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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has roots in Irish, West African, Scottish, Welsh and English traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of immigrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland (particularly the Scots-Irish immigrants in Appalachia), and African-Americans, particularly through genres such as jazz and blues. In bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; this is especially typified in songs called breakdowns. This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Traditional bluegrass is typically based around a small set of acoustic stringed instruments including mandolin, acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, resonator guitar and upright bass, with or without vocals. Bluegrass music has attracted a diverse and extremely loyal following world-wide. Many enthusiasts often describe their introduction to the genre as akin to having "caught the bug." ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The music of the American rock band Phish is "orientedaround group improvisation and superextended grooves" thatdraw on a range of rock-oriented influences, includingpsychedelic rock, funk, reggae, hard rock and various"acoustic" genres, such as folk and bluegrass. Some Phishsongs use different vocal approaches, such as a cappella(unaccompanied) sections of barbershop quartet-style vocalharmonies. Some of their original compositions (such as"Theme from the Bottom") tend towards a psychedelic rock andbluegrass fusion, with more rock, jazz and funk elementsthan the Grateful Dead and other earlier jam bands like PinkFloyd. Their more ambitious, epic compositions (such as"Reba" and "Guyute") are often said to resemble classicalmusic in a rock setting, much like the music of one of theirheroes, Frank Zappa. ... Read more

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A unique, comprehensive book to be treasured by train and music lovers alike. Contains an exhaustive collection of songs about railroads, railroading, and railroaders, and rare, vintage photographs of great trains from the last 135 years. Arranged for keyboard with lyrics and guitar chords. ... Read more

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Chapters: Bluegrass Music, Zydeco, Alan Lomax, Harry Everett Smith, Old-Time Music, Spiritual, Jesse James in Music, Camp Meeting, Eck Robertson, Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, Jean Thomas, Golden Slippers, Dark Holler: Old Love Songs and Ballads, Lee Hoffman, Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, New Weird America, High Atmosphere, Mormon Folk Music, June Appal Recordings, Gandy Dancer, Red Clay Ramblers, Napalm Sticks to Kids, the Freight Hoppers, Back Roads to Cold Mountain, String Band, James Madison Carpenter, Not for Kids Only, Moe Asch, Queen City Balladeers, Izzy Young, American Primitivism, the Folk Project, Jamie Barnes, North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance, Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier, Bob Holt, Boil Them Cabbage Down, Dese Bones G'wine Rise Again, Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, Root Hog or Die, Philosophical Cowboy. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 194. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Alan Lomax (January 31, 1915 July 19, 2002) was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain. Lomax was the son of pioneering folklorist and author John A. Lomax, with whom he started his career by recording songs sung by sharecroppers and prisoners in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Because of frail health he was mostly home schooled, but attended The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) for a year, graduating in 1930 at age 15. He enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin in 1930 and the following year studied philosophy at Harvard but upon his mother's death interrupted his education to console his father and join him on his folk song collecting field trips. He subsequently earned a degree in philosophy...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=173225 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Business North Carolina, published by Business North Carolina on June 1, 1998. The length of the article is 3307 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Americana pie: Barry Poss has his platter full in Durham, spinning out some of the best bluegrass and folk music on his Sugar Hill label. (Sugar Hill Records Inc. owner)
Author: Eddie Huffman
Publication: Business North Carolina (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1998
Publisher: Business North Carolina
Volume: v18Issue: n6Page: p38(8)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Among the first and finest studies of African-American folk music, this book focuses primarily on the origins and musical qualities of typical genres ranging from simple cries and calls to anthems and spirituals, ballads and the blues. Traditional dances and musical instruments are examined as well. Authentic versions of 43 songs are presented, along with a valuable bibliography and discography.
... Read more

