, try to settle down For…
Christmas Time [Chorus] Christmas time's a comin' Christmas time's a comin'…
Close By You've gone so far away, my darling Each time I think…
Columbus Stockade Blues Way down in Columbus, Georgia Want to be back in Tennessee W…
Come Back to Me in My Dreams Oh, I'm sending a prayer up to Heaven On a beautiful…
Cotton Fields When I was a little bitty baby My mama would rock…
Cry Cry cry darling That's what I'll do If you should leave…
Cry Cry Darling Cry cry darling That's what I'll do If you should leave…
Cryin Lord I ain't no stranger now Lord I ain't no stranger…
Danny boy Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From…
Dark Hollow I'd rather be in some dark hollow (note 1) Where the…
Dog House Blues I went downtown thought I had a dime Got home this…
Don't Put Off Until Tomorrow You have no doubt in your mind there's a heaven up…
Dreaming Of A Little Cabin Tonight I'm alone without you my dear It seems there's a…
Drifting Too Far From The Shore Out on the perilous deep Where dangers silently creep And st…
Dusty Miller Hey, the dusty Miller, And his dusty coat, He will win a…
Farther Along Farther along we'll know more about it Farther along we'll u…
Flowers of Love Those pretty wild flowers I love them so well The flowers…
Foggy River Your love is colder than a foggy river Rollin on a…
Footprints In The Snow Now some folks like the summertime when the they can…
Four Walls Oh why did you leave me in this lonesome place With…
Get Down On Your Knees and Pray Hey... my brother... (can't you hear me say) Hey... my broth…
Get Up John I never thought I'd need you But now I find I'm…
Girl In The Blue Velvet Band One night while out for a ramble The hour was just…
Give Me Wings I've been looking around There's a whole new world I see And…
Glory Land Way JUST OVER IN THE GLORYLAND Traditional I've a home prepared…
Going Home I'm going home (I'm going home) For my reward (for my…
Goodbye Old Pal Along about round-up time, in Texas way out West I…
Goodye Old Pal Along about round-up time In Texas way out West I…
Gotta Travel On I've laid around and played around this old town too…
Happy On My Way I want to thank my Jesus for the way that…
He Will Set Your Fields Afire There's a call that rings from the throne it springs To…
Heavy Traffic Ahead On Saturday night when our work is done We load our…
Highway Of Sorrow I once had a darling wife kind, true and sweet Life…
House Of Gold People steal they cheat and lie For wealth and what it…
How Will I Explain About You You left me, my darling to travel alone my heart is…
How Will I Explain About You? You left me, my darling to travel alone My heart is…
I I'm going back to old Kentucky There to see my Linda…
I Am A Pilgrim I am a pilgrim and a stranger Traveling through this weariso…
I Believed in You Darling Oh you said that you loved me that your heart…
I Found the Way High on that lonesome road to heaven's blessed abode For man…
I Gotta Travel On I've laid around and played around this old town too…
I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling Our little girl taken sick one evening As she walked home…
I Live In The Past The days are so lonely, the nights are so long Our…
I Saw the Light I wandered so aimless my heart filled with sin I wouldn't…
I Want to Go with You I Want To Go With You - Bill Monroe I'm begging…
I Was Left on the Street A policeman's whistle gayly, a smile upon his face As he…
I Wonder If You Feel The Way I Do Eight weeks ago tonight we parted It's hard to realize we're…
i wonder where you are tonight I'm sad tonight my heart is weary I'm wondering if I'm…
I'll Meet You In Church Sunday Morning On Sunday, when the church bells start ringin' They're ringi…
I'll Meet You In The Morning I'll meet you in the morning by the bright riverside When…
I'm Blue I'm Lonesome The lonesome sigh of a train going by Makes me want…
I'm Going I'm going back to old Kentucky There to see my Linda…
I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky I'm going back to old Kentucky There to see my Linda…
I'm On My Way Back To The Old Home Back in the days of my childhood In the evening when…
I'm Sitting On Top of the World I'm sitting on top of the world Just rolling along, Just…
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Hear that lonesome whippoorwill He sounds too blue to fly Th…
I'm Working on a Building If I was a gambler I tell you what I'd do I'd…
I've Found A Hiding Place High on that lonesome road to heaven's blessed abode For man…
Ill Meet You In Church Sunday Morning On Sunday, when the church bells start ringin' They're ringi…
Im Working On a Building If I was a gambler I tell you what I'd do I'd…
In the Pines The longest train I ever saw Went down that Georgia line The…
Intro / You Won't Be Satisfied That Way I'll leave you now if you don't want me I'll leave…
Introduction As you read this letter that I write to you Sweetheart…
