[We play the Monroe Brothers' song What Would the Profit Be. They first recorded it in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday 15 February 1937]
THE MONROE BROTHERS were Charlie Monroe (1903 – 1975) and Bill Monroe (1911 – 1996) from the town of Rosine, Kentucky. They were arguably the most important of all of the guitar/mandolin brother duet acts of the 20th century.
They were raised in the rural Baptist and Methodist churches (ref. Bluegrass p 28) and began playing semi professionally in 1929.
• Signed to RCA Victor records in 1936
• First recording 17 February 1936 (10 tracks, the first of which was My Long Journey Home)
• Recorded 60 tracks for Victor Bluebird records
• Last recording 28 January 1938 (10 tracks, the last of which was When Our Lord Shall Come Again)
• Hit single What Would You Give in Exchange For Your Soul? (Bluebird B-6309)
• Disbanded 1938
• Bill went on to form Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys in 1945, inventing the new musical style called bluegrass.
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REFERENCES:
“…Until the mid 1960s Monroe used only guitar and mandolin accompaniment on religious songs… all emphasis was placed on the total performance of the song in a reverent and ritualistic way; this is the hymn, it’s treated seriously…”
(ref. Bluegrass p 236-237)
“…music sprang from ancient Scots-Irish culture transplanted to the Appalachians, where it blossomed as a traditional folk art…”
(Ref. Can’t You Hear Me Callin p 4)
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DISCOGRAPHY:
Full Monroe Brothers discography available in Country Music Records, a Discography 1921 - 1942 by Tony Russell, p 632-633
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BUY:
• Monroe Brothers music on Amazon.co.uk
• Rounder Records Volume I "What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul?
• Rounder Records Volume II "Just a Song of Old Kentucky"
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WATCH:
Here are three YouTube clips of Bill Monroe: his intro sequence from the classic 1994 film High Lonesome / in his later years playing the tune My Last Days on Earth / a short history video about his life:
As the Mac Wiseman voiceover on the first clip says (at about 5.20) "...Across the South - Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, descendants of Scotch-Irish settlers played songs brought from across the sea. Old tunes like Soldier's Joy, Fair and Tender Ladies and Billy in the Low Ground rang through Appalachia as they had done for centuries in the British Isles..."
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VISIT:
• http://www.billmonroe.com
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