Product Description
"Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass" is an introductory primer directed at the newcomer to bluegrass that also provides a novel perspective for those already captivated by the music. It covers the history of the genre's development in a relaxed style, from its predecessors to its innovators. Touching on important personalities, past and present, the book gives a nod to young artists on the horizon, as well as those from the international scene. Other topics include instrumentation, songs, the festival experience, and "parking lot picking." Candid interviews with such legends as Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are included, as is an extensive resource guide to print, audio-visual, and Internet materials. The book is enriched by twenty-five photographs taken by the author, and features a foreword by superstar Ricky Skaggs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Failed to capture the spirit of bluegrass
The book is poorly organized and in general hard to read. More than a journey into the discovery of Bluegrass it is the journal of a Bluegrass insider who can easily list the who's who rather than explain what's what. If you passion is music, this is not your book.
The historical part is interesting, but fails to captivate the audience.Similar recanting of the early days on the Web are free and a lot more captivating.Naturally, as the books become more and more dated, a lot of the references provided become outdated and so, it does not even serve as a reference book.
I hope not to offend the author, but I would recommend you save you money and perhaps check if your local library can get you a copy.

A good bluegrass education primer
This book serves as a good primer for anyone who has been bitten by the O Brother bug and wants to immerse him/herself more deeply into bluegrass music. While Barry Willis' America's Music: Bluegrass has served extremely well as the "Bible" of bluegrass information, its latest edition is dated 1997, and so much has happened with the music genre since then, especially since 2000.

Unless one has access to another bluegrass fan, it can be difficult to learn of other artists, dedicated websites and publications, and specialized musical instrument instruction sources. Ms. Ledgin takes the attitude of "Okay, I've seen the movie, bought the soundtrack, I love it, now what?" to make it relatively easy for a recent bluegrass fan to further his/her education.

The chapters are pretty much set up as expected. The first few discuss the history and background of bluegrass music, with emphasis on the pioneers. These are followed by chapters on prominent musicians and songwriters, the effect the music has on our culture, its international impact, and discussions on festivals, workshops, and the etiquette of parking-lot jamming. Most of these chapters contain a concluding interview with a notable bluegrass performer discussing relevant matters. Interviewees include Ralph Stanley, Janette Carter, Jim Lauderdale, Earl Scruggs, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The chapter on prominent musicians is concise but extremely useful. Here each instrument that plays a role in the traditional bluegrass band is discussed, with the three or four most popular players briefly examined, followed by a listing of other influential instrumentalists.

The appendices prove to be quite valuable for research on bluegrass. The first, entitled "Twenty-Five Recordings to Jump-Start Your Collection," may stir up some debate among aficionados, but surely stands as a good starting point. Most of the choices lean more towards traditional performers (the list does not include any albums from Nickel Creek, a band that has had a large impact on younger audiences), but does include some newer traditionalists such as King Wilkie. Also in this section is listing of useful and popular videos that cover different aspects of bluegrass music.

The other useful appendix deals with all of the useful resources to learn more about the music genre that this book has only touched upon. This includes reference books, museums, publications, broadcasts (including Internet and satellite broadcasts), record labels, schools, and record and musical instrument retail outlets. Since this book is only a few months old, the mailing and web addresses are pretty much current.

The text is pretty straightforward and easy to read, and generally gives only brief accounts of various subjects, allowing the reader to pursue further reading in other resources. A brief foreword by Ricky Skaggs serves as a nice touch to an overall enjoyable read for the bluegrass novice. While the price may be a bit steep for the individual, this book may prove to be a welcome edition to any organization or library wishing to provide a fantastic primer on bluegrass to its membership or patrons. (Matt Merta, The Bluegrass Journal)

An open-minded and objective assessment of bluegrass music
All of us were bluegrass music neophytes at some time in our past. Perhaps a few of us were born into bluegrass, but most of us crossed paths with the genre somewhere along life's road. For journalist and photographer Stephanie Ledgin, it was July, 1975 when the young college graduate went to work as assistant editor of Pickin' magazine. She probably didn't know the difference between the Clinch Mountain Boys and the Clinch Mountain Clan. Or the Blue Grass Boys and Blue Sky Boys. But Ledgin did know that the music grabbed and moved her, and she then spent a couple years in Nashville. Besides Pickin', her work has also appeared in such publications as Bluegrass Unlimited, Acoustic Guitar, Sing Out!, and Bluegrass Now. Now, with nearly three decades of journalism experience under her belt, she has the background, facts and insight to educate today's bluegrass "newbie." Her timing is good as the late-2000 release of the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" has created a resurgence of interest in the genre. She mentions the movie frequently throughout the book.

