Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys - Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys 1950-1958
STYLE: Country RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 86777-16134 LABEL: JSP FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 4
Reviewed by Dave Brassington
This excellent four CD set features recordings Bill made for the Decca label during the 1950s and truly reflects the musical explosion that was happening with the advent of rock and roll. At the beginning of the decade Bill Monroe was well established as a giant of bluegrass who had created a new style of string band music featuring five string banjo, Bill's fantastic mandolin playing plus lead guitar, acoustic bass and fiddle. So many of the earlier recordings including such classics as "Blue Grass Ramble", "My Little Georgia Rose" and "Uncle Pen" would have been staple fayre on country music stations at the time before bluegrass became relegated out of mainstream country music. The second and third CDs include a few tracks in a straight country mode with electric guitar on a couple of Jimmie Rogers' old songs and some current country hits of the late '50s; "A Fallen Star", "Four Walls" and "Cry, Cry Darling" which are less than successful as these songs do not suit Bill's lead vocals very well. However they must indicate the pressure Bill was under to modernise his music as country music itself faced an identity crisis. Having said that, on these four CDs there is much here that finds Bill at his excellent best with many fast paced instrumentals and some classic gospel recordings such as "Walking In Jerusalem" and "Get Down On Your Knees And Pray", plus many of the tracks he recorded for his first gospel album with a wonderful lead singer he had at the time, Ed Mayfield. There are also re-recordings of earlier classics such as "Footprints In The Snow" and in particular "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" in response to Elvis Presley's up tempo version which had been recorded in July 1954 as the B side to his classic "That's Alright, Mama". Decca wanted to cash in on the song's new popularity! The box set comes with some excellent sleevenotes and is a worthy edition to the library of any serious minded country music collector at a price which is quite amazing compared to many more expensive box sets.
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