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Scruggs played the banjo with a distinctive three-finger picking style that immediately caused a sensation among Opry audiences. Flatt played a solid rhythm guitar style that would help to set the course for bluegrass timing. Key developments occurred in Monroe's music with the addition of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs to the Blue Grass Boys in December 1945. "Original Bluegrass Band" and Monroe's heyday as a star Monroe's pre-1946 recordings represent a transitional style between the string-band tradition from which he came and the musical innovation to follow. Akeman played the instrument in a relatively primitive style and was rarely featured in instrumental solos. Most importantly, Monroe added banjo player David "Stringbean" Akeman to the Blue Grass Boys in 1942. A 1945 session for Columbia Records featured an accordion, soon dropped from the band. He seldom sang lead vocals on his Victor recordings, often preferring to contribute high tenor harmonies as he had in the Monroe Brothers.
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While the fast tempos and instrumental virtuosity characteristic of bluegrass music are apparent even on these early tracks, Monroe was still experimenting with the sound of his group. Monroe recorded that song, along with seven others, at his first solo recording session for RCA Victor in 1940 by this time, the Blue Grass Boys consisted of singer/guitarist Clyde Moody, fiddler Tommy Magness, and bassist Bill Wesbrooks. Hay with his energetic performance of Jimmie Rodgers's " Mule Skinner Blues". In October 1939, Monroe successfully auditioned for a regular spot on the Grand Ole Opry, impressing Opry founder George D. Bill had wanted William Hardin to become one of the original members of his Blue Grass Boys, however he had to decline. Monroe then left Little Rock for Atlanta, Georgia, to form the first edition of the Blue Grass Boys, with singer/guitarist Cleo Davis, fiddler Art Wooten, and bassist Amos Garren. Īfter the Monroe Brothers disbanded in 1938, Bill Monroe formed The Kentuckians in Little Rock, Arkansas, but the group only lasted for three months. They scored an immediate hit single with the gospel song "What Would You Give in Exchange For Your Soul?" and ultimately recorded 60 tracks for Victor's Bluebird label between 19. RCA Victor signed the Monroe Brothers to a recording contract in 1936. Together with a friend Larry Moore, they formed the "Monroe Brothers", to play at local dances and house parties.īirch and Moore soon left the group, and Bill and Charlie carried on as a duo, eventually winning spots performing live on radio stations, first in Indiana and then, sponsored by Texas Crystals, on several radio broadcasts in Shenandoah, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina and North Carolina from 1934 to 1936. In 1929, Monroe moved to Indiana to work at an oil refinery with his brothers Birch and Charlie, and childhood friend and guitarist William "Old Hickory" Hardin. Vandiver has been credited with giving Monroe "a repertoire of tunes that sank into Bill's aurally trained memory and a sense of rhythm that seeped into his bones." Also significant in Monroe's musical life was Arnold Shultz, an influential fiddler and guitarist who introduced Monroe to the blues. On that album, Monroe recorded a number of traditional fiddle tunes he had often heard performed by Vandiver. This experience inspired one of Monroe's most famous compositions, "Uncle Pen", recorded in 1950, and the 1972 album Bill Monroe's Uncle Pen.
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By and by his brothers and sisters moved away, leaving Monroe to bounce between uncles and aunts until finally settling in with his disabled uncle Pendleton Vandiver, whom he often accompanied when Vandiver played the fiddle at dances. Monroe's mother died when he was ten, and his father died six years later. He recalled that his brothers insisted that he remove four of the mandolin's eight strings so he would not play too loudly. Because his older brothers Birch and Charlie already played the fiddle and guitar, Bill was resigned to playing the less desirable mandolin.
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Bill was of Scottish and English heritage. His mother and her brother, Pendleton "Pen" Vandiver, were both musically talented, and Monroe and his family grew up playing and singing at home. Monroe was born on his family's farm near Rosine, Kentucky, United States, the youngest of eight children of James Buchanan "Buck" and Malissa (Vandiver) Monroe.