Bill Monroe Tribute

A Tribute to the Father of Bluegrass - The Legend Lives On

Tribute albums seem to be a dime a dozen these days. It seems all too often that when everything else fails, just hustle out a tribute album, pack it as full of big names as you can get to record a song for it (and then don't even release the best of these tracks as singles, to give them some exposure), and hurry it to the shelves to cash in on whoever's name is posted on the front. There have been tributes to the legendary Bill Monroe in the past, notably the Ricky Skaggs vehicle, "Big Mon" (reissued recently with the title "Ricky Skaggs & Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe"). However, this one, "The Legend Lives On: A Tribute To Bill Monroe," is a bit different from these typical tribute albums.

First of all, it's a live concert. It was recorded in April, 1997, at the Ryman Auditorium, the Mother Church of Country Music. Second, while it does host many huge names from the old-time and bluegrass arenas, it's not their individual performances which are in the spotlight. Instead, it is the heavenly style of music itself, that brand which Bill Monroe made, the music that came to be called "bluegrass" after his band, the Blue Grass Boys (a name he chose because they all hailed from Kentucky, the Blue Grass State). That is, at heart, what really makes this album special.

The songs presented here aren't strictly just "Bill Monroe" songs, although many of his standards are here; nor are they strictly "bluegrass" songs. This is a celebration of the man and all he gave to country music through his music, a time and a place that really never goes out of style, performed by people who loved it even when it wasn't "popular." There isn't a name on here who hasn't been known for doing this style for years; even "mainstream" country acts such as Marty Stuart and Charlie Daniels are not out of place here.

"Bluegrass" itself is a really a rather "new" style of music, especially when looked at in the overall history of country music; it came along in the late 40's, when Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys started up, with the also legendary Earl Scruggs innovating the way banjo was played. The new sound startled the old-timers and made Bill one of the first "outlaws" in country music. But he was just taking the Appalachian folk/old-time mountain music he loved and making it his very own, branding a signature on it that would forever bear the name of his band and his home state.

That is what this disc celebrates: Music, that grand and glorious music which lived before "Mr. Bill" and, with his help, will endure even now that he's gone.

Featured on the disc are, not surprisingly, Ricky Skaggs and his Kentucky Thunder, who have been carrying the Bluegrass banner high ever since the loss of Bill Monroe; also here you'll find the late and dearly missed John Hartford; the Del McCoury Band; the frequently underappreciated but stunningly talented Marty Stuart; Larry Sparks; Tim O'Brien; Jim & Jesse; Charlie Daniels; The Bluegrass Boys; The Whites; Bill Carlisle; the amazing Ralph Stanley; Jerry & Tammy Sullivan; and Bill's son James Monroe, who presents a beautiful, heartfelt tribute to his father with "Bean Blossom Memories," near the end of the second disc. Songs performed include Bill Monroe standards such as "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Rocky Road Blues," but also old-time favorites such as "Uncle Penn," "Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms," and "John Henry," as well as gospel hymns "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," "I'll Fly Away," and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken."

Perhaps it's because the artists are all gathered together in one spot for a live concert that this disc, more than many other "tributes," has a cohesive feel to it, a powerful undercurrent of emotion which is missing from many tributes, some which are nothing more than dry and lifeless studio copies of familiar songs, discs full of ordinary rather than extraordinary covers. When these particular artists sing these particular songs, they don't feel like ordinary cover songs. Perhaps because they are ancient folk songs with ancient roots, sung by people who love them in honor of someone who loves them, they feel stronger somehow; richer, more full, and more real.

Bill Monroe's legend does live on, and as long as artists such as these love this style of country music, it will live forever as his legacy.

Kathy Coleman Take Country Back February 2003