Search - Bill Monroe :: 20th Century Masters

Every track a gem

xaosdog | Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA USA | 08/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're already a Bill Monroe afficianado, then chances are you aren't looking for collections like this one (unless you want to take advantage of the clear sound resulting from the remastering on this disc -- not a bad reason to acquire this disc even if you already have all the tracks on it from other collections), but rather hunting down obscure recordings and rare tracks wherever you can find them, so I'll gear my remarks here towards the Bill Monroe neophyte. This collection is an excellent starting point, since every track on it is a gem. Bill Monroe is universally acknowledged as the father of bluegrass (which proposition is an understatement; he is also its grandfather, midwife, crazy uncle, and country cousin) and this collection lays out the reason why -- so if you don't like these songs, bluegrass ain't fer you. The version of Mule Skinner Blues on this track, something of a signature song for ol' Bill, has some of his best yodeling (if you can't like that track then _music_ ain't fer you); Uncle Pen is a real foot-stomper; these versions of the old traditionals I'm Working on a Building and I'm Sitting on Top of the World belong in every folk collection; and you won't find a better version of My Sweet Blue Eyed Darlin' anywhere else either."

Bill Monroe - High (Lonesome) Art

Sam Costello | Chicago, Illinois | 06/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listen to Mr. Monroe attack the vocal as the band comes out of the first instrumental break on "Footprints In The Snow" - the clarity, the energy, the staggering mastery and the resulting sense of joyous freedom, and you'll wonder for a brief second how anyone else would dare call themselves a singer of songs. This collection is where the old wierd America (to paraphrase Greil Marcus) meets the last exhalations of the Jazz Age. A rare synthesis of post WWII bouancy and hard scrabble life in green, remote hills. Amazing."

Classics

A. Pickell | Craptown , USA | 04/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These are classic songs. This is a great album to help anyone appreciate musical history, and a great introduction to blugrass music. It's not as rich sounding as modern bluegrass recordings, but it has a nice feel to it. It has a similar feel/sound to '30s Bob Wills."