Bill Monroe's Playful Side

Kenny Baker set the standard for every bluegrass fiddler who came after. So, why have I picked this obscure performance to highlight his genius?

I picked it because Baker’s kickoff here is one of my top five bluegrass kickoffs of all time. I picked it because it’s sassy and playful – attributes never associated with Monroe, but often with Baker (although “sprightly” is the adjective more often applied in Baker’s case).

I picked it, because the creativity and playfulness never let up – just listen to Baker’s backup, Lonnie Hoppers’s banjo fills.

Speaking of creativity, Monroe introduces his break by quoting the final notes of “Taps” at a tempo that makes it sound more like “Reveille”. After all, everybody needs an army to protect their playhouse, er, stillhouse. The original lyric says “stillhouse”.

Monroe, who had been beaten and bullied by an alcoholic older brother, would have none of it. And that makes the whimsy driving this track all the more remarkable.

This is Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, featuring bluegrass fiddle pioneer, Kenny Baker, with “Darling Corey”.

These. Vocals.

It's a good thing Wayne Lewis (that's him on guitar with Monroe at left) got to take a busman's holiday from working with Bill Monroe to record a solo album. Otherwise, we might never have known what a truly great singer he is. His performance here is brimming with emotional and vocal nuances, and the remarkable Kenny Baker is crying right along with him, on fiddle.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that, on this track, Wayne Lewis is as good as the legendary Keith Whitley. In fact, this vocal is more in the style of Ralph Stanley's lead singers than anyone Bill Monroe ever employed.

Here's Wayne Lewis, getting his Ralph Stanley on with a few of his fellow Blue Grass Boys and guest, Bobby Osborne, on mandolin. The song is "A Boy Called Lonesome".

The Double-Stop King and the Ultimate Bluegrass Fiddler

I jumped the gun yesterday, commemorating the birthday of bluegrass fiddle great, Kenny Baker, a day early! I think, subconsciously, I was just looking for an excuse to post more of Baker’s wonderful work.

I talked yesterday about how Baker broke the mold of bluegrass fiddling. He brought to it the flavor of some of his influences, like western swing genius, Bob Wills, and French jazz violinist, Stephane Grappelli – both of whom were distinctive stylists in their own right.

You’d think with a sound as unique as that, Baker would have had a little trouble twinning with other bluegrass fiddlers, but the opposite is true. Baker was an outstanding fiddle partner, as he demonstrates here with double-stop king, Bobby Hicks, on a Bill Monroe instrumental entitled, “Panhandle Country”.

Fiddlers Five

Sometimes, you just have to shut up and get out of the way. So, let me move aside and share what the uploader has to say about this extraordinary video:

“Five fiddlers – all Blue Grass Boys – play a medley of "Fire on the Mountain” and “Old Joe Clark” at Bill Monroe’s 71st birthday celebration, onstage at the Kentucky Fried Chicken Bluegrass Festival, September, 1982.  This videotape was preserved over the past three decades by former Blue Grass Boy Doug Hutchens.  The fiddlers are Gordon Terry, Red Taylor, Tex Logan, Byron Berline, and Kenny Baker."
 
If you know the history of those fiddlers and the man who brought them together, enjoy marinating in it. If not, look them up on this long and lovingly-maintained page all about Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys.

Waltzing With Beauty and Wit

Here’s one way to show love: entertain an audience, no matter how small.

Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys fill this performance with beauty and wit. It’s nothing spectacular; just a little waltz, but sometimes, that’s all it takes to warm the hearts of your audience. Kenny Baker on fiddle, and Butch Robins on banjo, demonstrate this admirably on the “Mississippi Waltz”.

Perhaps the most western-sounding of his cowboy-inspired songs, this tune was very rarely performed by Bill Monroe. Too bad, since it combines the folksy charm of the traditional cowboy song with Monroe’s patented high lonesome wail, echoed to perfection here by Kenny Baker’s mournful fiddle.

This is “Sunset Trail”, written by Monroe, and performed live in 1978 at the Great American Music Hall.

Two of my favorite Blue Grass Boys, Kenny Baker and Bobby Hicks, at the MerleFest Blue Grass Boys  reunion, 2005, with a Bill Monroe classic called, “Panhandle Country”.

Exquisite tone, ghastly intonation; every one of you who’s ever played an acoustic instrument on an outdoor stage knows how that can happen. In any case, there’s still much to learn from these two bluegrass fiddle legends and their otherwise fine performance.

San Francisco, 1978. One wonders if Bill and the Boys got hold of whatever it is that makes San Francisco sourdough the best in the world. I think Butch Robins may have something to say about that in his tell-all book, “What I Know ‘Bout What I Know”, but I digress ….

What a fizzy, exuberant performance this is; not at all like the original. The tempo is almost too fast. As singers, the Blue Grass Boys just barely keep up to tempo, but as instrumentalists, they’re in their element. Kenny Baker’s fiddle improvisations on the the melody are wildly inventive, and Robins’s picking walks the line between traditional Scruggs style and the melodic style popularized by former Blue Grass Boy, Bill Keith.

Through it all, Wayne Lewis’s lead singing is as rock-solid as it is soulful. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Lewis is the best bluegrass singer you never heard.

This is Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, with “Walking In Jerusalem (Just Like John).

The fun never stops in this clip featuring the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, and the father of progressive bluegrass, John Duffey. They’re joined by members of their respective bands for this extraordinary version of “Can’t You Hear Me Callin’”. From the sound of things, that’s Kenny Baker on fiddle, Wayne Lewis on guitar, and Mike Auldridge on dobro.

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”.

The sidemen are so young here! That’s Kenny Baker and Buddy Spicher on twin fiddles, Vic Jordan pickin the banjer, and James Monroe on guitar. And though they may be young, are they ever good! The Scots-Irish/country fiddling, the bluesy slides, the driving banjo — everything is in perfect balance.

And the way Bill Monroe is howling on this thing! It’s a traditional number; done a million times; nearly everybody had a version of it back then. All the elements to make it a throwaway are in place, but Monroe doesn’t waste a note. This performance goes “from my heart to your heart,” as Monroe once described his performance values.

This is “Train 45”.

I know, I know: I just can’t say enough good things about this lineup of the Blue Grass Boys. Backing the father of bluegrass music are Wayne Lewis on guitar, Butch Robins on banjo, Mark Hembree on bass, and the fabulous Kenny Baker on the little fiddle.

The quartet singing is fine, but it’s Baker who stands out here. French jazz violinist, Stéphane Grappelli, was a major influence on Baker. If Grappelli had played bluegrass, this is exactly how he would have sounded.

Here are Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys with "The Old Crossroad".