Ledgin gives us an open-minded and objective assessment of bluegrass music, a fabric of our lives which is embedded in popular culture more than we consciously realize. At the same time, she concedes that it's still a "nonmainstream music." Her approach is sharedin an enthusiastic personal manner. She wants us to know where to listen to bluegrass, what some recommended albums are, and how to learn to play the music. After defining bluegrass and delving into its origins, the author describes how it has evolved over the years. She explains that the family tree of bluegrass is more like a "forest of tangled roots and branches." Her paragraph descriptions of many bands and artists are good information, but, to a certain extent, they aren't presented chronologically which makes the logical historical threads a bit hard to follow. Ledgin then explores the various instruments of bluegrass.

The repertoire of bluegrass is given a cursory discussion of its themes related to love, death, faith and family. Then, some background info about a few key songwriters is presented. Throughout the book, she also includes short interviews with various individuals associated with bluegrass (Ralph Stanley, Janette Carter, Earl Scruggs, Jim Lauderdale, Sierra Hull, John McEuen, Jeff Hanna, Pete Goble and others). The international bluegrass scene, concerts, festivals, jam sessions, workshops and bluegrass in the schools are discussed. Her "completely subjective" list of 25 recordings to jump-start your collection (along with a few videos) barely scratches the surface of the bluegrass cannon, but it offers solid selections. She also includes concise contact info (including Internet website addresses) for magazines, syndicated radio shows, record labels, instruction material, and key organizations. I wish she would've noted the on-line listservs Bgrass-l and the Nwbluegrass Yahoogroup. The 25 photos were all taken by Ledgin, and all but one have not been published previously. They span a period from 1982-2003.

In an interview transcribed in the book, Ralph Stanley states about the importance of bluegrass in America music, "It's more down-to-earth. It tells a story; a lot of the songs do. It just fits all classes of people...Well, this type of music has not only reached the old people and the mountain people, it's gone out now and proved itself to the world." That, in the words of one of bluegrass music's patriarchs, may simply be the best reason for the newcomer and established fan (whether a musician or not) to pick up a copy of this book and discover bluegrass. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
... Read more

Product Description
Learn the essential patterns that all great guitarists know and use! This book/CD pack will have you playing lead and rhythm anywhere on the fretboard, in any key. YouÕll learn chord-based licks, moveable major and blues scales, major pentatonic "sliding scales," first-position major scales, and moveable-position major scales. The book includes easy-to-follow diagrams and instructions for beginning, intermediate and advanced players. The CD includes 41 demonstration tracks to help you perfect your new skills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great ITem
One of the best for learning that I've seen. I've purchased many books and this is one I can really learn from. ... Read more

Product Description
The Central Blue Ridge, taking in the mountainous regions of northwestern North Carolina and southwestern Virginia, is well known for its musical traditions. Long recognized as one of the richest repositories of folksong in the United States, the Central Blue Ridge has also been a prolific source of commercial recording, starting in 1923 with Henry Whitter’s “hillbilly” music and continuing into the 21st century with such chart-topping acts as James King, Ronnie Bowman and Doc Watson. Unrivaled in tradition, unequaled in acclaim and unprecedented in influence, the Central Blue Ridge can claim to have contributed to the musical landscape of Americana as much as or more than any other region in the United States. This reference work—part of McFarland’s continuing series of Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies—provides complete biographical and discographical information on more than 75 traditional recording (major commercial label) artists who are natives of or lived mostly in the northwestern North Carolina counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Surry, Watauga and Wilkes, and the southwestern Virginia counties of Carroll and Grayson. Primary recordings as well as appearances on anthologies are included in the discographies. A chronological overview of the music is provided in the Introduction, and the Foreword is by the celebrated musician Bobby Patterson, founder of the Mountain and Heritage record labels. ... Read more

