Recorded in 1969 for an event at the Smithsonian, this interview
excerpt features Bill Monroe, along with his brothers, Charlie and
Birch, being interviewed by Mike Seeger, and an unidentified man.
The clip begins with Charlie’s description of the brothers’ early
instruction in shape note singing, and ends with the three singing two
gospel numbers — “He Will Set Your Fields On Fire” and “I Know My Lord’s
Gonna Lead Me Out”. Birch is on bass, Charlie on lead. Bill’s tenor, of
course, is unmistakable.
Oh. My. Bluegrass. Goodness! Talk about revisionist history! Pete Holder’s elevation of Charlie Monroe reminded me instantly of Kenneth Roberts’ revisionist histories of Benedict Arnold, told through his novels, “Arundel” and “Northwest Passage”; and of Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki’s Shakespearean Tarot deck and book, in which she administered a vigorous scrubbing to the biography of Richard III.
Certainly, Charlie Monroe’s reputation was nowhere near as villainous
as those of Arnold, and Richard III – except maybe in the mind of his
baby brother, Bill. In any case, here’s Pete Holder to make the case for
“The Legend Of Charlie Monroe”.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
The twin fiddles on this number, from Kenny Baker and Buddy
Spicher, are swoon-worthy, but am I the only one who notices host Doyle
Wilburn backpedaling frantically when his mention of Bill’s older
brother and musical rival, Charlie, falls flat?
In any case, the father of bluegrass music maintains his dignity —
did you expect anything less? — throughout Brother Doyle’s pained intro
to “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold”.