Intros As you read this letter that I write to you Sweetheart…
It It's mighty dark for me to travel For my sweetheart, she…
Jimmie Brown The Newsboy I sell the morning paper, Sir, my name is Jimmy…
John Hardy John Hardy was a desperate little man He carried two guns…
Journey Let me rest at the end of my journey I'm weary,…
Kentucky Waltz We were waltzing that night in Kentucky Beneath the beautif…
Let Me Rest At The End Of My Journey Let me rest at the end of my journey I'm weary,…
Letter From My Darlin I can't answer her letter For she left me no address You…
Life I hate to see the sun sink low Just for a…
Linda Lou In the state of West Virginia among the peaceful rolling…
Little Cabin Home On The Hill Tonight I'm alone without you my dear It seems there's a…
Little Cabin on the Hill Tonight I'm alone without you my dear It seems there's a…
Little Community Church I was lost in sin so long with no one…
Little Girl And The Dreadful Snake Our darling wandered far away while she was out at…
Little Joe What will the birds do, mother, in the spring Will they…
Little Maggie Oh yonder stands little Maggie With a dram glass in her…
Little Red Shoes Now, come and bathe my forehead, Mother For I'm growing very…
Live and Let Live They tell me that you are going away What makes you…
Lonesome Road Blues I'm going down this road feeling bad I'm going down this…
Lonesome Road to Travel I bid farewell to my home so dear And started down…
Lonesome Truck Driver's Blues I leave Pittsburgh with a load of steel Nobody knows just…
Lord Build Me A Cabin In Glory Many years I've been lookin' for a place to call…
Lord Lead Me On When the way seems dark and long Hold to my hand…
Lord Protect My Soul Down life's highway All alone I've trod, I always put my…
Love For your poison love has stained the life blood in…
Love Please Come Home As you read this letter that I write to you Sweetheart…
Mansions For Me There's folks building homes as sweet as can be They're leve…
Memories Of Mother And Dad Mother left this world of sorrow Our home was silent and…
Memories Of You [Chorus] Memories of you, sweetheart, still haunt me so Ever…
Midnight on the Stormy Deep It was midnight on the stormy deep My solitary watch I'd…
Midnight On The Stormy Deep ) It was midnight on the stormy deep My solitary watch I'd…
Molly & Tenbrooks Run O Molly run, run O Molly run Tenbrooks gonna beat…
Mother Well, I left my old home back in the mountains For…
Mother's Only Sleeping Well, I left my old home back in the mountains For…
Mule Skinner Blues Good mornin' foreman, good mornin' boss Do you need another …
Muleskinner Blues New Muleskinner Blues - Bill Monroe (Album: My All Time Coun…
My Little Georgia Rose Now come and listen to my story A story that I…
My Rose Of Old Kentucky She bloomed for me near a little village In a cabin…
My Sweet Darlin I'll never love no one else but my darlin' Even though…
My Sweet Darlin' I'll never love no one else but my darlin' Even though…
New John Henry Blues John henry was a little colored boy you could hold him…
New Mule Skinner Blues Good mornin' foreman, good mornin' boss Do you need another …
Nine Pound Hammer This nine pound hammer is a little too heavy For my…
No Letter In The Mail No answer to my love letter To sooth my achin' heart Why…
No One But My Darlin' I'll never love no one else but my darlin' Even though…
Nobody Loves Me Nobody loves me nobody cares If life is empty and full…
Old Joe Clark Old Joe Clark's a fine old man Tell you the reason…
On and On Traveling down this long lonesome highway i'm so lonesome i …
On My Way Back Home Back in the days of my childhood In the evening when…
On Some Foggy Mountain Top 1. If I had listened t'what Mama said, I would not…
On The Banks Of The Ohio I asked my love to take a walk, Just a little…
On the Jericho Road As you travel along on the jericho road does the world…
On The Old Kentucky Shore I walked out to the graveyard Down by the Church of…
Orange Blossom Special Look a-yonder comin', comin' down that railroad track Hey, l…
Orange Blossum Special Look a-yonder comin', comin' down that railroad track Hey, …
Out In The Cold World Out in the cold world and far away from home Some…
Plant Some Flowers by My Grave Plant some flowers by my graveside just a little bunch of…
Plant Some Flowers by My Graveside Plant some flowers by my graveside Just a little bunch of…
Poison Love For your poison love has stained the life blood in…
Precious Memories As I travel down life's pathway Knowing not what the years…
Prisoner Oh, I wish I had someone to love me, Someone to…
Prisoner's Song Oh, I wish I had someone to love me, Someone to…
Put My Little Shoes Away Now, come and bathe my forehead, Mother For I'm growing ver…
Raw Hide Rollin', rollin', rollin' Rollin', rollin', rollin' Rollin',…
Rawhide You don't love me anymore, my darling I'm just a used…
Remember the Cross Do you think of the cross on which Jesus died Of…
River Of Death Oh the river of death lies just before me Can I…