Product Description
In "The Bluegrass Reader", Thomas Goldsmith joins his insights as a journalist with a lifetime of experience in bluegrass to capture the full story of this beloved American music. Inspired by the question "What articles about bluegrass would you want to have with you on a desert island?" he assembled a delicious, fun-to-read collection that brings together a wide range of the very best in bluegrass writing. Goldsmith's substantial introduction describes and traces the development of the music from its origins in Anglo-American folk tradition, overlaid with African American influences, to the breakout popularity of Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, and the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. He introduces each selection offering a wealth of additional information, making "The Bluegrass Reader" both enjoyable and invaluable for new fans of the music as well as for its lifetime devotees. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Purty entertainin', even without no pictures
A few years ago, a certain tenacious fan (yours truly), trying to get an interview with Mitch Jayne of The Dillards, managed to irritate him to the point that he stormed, "Bluegrass people are not readers!"This comprehensive anthology, compiled from a surprising variety of sources by journalist Thomas Goldsmith (the International Bluegrass Music Association's 2004 Print Media Personality of the Year), would seem to prove otherwise. Collecting "particularly strong, influential, and representative writing about bluegrass" from books, magazines and liner notes, "The Bluegrass Reader," like Neil V. Rosenberg's definitive "Bluegrass - A History," is a book with limitless appeal for the growing legion of hard-core bluegrass aficionados who revel in dissecting and debating every facet of the music, no matter how trivial. (For those eggheads, the totally frivolous article "Is There a Link between Bluegrass Musicianship and Sexuality?" is recommended.) There is scholarly fodder aplenty, but the book is more fun when it captures bluegrass stars behaving badly. For instance, in "So You Don't Like the Way We Do It (or Damn Your Tape Recorder)" from a 1967 issue of "Bluegrass Unlimited," John Duffey of the Country Gentlemen seems to have a bug up his bum as he burns more bridges than Sherman defending his playing style. Then there's the guilty pleasure of Jimmy Martin's wildly profane attack on Ricky Skaggs at the Grand Ole Opry in a controversial piece originally from "The Oxford American" (and later expanded into a skimpy book) by Tom Piazza. And in "Rolling Stone," bluegrass darling Alison Krauss indelicately declares she "just about crapped myself" after hearing a really good Merle Haggard tune. Browsers of "The Bluegrass Reader" will be rewarded by a treasure trove of facts and opinionated insights, some of which may sting. David Gates, for example, profiling Ralph Stanley in "The New Yorker," observes, "Good bluegrass...is sweet and sad, wild and sexy. Mediocre bluegrass...is among the most wearisome music on the planet." Ouch! ... Read more

Product Description
Both amateurs and professionals can use this work as their best source of authentic early American music. Features words to more than 100 of the greatest Folk & Bluegrass songs of all time, all presented in alphabetical order from "All The Good Times Are Past And Gone" through "Your Engine's Cold Today." Comb binding allows book to be laid flat at any page, such as on a tabletop, while over-sized print allows reading from a distance - easy to read as you sing & play! (All songs are printed so you don't have to turn the page!)Designed especially for people who already know the melodies, but don't know all the words, or who want a handy reference. Cross-referenced for songs with more than one name, i.e., "Birmingham Jail/Down In The Valley," or "The Prisoner's Song/If I Had The Wings Of An Angel," or "Maiden's Lament, No One's Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone."Also featured is inside information on the Grand Ole Opry, Hee-Haw, Country Music Stars, Bluegrass Festivals & Folk Music Jamborees, along with historic photos and background information. Author Nita Quinn Miller has been named World Champion Folk Singer, and her husband, co-author J. R. Miller, wrote the hit television show HEE-HAW. Both have been "insiders" on the country music scene for years. 127 pages, comb-bound, heavy duty 20-lb pages for years of heavy use, fully illustrated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

That's right, just the words.
No music here. I returned this item as it was very poor value for the money and just about all the info is freely available on the internet.
Basically, this volume is pretty much a desktop publishing product: plastic binding, faded print, disappointing font/typeface selection, uninspiring graphics. At, maybe, 7 or 8 bucks this wouldn't be too much of a slap in the face, but at almost $20 one expects more depth.
True, there is a dearth of decent bluegrass songbooks, so I guess there's not much of a market for these old-time songs. Most punters want something more fashionable, with contemporary lyrics. Me, I don't care a rat's ass for fashion; I wish someone would produce a real bluegrass songbook . . . and this ain't it. ... Read more

