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The street balladry of
the people who began migrating to America in the early 1600s is considered
to be the roots of traditional American music. As the early Jamestown
settlers began to spread out into the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky and
the Virginias, they composed new songs about day-to-day life experiences
in the new land. Since most of these people lived in rural areas, the
songs reflected life on the farm or in the hills and this type of music
was called "mountain music" or "country music."
The invention of the
phonograph and the onset of the radio in the early 1900s brought this
old-time music out of the rural Southern mountains to people all over the
United States. Good singing became a more important part of country music.
Singing stars like Jimmie Rodgers, family bands like the Carter family
from Virginia and duet teams like the Monroe Brothers from Kentucky
contributed greatly to the advancement of traditional country music.
The Monroe Brothers were one of the most popular duet teams of the 1920s
and into the 1930s. Charlie played the guitar, Bill played the mandolin
and they sang duets in harmony. When the brothers split up as a team in
1938, both went on to form their own bands. Since Bill was a native of
Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, he decided to call his band "Bill
Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys," and this band sound birthed a new
form of country music called Blue Grass.
"Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys" first appeared on the
Grand Ole Opry in 1939 and soon became one of the most popular touring
bands out of Nashville's WSM studios. Bill's new band was different from
other traditional country music bands of the time because of its hard
driving and powerful sound, utilizing traditional acoustic instruments and
featuring highly distinctive vocal harmonies. This music incorporated
songs and rhythms from string band, gospel (black and white), work songs
and "shouts" of black laborers, country and blues music
repertoires. Vocal selections included duet, trio and quartet harmony
singing in addition to Bill's powerful "high lonesome" solo lead
singing. After experimenting with various instrumental combinations, Bill
settled on mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitar and bass as the format for his
band.
While many fans of bluegrass music date the genre back to 1939, when
Monroe formed his first Blue Grass Boys band, most believe that the
classic bluegrass sound jelled in 1946, shortly after Earl Scruggs, a 21
year old banjo player from North Carolina, joined the band. Scruggs played
an innovative three-finger picking style on the banjo that energized
enthusiastic audiences, and has since come to be called simply,
"Scruggs style" banjo. Equally influential in the classic 1946
line-up of the Blue Grass Boys were Lester Flatt, from Sparta, Tenn. on
guitar and lead vocals against Monroe's tenor; Chubby Wise, from Florida,
on fiddle; and Howard Watts, also known by his comedian name, "Cedric
Rainwater," on acoustic bass.
When first Earl Scruggs, and then Lester Flatt left Monroe's band and
eventually formed their own group, The Foggy Mountain Boys, they decided
to include the resophonic guitar, or Dobro into their band format. The
Dobro is often included in bluegrass band formats today as a result.
Burkett H. "Uncle Josh" Graves, from Tellico Plains, Tenn.,
heard Scruggs' three-finger style of picking in 1949 and adapted it to the
then, almost obscure slide bar instrument. With Flatt & Scruggs from
1955-1969, Graves introduced his widely emulated, driving, bluesy style on
the Dobro.
From 1948-1969, Flatt & Scruggs were a major force in introducing
bluegrass music to America through national television, at major
universities and coliseums, and at schoolhouse appearances in numerous
towns. Scruggs wrote and recorded one of bluegrass music's most famous
instrumentals, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," which was used in the
soundtrack for the film, Bonnie & Clyde. In 1969 he established
an innovative solo career with his three sons as "The Earl Scruggs
Revue." Scruggs still records and performs selected dates in groups
that usually include his son, Randy on guitar, and his son, Gary on bass.
After parting with Scruggs in 1969, Lester Flatt continued successfully
with his own group, "The Nashville Grass," performing steadily
until shortly before his death in 1979.
By the 1950s, people began referring to this style of music as
"bluegrass music." Bluegrass bands began forming all over the
country and Bill Monroe became the acknowledged "Father of Bluegrass
Music."
In the 1960s, the concept of the "bluegrass festival" was first
introduced, featuring bands that had seemed to be in competition with each
other for a relatively limited audience on the same bill at weekend
festivals across the country. Carlton Haney, from Reidsville, N.C., is
credited with envisioning and producing the first weekend-long bluegrass
music festival, held at Fincastle, Va. in 1965.
The increased availability of traditional music recordings, nationwide
indoor and outdoor bluegrass festivals and movie, television and
commercial soundtracks featuring bluegrass music have aided in bringing
this music out of modern day obscurity. "Lester Flatt and Earl
Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys" achieved national prominence
with tour sponsorship by Martha White Flour and for playing the soundtrack
for previously mentioned film, Bonnie and Clyde, as well as on a
television show called The Beverly Hillbillies. The Deliverance movie
soundtrack also featured bluegrass music-in particular, "Dueling
Banjos," performed by Eric Weissberg on banjo and Steve Mandel on
guitar. In 2001, the multi-million selling soundtrack for the Coen
Brothers movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou? attracted wider
audiences for bluegrass and traditional country music.
Bill Monroe passed away on September 9, 1996, four days before his 85th
birthday. In May 1997, Bill Monroe was inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame because of the profound influence of his music on the popular
music of this country.
Bluegrass music is now performed and enjoyed around the world--the IBMA
alone claims members in all 50 states and 30 countries. In addition to the
to the classic style born in 1946 that is still performed widely,
bluegrass bands today reflect influences from a variety of sources
including traditional and fusion jazz, contemporary country music, Celtic
music, rock & roll ("newgrass" or progressive bluegrass),
old-time music and Southern gospel music--in addition to lyrics translated
to various languages.
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