Track Listing

1. Road to Columbus
2. Brown County Breakdown
3. Lonesome Moonlight Waltz
4. Jerusalem Ridge
5. Monroe's Hornpipe
6. Cheyenne
7. Big Sandy River
8. Stoney Lonesome
9. Mississippi Waltz
10. Wheel Hoss
11. Fiddler's Pastime
12. Ashland Breakdown

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19331 in Music
• Released on: 1994-08-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Baker was a member, off and on, of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys ever since he first joined in 1957, and racked up more years with the "Father of Bluegrass" than any other musician. As such, Baker has had an immense influence on modern bluegrass fiddle styles, with his smooth, fluid phrasing and a hint of swing. In tribute to his mentor, Baker recorded an album of Monroe compositions in 1976 and was as surprised as anyone when the composer himself showed up as an unexpected guest and played mandolin on the whole session. This legendary, all-instrumental album lives up to its reputation as a landmark of modern bluegrass. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

Bill Monroe's Greatest Sideman . . .
. . .was hard-workin' hard-fiddlin' Kenny Baker. Baker understood what Monroe was about (at least musically), and during his various stints with the Bluegrass Boys, never failed to deliver the goods. This tribute, which features the boss himself, features many of Monroe's greatest instrumental compositions, including spirted renditions of "Road to Columbus", "Big Sandy River","Wheel Hoss", and my personal favorite "Brown County Breakdown", featuring a spectacular melodic-style solo by banjoist Bob Black (Black and Vic Jordan split the 5-string duties on this effort, and their understanding of fiddle tunes make both of their contributions special). And the lovely interplay between Baker and Monroe on "Lonesome Moonlight Waltz" carries an emotional force that drives to the core of the idiom.

This effort belongs in any serious bluegrass collection.

Classic. Essential.
One of the greatest fiddle albums of all time. A must buy.

This'll just about do it
If you have 1000 or 0 bluegrass albums in your music collection, this should be in it. The maestro without a shadow of a doubt. And here's a man, when times called for it, would go work in a coal mine. Bill Monroe intimidated a lot of folks in his day. But here's one he didn't. That might be why Kenny Baker was a Bluegrass Boy longer than any of them. Big Mon was supposed to play on a couple of tunes for this album. He ended up playing on the whole thing. He played back up too. This is Kenny Baker's record. It's timeless and great.