Product Description
Gone to the Country chronicles the life and music of the New Lost City Ramblers, a trio of city-bred musicians who helped pioneer the resurgence of southern roots music during the folk revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Formed in 1958 by Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley, the Ramblers introduced the regional styles of southern ballads, blues, string bands, and bluegrass to northerners yearning for a sound and an experience not found in mainstream music. Ray Allen interweaves biography, history, and music criticism to follow the band from its New York roots to its involvement with the commercial folk music boom. Allen details members' struggle to establish themselves amid critical debates about traditionalism brought on by their brand of folk revivalism. He explores how the trio served as a link between southern folk music and northern urban audiences who had little previous exposure to rural roots styles. His research draws on extensive interviews and personal correspondence with band members and analysis of the Ramblers' rich trove of recordings. Ray Allen is a professor of music and American studies at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.His co-edited collections include Ruth Crawford Seeger's Worlds: Innovation and Tradition in Twentieth-Century American Music. ... Read more

Product Description
This huge book is a history of bluegrass music in the words of its pioneers.Hundreds of interviews are accented with 400 plus photos and 26 chapters, which cover every aspect of bluegrass music.Chapters include: Biographies, Business, Women in Bluegrass, the Festivals, Instruments, Record Companies, International Music and even The Future of Bluegrass. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

true grass
I bought the book for my father Bill, who is a die-hard bluegrass fan and musician in Cortland, OH (northeast) that I would say lives and breathes the music.We were both impressed with the book, even after I read the reviews.THe best way I can describe it is an encyclopedia on all that is bluegrass.It provides not only a history but an understanding of the roots of the music.Bluegrass is American folk and we should be proud of it as being part of our history - stories passed on for generations, still today.
-Jake-

The Story Of The Music From The Musicians' Perspective..
Over the past 30 years, Bluegrass music has gained the scholarly recognition previously attained by Classical music, and more recently by Jazz, to the point of where there are now quite a number of serious books written on the subject, albeit mostly from a musicologist's interpretation. Fortunately, these scholars also happen to be ardent fans of the music, and for the most part we are spared the dryness of the strictly analytical presentation of the subject. "America's Music-Bluegrass" goes beyond any of the previously published books on the music, in that Barry Willis lets the MUSICIANS do all the talking, so what we get here, is a 'first person' account of the history--as it happened, by the actual participants as well as the eyewitnesses to the historical events. This feature alone, sets this book apart from the others...absolutely nothing redundant nor plagiarized here. The result is a refreshing comparison of opinions and 'gossip,' describing the same event(s) from different vantage points. Even the music's biggest recording stars and personalities freely speak their mind, and are quoted verbatim.
Within the 631 pages and 25 chapters, Willis covers everything from the Roots of Bluegrass; all the way to the much-speculated 'Future of Bluegrass'...with delightful side trips covering each of the Bluegrass instruments and their most influential exponents.Loaded with rare, candid and many never-before-seen photos, this book is a MUST for any Bluegrass fan, musician and/or record collector.
This is indeed a well-written book.

The who's who and the who was of Bluegrass Music industry
A very good history of the Bluegrass Music industry.I use this book often.It includes many bands, artist, song writers, sidemen and women plus other bluegrass industry people.

MaryBluegrass World ... Read more

Product Description
Beginning with the musical cultures of the American South in the 1920s and 1930s, "Bluegrass: A History" traces the genre through its pivotal developments during the era of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in the forties. It describes early bluegrass' role in postwar country music, its trials following the appearance of rock and roll, its embracing by the folk music revival, and the invention of bluegrass festivals in the mid-sixties. Neil V. Rosenberg details the transformation of this genre into a self-sustaining musical industry in the seventies and eighties is detailed and, in a supplementary preface written especially for this new edition, he surveys developments in the bluegrass world during the last twenty years. Featuring an amazingly extensive bibliography, discography, notes, and index, this book is one of the most complete and thoroughly researched books on bluegrass ever written. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

What do you want to learn about early bluegrass?
If you want to learn about the history of bluegrass all the way from Bill Monroe to Cherryholmes and Cadillac Sky, then Rosenberg is NOT the book for you. Although this "revised" edition was published in 2005, it is essentially the same book originally published in 1985, and even that narrative pretty well stopped in the mid-1970s.

