The latest effort from noted bluegrass music author Neil Rosenberg, The Music Of Bill Monroe, which Richard Thompson profiled for us late last year, is now shipping from the University of Illinois Press. It was written in conjunction with the late Charles Wolfe.

This is what might be described as a bio-discography, including a complete listing of the many Monroe commercial recordings, along with biographical essays. The book had originally been meant for a Fall 2006 release, but was delayed until just recently. The publisher told us that the distributor began shipping pre-orders and dealer orders on May 29.

Neil mentioned that he will be attending the Bill Monroe Bean Blossom festival which starts next weekend (6/9-16), and will have copies with him available for sale.

Continuing with a Bill Monroe/Neil Rosenberg theme…

I recently had occasion to correspond with Neil about his upcoming book, The Music Of Bill Monroe, written with the late Charles Wolfe, and due for a 2007 release by the University of Illinois Press.

It is described as a bio-discography, combining a complete list of all commercial recordings Monroe made in the course of 60 years, with essays that describe his musical career and the musicians with whom he was performing at various points during that time.

The discography begins with the first Monroe Brothers recording in February 1936, and carries to his last, with Billy and Terry Smith, in February of 1996. In all, more than 1,000 recorded performances are detailed in the book.

The authors collected the information necessary to compile the discography by accessing the recordings themselves, record company files, union session documents, interviews with musicians and producers, and the work of other researchers.

I asked Neil how they separated Monroe’s recorded work into segments for the book.

“The nine chapters are arranged chronologically (1936-38, 1939-41, 1942-45, 1946-49, 1950-56, 1957-62, 1963-72, 1973-1980 and 1981-96). Each consists of an essay discussing Monroe’s musical activities and introducing the musicians with whom he was involved during the period covered, followed by discographical data: each recording session with such information as date, place, personnel, pieces recorded, record numbers, etc.”

Rosenberg had become fascinated with Bill Monroe’s music as a young man, and began to build a list of his recordings after getting a chance to fill in with The Bluegrass Boys on banjo in 1961. That personal compilation eventually led to the publication of his first book.

“I had wanted to become more familiar with Monroe’s repertoire so that it would be easier for me to play his music. (more…)

Earlier this week I posted about the new Bear Family box set of Bill Monroe material. In an effort to clarify which Monroe albums are represented in the set, Richard Thompson did a little independent research.

Richard correctly concluded that tracks on the box set where taken from the following LPs.

• Master Of Bluegrass 1981
• Bill Monroe & Friends 1983
• Bill Monroe and Stars of the Bluegrass Hall Of Fame 1985
• Bluegrass ‘87 1987
• Southern Flavor 1988

This, however, still doesn’t account for all the tracks in the box set. 10 tracks on the first CD in the set were unaccounted for as were the majority of tracks on the fourth CD in the set.

Noted bluegrass historian Neil Rosenberg was kind enough to pass along some information that clears up the mystery surrounding these tracks.

In addition to the albums listed by Richard Thompson, Bill’s last two MCA CDs, Live at the Opry and Crying Holy, are included. Also included is the contents of a live gospel concert done at Cathedral Caverns in Alabama in 1982. This was recorded by MCA for an album that was never released. In addition there are a few tracks from other sources. I don’t think any of them qualify as alternate takes.

So there you have it folks, as a complete a list of original source recordings as we’re going to get until the box set itself is released with the accompanying bio-discography.

This should be a collection any true Monroe fan would wish to own, especially with the inclusion of an entire, previously unreleased, live record. As stated previously, January 2007 is the planned release date and the box set is currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com for $132.49.

Episode #22 of The GrassCast features John’s interview with bluegrass historian, Neil Rosenberg. They discuss his book Bluegrass: A History, which is now available in a 20th anniversary paperback edition.

This GrassCast is 18 minutes in length and the file download size is 17 MB.

Below is our usual mp3 file for you to listen here or download. The GrassCast is also available in the iTunes music store and this episode marks our first enhanced podcast. The version available through iTunes contains photos and hyperlinks relative to the subject matter being discussed in the interview.

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