Playlist 7/21/2013 - Before Bluegrass

Hi Folks.

The first Mainer recording group 1935
J.E. & Wade Mainer, Zeke Morris, John Love
Announcer Fisher Hendley

Charlie & Bill Monroe c.1936

Everyone knows that Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys created bluegrass music in December 1945 when Bill and his band with new banjo picker Earl Scruggs stepped on the stage of the widely broadcast Grand Ole Opry program at the Ryman Auditorium.

That's what everyone knows.



Today's show was intended to show that Bill had a lot of help getting there.  We started with J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers who were picking string band music at high speed with the two-finger banjo style of Wade Mainer a decade earlier, then Charlie and Bill Monroe's recordings from that same early period.

Charlie Monroe (c), Zeke Morris (l)
Bill Calhoun (r)

First recorded version of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys
Bill Wesbrooks, Tommy Magness, Bill Monroe, Clyde Moody

We followed with Charlie Monroe's post-Monroe Brothers recordings, Bill Monroe's post-Monroe Brothers recordings, and then Byron Parker & His Mountaineers -- a 1940 evolution of J.E. Mainer's band -- with Snuffy Jenkins picking banjo three-finger style.  Of all this music, the only thing we heard that could be identified as bluegrass as we know it today was the music of the Byron Parker configuration, and this was a full five years or more before Bill Monroe hit the stage with Earl Scruggs.

We hope this was mind-opening.

Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith

Marti had a super day programming Marti's Bunkhouse with some great Western music that is too-little-known.  The rarer material came from Texas Jim Robertson, Goebel Reeves, and New Zealand cowboy singer Cole Wilson (1922-1993).  We also heard a couple of songs from a tribute album Riders In The Sky did for the North Carolina train attraction Tweetsie Railroad.  Tweetsie has been giving train rides on real former working steam engine locomotive driven trains for well over half-century and continues to do so today.

We finished with some comedy from Spike Jones, Homer & Jethro, and Louis Grizzard, and then a couple of songs from Carolinas musical stalwart Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, including his first recording of "Guitar Boogie" which became his namesake.

We hope you heard something you enjoyed.

Join us next Sunday and we'll have another interesting listen to our musical past.

Jim & Marti

Marti's Bunkhouse in blue

Title / Artist / Album / Label

• Introduction / Aunt Hattie Dalton / 1994 Interview
• Way Down In Egypt Land (1939) / Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet / Complete Recorded Works v.3 / Document
• Take Me In The Lifeboat (1935) / J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers / The Early Years / JSP
• Seven And A Half (1935) / J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers / The Early Years / JSP
• Number 111 (1936) / J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers / The Early Years / JSP
• My Long Journey Home (1936) / Monroe Brothers / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
• Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms (1936) / Monroe Brothers / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
• Have A Feast Here Tonight (1938) / Monroe Brothers / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
• Tell Him To Come Back Sweet Fern (1938) / (Charlie) Monroe's Boys / I'm Old Kentucky Bound / Bear Family
• You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone (1938) / (Charlie) Monroe's Boys / I'm Old Kentucky Bound / Bear Family
• Oh Death (1939) / (Charlie) Monroe's Boys / I'm Old Kentucky Bound / Bear Family
• We Shall Rise (1940) / Byron Parker & His Mountaineers / Bluegrass Classic Recordings Remastered / JSP
• Carroll County Blues (1940) / Byron Parker & His Mountaineers / Bluegrass Classic Recordings Remastered / JSP
• Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar (1940) / Byron Parker & His Mountaineers / Bluegrass Classic Recordings Remastered / JSP
• Mule Skinner Blues (1940) / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
• Dog House Blues (1941) / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
• Tennessee Blues (1941) / Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bear Family
• Ride Tenderfoot Ride (1938) / Gene Autry / All Time Great Singing Cowboys / PR1MO
• I'm Gonna Throw My Lasso (1939) / Texas Jim Robertson / All Time Great Singing Cowboys / PR1MO
• The Outlaw / Cole Wilson / All Time Great Singing Cowboys / PR1MO
• Cowboy's Dream (1930) / The Yodelling Rustler (Goebel Reeves) / All Time Great Singing Cowboys / PR1MO
• Red River Valley (1947) / Sons Of The Pioneers / All Time Great Singing Cowboys / PR1MO
• Tweetsie Railroad Line (2002) / Riders In The Sky / Ridin' The Tweetsie Railroad / Tweetsie Railroad
• I've Been Working On The Railroad (2002) / Riders In The Sky / Ridin' The Tweetsie Railroad / Tweetsie Railroad
• Yippee-Yi Your Troubles Away (1993) / Sons Of The San Joaquin / Songs Of The Silver Screen / Warner Bros Western
• Old Cowboys (1984) / Everett Brisendine / The Cowboy Tour / Rounder
• Banks Of The Ponchatrain (1984) / Brownie Ford / The Cowboy Tour / Rounder
• Wild Bill Hiccup (1949) / Spike Jones / The Spike Jones Anthology / Rhino
• Your Clobbered Heart (1953) / Homer & Jethro / Volume 3 / B.A.C.M
• Guitar Boogie (1944) / Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith / The Golden Age of Arthur Smith / Cattle
• Foolish Questions (1948) / Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith / The Golden Age of Arthur Smith / Cattle
• Valley Of Peace (2010) / Taylors Grove / Keep On The Sunny Side / Fishtraks