That said, this is a terrific history of the formative decades of bluegrass. Rosenberg's chronology is almost dizzying in its detail - so many musicians, record executives, festival promoters, radio station owners, magazine publishers, etc. to track in your mind as you read along. I am a former broadcaster and it was especially fun to remember what the "ecosystem" of the radio and music industries was like in the 50s and 60s.

Rosenberg is at his best when analyzing the individual and cultural forces that led to the big breakthroughs for this musical form, and he exhibits a good understanding of the tensions between urban and rural fans and between young innovators and older traditionalists. The only place I think he went off track was in some overly academic analyses of bluegrass in film and television. Thanks, but I don't need to have The Beverly Hillbillies deconstructed.

Overall, though, I learned a lot and gained a deeper appreciation for a musical form that I have enjoyed for many years. Well worth reading.

Bluegrass History
A lot has been written about the history of bluegrass music, much of it hearsay and mythological in nature, but this is probably the most authentic book written on the history of bluegrass music and its development.

Bluegrass (and baseball) History
Rosenberg draws from his experiences working with Bill Monroe and other bluegrass musicians in this compelling and intriguing history of bluegrass music.The early chapters sketch out an interesting history of folk music genres that laid the foundation for bluegrass.Rosenberg then provides special attention to Monroe's role in helping to create a new sound.I especially appreciated the metaphor between playing bluegrass music and playing baseball.Rosenberg explores the symbolic and literal connections throughout the book to provide a great way to understand how the music (and game) is played.

The story and glory of bluegrass - straight from the heart
Bluegrass music's greatest practitioners have always been plain-as-burlap folks who wouldn't give a hoot about dissecting and intellectualizing the music that pops out of them as naturally as sweat. As an appreciator of real deals, I wouldn't have it any other way. However, I'm glad that folklorist/musical historian Neil V. Rosenberg has been around for several decades now, poking his scholarly nose into the fascinating haystack that is bluegrass and putting the needles into cultural perspective. This sweeping and heartfelt book, Rosenberg's crowning achievement as the planet's foremost bluegrass oracle, will stand as the last word on the subject for a long, long spell.

Unlike rock 'n' roll, whose Big Bang genesis one fateful day in Memphis reverberated like a sonic boom, bluegrass had more fitful beginnings. The music's raw ingredients had been fermenting in Appalachia for untold years in the form of homemade "hillbilly" music before a shy Kentuckian named Bill Monroe began distilling them in the 1930s into a distinctive musical form. Monroe deliberately crafted the sound and personality of bluegrass and, much more round-aboutly, gave it its name. As the central figure in bluegrass, Monroe's patriarchal spirit looms magnificently large over Rosenberg's history, which, after all, is ultimately Monroe's story.

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, arguably the next most important innovators in bluegrass, also figure prominently. In the 1940s, the two had been underpaid sidemen in Monroe's Blue Grass Boys band before abruptly striking out on their own in 1948 and becoming Monroe's main competition. Heavy turnover was a fact of life with the Blue Grass Boys, but the mercurial Monroe was outraged by the pair's defection and didn't speak to them for over twenty years. Transformed in the Sixties by television ("The Beverly Hillbillies") and movie ("Bonnie and Clyde") exposure into world-wide icons, Flatt & Scruggs achieved fame and commercial viability the likes of which bluegrass - including its inventor - had never known. Rosenberg's delineation of the famous Monroe/Flatt & Scruggs "feud" is one of the best things in the book.

Rosenberg's writing style can be stiff and he tends to exaggerate the significance of certain events, such as the use of a bluegrass soundtrack on an obscure experimental art film called "Football As It Is Played Today." Also, his laborious investigation into how the term "bluegrass" came to be applied specifically to the music is a bit of a yawn. The book is thorough almost to a fault, but it's petty to criticize Rosenberg's leave-no-stone-unturned work ethic. He has written the definitive bluegrass bible and clearly done it from the heart. If you appreciate true country music, of which bluegrass is the truest, this book will both delight and enlighten you, as it did me.

447 pages (including index), extensive notes, bibliography and discography, 40 pages of photos.