Roane County Prison In the beautiful hills in the mists of Roane County There's…
Rocky Road Blues Now the road is rocky, but it won't be rocky…
Roll In My Sweet Baby Roll in my sweet baby's arms Roll in my sweet baby's…
Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms Roll in my sweet baby's arms Roll in my sweet baby's…
Roll on Buddy Roll On Roll on, buddy, roll on Roll on, buddy, roll on Wouldn't r…
Rose Of Old Kentucky She bloomed for me near a little village In a cabin…
Sailor's Plea Dear sweetheart as I write to you my heart is…
Sally Joe I got me in bed and covered my head Wish I…
Shady Grove Cheeks as red as the blooming rose Eyes of the deepest…
Shake My Mother When you reach that golden city (golden city) Friends and lo…
Shine Hallelujah Deep in the morrow of sin I was sinking There was…
Sittin [Chorus] Sitting alone in the moonlight Thinking of the days…
Sittin' Alone in the Moonlight [Chorus] Sitting alone in the moonlight Thinking of the da…
Six White Horses I'm leavin' you to worry you off my mind Lord I'm…
Sold Down The River Where is the love that you promised 'neath the pine? Gone…
Somebody Touched Me When I was prayin' (somebody touched me) When I was prayin'…
Sugar Coated Love Sugar coated love, you gave me on a plate I took…
Summertime Is Past and Gone Summertime is past and gone and I'm on my way…
Sweetheart You told me that your love was true Sweetheart, I thought…
Swing Low Swing low (swing low), sweet chariot Comin' for to carry me…
Tennessee Blues Oh, oh, oh, oh Oh yeah That's it man Okay baby, yeah Aha…
That Home Above Oh the home above (oh the home above) so far…
The Brakeman's Blues Portland main is just the same as sunny Tennessee Portland m…
The First Whippoorwill Springtime is near, my darling You say, that you are going…
The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band One night while out for a ramble The hour was just…
The Little Girl And The Dreadful Snake Our darling wandered far away while she was out at…
The Long Black Veil Ten years ago, on a cold, dark night There was someone…
The Old Fiddler Let me tell you a tale about a spry old…
The Orange Blossom Special Look a-yonder comin', comin' down that railroad track Hey, l…
The Sailor's Plea Dear sweetheart as I write to you my heart is…
The Walls of Time The wind is blowing 'cross the mountains And out on the…
There Was Nothing We Could Do We all loved our fair tender maiden From her eyes the…
Time Changes Everything There was a time when I thought of no other And…
Toy Heart Darling, you toyed with toy heart I think you played the…
Travel That Lonesome Road I bid farewell to my home so dear And started down…
Travelin I'm traveling down this lonesome road, oh, how I hate…
True Life Blues I hate to see the sun sink low Just for a…
Uncle Pen Oh the people would come from far away And they'd dance…
Used to Be Well you don't love me anymore my darling I'm just a…
Walk Softly On My Heart You say you're sorry once again dear You want me to…
Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine You say you're sorry once again, dear. You want me to…
Walking in Jerusalem I want to be ready I want to be ready I want…
Walking In Jerusalem Just Like John I want to be ready I want to be ready I want…
Walls of Time The wind is blowing 'cross the mountains And out on the…
We Darling you often said you loved me But you've gone on…
Were You There Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there…
What Would You Give Brother afar from The Savior today Risking your soul for the…
What Would You Give In Exchange? Brother afar from The Savior today Risking your soul for th…
When the Bees Are in the Hive When The Bees Are In The Hive - Bill Monroe (Bryan/Mills) …
When the Cactus Is in Bloom The cattle prowled and the coyotes howled Out on the Great…
When The Golden Leaves Begin To Fall I left the one that love in the mountains And all…
When You Are Lonely Oh I'm thinking of you, little darling On the day that…
Where You There Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there…
Where You There? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there…
White House Blues McKinley hollered, McKinley squalled Doc said, ?McKinley I c…
Why Did You Wander Oh, why, oh why did you wander? Oh, why did you…
Wicked Path Of Sin In this awful world of sorrow On this wicked path of…
Will You Be Loving Another Man Now will you love me little darling When I'm in some…
With Body and Soul See that train coming round the bend Carrying the one that…
Y Oh, why, oh why did you wander? Oh, why did you…
Y'all Come When you live in the country Everybody is your neighbor On t…
You [Chorus] Memories of you, sweetheart, still haunt me so Ev…
You Won't Be Satisfied That Way I'll leave you now if you don't want me I'll leave…
You'll Find Her Name Written There On and on she'll walk this earth Her face like a…
You're Drifting Away All your life you've lived a sinner the bright way…