Customer Reviews

All the Classic Releases 1937-1949

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very nice collection for a very good price. It's chronologically ordered, disc A is Bill & Charlie Monroe 1936; disc B is Bill & Charlie 1937-38; disc C is 1940-46; disc D is 1946-49. So from second half of disc C it's really Bluegrass with the Bluegrass Boys (including Flatt & Scruggs until the split after 1946).

I give this set 5 stars, although it's not 100% complete. I'm sure the Bear Family box set (Blue Moon of Kentucky 1936-1949 - 6 CDs; I don't have it) is more complete with probably more accurate liner notes, but it's also 5 times more expensive. So part of the stars are for getting so much for so little money.

If you want to have a nice collection of early Bill Monroe, get this set!

The first two discs are from 1936 to 1938, when it was just Bill on mandolin and his older brother Charlie on guitar. Personally I enjoy the sparse instrumentation. But the recording quality is poor on a couple of sessions and Bill's singing and playing is still a work in progress. The song choice is good, though mostly covers drawn from the public domain. If you especially like gospel songs you'll be heaven as there are a whole bunch of them here.

After 1938 the brothers went there separate ways. But by 1940 Bill was back in the studio with a fiddle, guitar and bass ensemble he named the Blue Grass Boys in tribute to his home state of Kentucky. In their version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues" you can hear the uptempo sound and hot picking that would come to characterize Monroe's style of bluegrass. By 1946 Bill had added Lester Flatt on guitar and Earl Scruggs on banjo. This group is considered by many to be the Blue Grass Boys at their musical peak. Monroe had also come into his own as a songwriter and classic tracks from the final two discs include "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" and "Rocky Road Blues" along with many other excellent songs.

This is a near complete collection of Monroe's early recordings and 112 songs at this price is a bargain. So what are you waiting for? It's a worthwhile purchase.

This music reminds me of what must have been a simpler, better time. Beautiful harmonies, banjo solos, interwoven voice parts. This is really nice music.