Excellent History of Bluegrass
If you're interested in the history of bluegrass music, I would recommend that you begin with this book.Rosenberg is an engaging writer and a fine historian.He also performed with Bill Monroe and has continued to maintain a strong presence in bluegrass music.The work rightly focuses on Monroe's early contributions to bluegrass music, and Rosenberg demonstrates how the musical structure and context is linked to major social issues and cultural expressions in American life.The connections that Rosenberg makes between bluegrass and baseball are fascinating and right on the money. ... Read more

Product Description
Jean Ritchie is the best known and most respected singer of traditional ballads in the United States. The youngest daughter of one of the most famous American ballad-singing families, the Ritchie family of Perry County, Kentucky, Jean still carries on her family’s legacy as a singer of folk songs and traditional ballads. It has been nearly thirty years since she originally published Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians, and the music found here tells the story ofthe “Singing Ritchie Family” at a time when railroads, coal mines, and hillbilly radio were making their first incursions into the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

Built upon a foundation of balladry inherited from old-world Scotland, the family’s repertoire was certainly eclectic but not haphazard. The Child ballads, lyric folksongs, play party or frolic songs, Old Regular Baptist lined hymns, Native American ballads, “hant” songs, and carols brought together in this collection were assembled by family members who actively sought out fragments of tunes and completed them by adding or embellishing verses and melodies.

This new edition has faithfully retained all seventy-seven line scores of the songs and added four new ones, Loving Hannah, Lovin’ Henry, Her Mantle So Green, and The Reckless and Rambling Boy. The original headnotes and photographs tell the history of the song as well as how it became a part of the family’s life. Chords are indicated for accompaniment; however, music notation and the printed word can only present a reasonable facsimile of any actual song. Jean’s singing is simply the best guide to how the song should be sung, so a new audiography and videography have been added to this edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

No house arrangements in here!
I love this book because it preserves the rough edges that the music of everday people has.If JR learned the verse to a song that didn't rhyme, she didn't "fix" it.The melodies are often asymmetrical, the ballads often have odd twists to their stories, and the emotion is just pure.

If you're looking for a book of songs for the camp-fire, this may not be it.If you're looking for the real songs of Appalachia, look no further.

Uncommon
As an amateur singer of folksongs, country, and "oldies", I was looking for a book with familiar tunes and lyrics. Although I only recognized a few of Ms. Ritchie's songs, I found the histories of each songvery interesting. I took a chance and purchased the book, not sure of whatI was getting. What I got was a nice read about the history of song, and anew interest in a person who obviously has a passion! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Intersection of Commerce, Culture and Race
Fascinating discussion of the origins of the recording industry in America, its effect on what is considered "folk" music, and how "white" and "black" categories of music were emphasized for marketing purposes.

The chapters in this book are separate and distinct, so you can skip the parts that are of less interest--I read about 80% of it. Some of the highlights:

* the early record industry in the USA focused on selling highbrow records, but eventually expanded to more popular fare that instantly sold well--a decision in part based on their commercial experience in other countries;

* early "black" music was recorded by white artists; once black artists were allowed to record their own work, white artists who recorded "black" music had to shift their style;

* record companies emphasized black/white dichotomies in their categorization of the market--black artists such as Leadbelly were only allowed to record music that could safety be categorized as "black" Leadbelly's favorite song was by Gene Autry, a country-western singer;

* Record companies shifted white southern artists into safety "hillbilly" categories, and weren't interested in hearing their renditions of pop or show tunes, thus distorting a real sense of the music they really played.

Underlying all this is the question of what "folk" music is, and the impact of academic experts on the burgeoning study of folk music, and their interaction with and effect on the recording industry (e.g. how musical styles such as the blues shifted from being "pop" to "folk" music).

STARK BILGE
A gussied-up version of a PHD thesis by an associate professor of music and applied tedium in Austin, Texas. So offended am I by it and the selective use of quotes to support pre-determined views, that I have obtained his report card for this work, which I now reproduce in the public interest. Marks out of ten are shown for each category;

Originality of Thought2
Grasp of Subject5
Armchair Research10
Field Research0
Use of Very Long Footnotes 10
Waffle & Subsequent Boredom Factor8
Overall Pomposity10
Soundness of Conclusions Drawn5
Length of Bibliography 10
Curious Absences in Bibliography 10
Quality of Indexing10

Remarks by his tutor; "Talks too much in class. Essentially harmless as long as he is ignored"

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