The Independent - London, September 13th, 1996
Though he was known as "the father of bluegrass music", Bill Monroe, who died on Monday only days before his 85th birthday, did not invent the genre. But like the moment when Louis Armstrong let rip on "West End Blues" and "invented" the jazz solo, or when Charlie Christian plugged in his guitar and started playing like a horn, Monroe's 1936 Bluebird recordings marked a cusp, a qualitative change when so many strands, from the high lonesome sound of solo singers like Roscoe Holcomb, Clarence Ashley and Buell Kazee to the jazzy, offbeat strum of Monroe's own mandolin chording, came together to ...
HighBeam Research, Free Preview: 'Obituary: Bill Monroe'... Full Membership required for unlimited access. Free 7-day trial.
Subscribers: HighBeam content is only available to HighBeam subscribers. Click the link above for more information.
