Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. My Long Journey Home
2. What Would You Give in Exchange
3. Mule Skinner Blues [#]
4. Cryin' Holy Unto My Lord
5. Back Up and Push
6. Goodbye Old Pal
7. Heavy Traffic Ahead
8. Wicked Path of Sin
9. It's Mighty Dark to Travel
10. Bluegrass Breakdown
11. Can't You Hear Me Callin'
12. My Little Georgia Rose
13. I'm on My Way to the Old Home
14. I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome
15. Uncle Pen
16. Lord Protect My Soul
17. Rawhide
18. Brakeman's Blues
19. Sugar Coated Love
20. Christmas Time's A-Coming
21. First Whippoorwill
22. In the Pines
23. Footprints in the Snow
24. Walking in Jerusalem

Disc 2:

1. Memories of Mother and Dad
2. Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake
3. Y'all Come
4. Sitting Alone in the Moonlight
5. On and On
6. White House Blues
7. Happy on My Way
8. Voice from on High
9. Close By
10. Put My Little Shoes Away
11. Wheel Hoss
12. Cheyenne
13. You'll Find Her Name Written There
14. Roanoke
15. Blue Moon of Kentucky
16. Girl in the Blue Velvet Band [#]
17. Used to Be
18. Good Woman's Love
19. Cry, Cry Darling
20. I'm Sitting on Top of the World
21. I'll Meet You in the Morning
22. Scotland
23. Molly and Tenbrooks
24. John Henry [#]

Disc 3:

1. Big Mon
2. Dark as the Night, Blue as the Day
3. Sold Down the River
4. Little Joe
5. Lonesome Road Blues
6. I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky
7. Toy Heart
8. Nine Pound Hammer
9. Big Sandy River
10. Darling Corey
11. Salt Creek
12. Sailor's Hornpipe
13. Roll on Buddy, Roll On
14. Bill's Dream
15. Never Again (Will I Knock on Your Door)
16. Dusty Miller
17. Midnight on the Stormy Deep
18. Soldier's Joy [#]
19. Blue Night
20. Sally Goodin
21. Kentucky Mandolin
22. Walls of Time
23. I Haven't Seen Mary in Years
24. Dead March
25. With Body and Soul
26. Walk Softly on My Heart
27. Going Up Caney

Disc 4:

1. Kentucky Waltz
2. Get Up John
3. Lonesome Moonlight Waltz
4. Rocky Road Blues
5. Jenny Lynn
6. My Old Kentucky and You
7. You Won't Be Satisfied That Way
8. Jerusalem Ridge
9. Ashland Breakdown
10. Come Hither to Go Yonder
11. My Last Days on Earth
12. My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darlin'
13. Travelin' This Lonesome Road
14. Old Brown County Barn
15. Stay Away from Me
16. Long Bow
17. Old Crossroads
18. Southern Flavor
19. Take Courage Un' Tomorrow
20. Pike County Breakdown
21. I'm Working on a Building
22. You're Drifting Away
23. Boston Boy [#]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41051 in Music
• Released on: 1994-07-19
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com essential recording
It's the rare artist who virtually invents a genre single-handedly, and there's no artist in any genre whose work has remained as dominant a force as Bill Monroe. The songs here not only define bluegrass, they remain the core of any bluegrass band's repertoire. Monroe added a dose of sophistication to traditional hillbilly music--intricate group harmonies, expert musicianship--and he rehearsed his Blue Grass Boys for hours on end. MCA's lavish 4 CD set covers 60 years and 98 songs, adding detailed notes and anecdotes. Beginning with 1936 duets with brother Charlie, the list of Blue Grass Boys reads like a roster of legends: Flatt and Scruggs, Chubby Wise, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements, Sonny Osborne, Bobby Hicks, Kenny Baker, Bill Keith, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, and Richard Greene; the list goes on and on, as does the legacy of Monroe's music. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

The cornerstone to any bluegrass music collection
Bill Monroe is truely the father of bluegrass music. Thiscollection spans his entire career, from his earliest recordings withhis brother Charlie, through his final session in 1994. Throughout his career, Monroe has produced some of the greatest legends in all of bluegrass. Del McCoury,Peter Rowan, Jimmy Martin, Flatt and Scruggs, Don Reno, Kenny Baker, Richard Greene, Vassar Clements and countless others made their debuts on Monroe records. All these artists appear on multiple tracks throughout the anthology. This anthology is a necessary addittion for any lover of American Music.

A must-have for ANY Bluegrass fan
We grew up calling him Uncle Bill. We listened to his music so much in our house that he felt like part of the family (even if he wasn't really). His songs, most of which are Bluegrass standards now, could make your hair stand on end or put you into a crying fit. This box set is a wonderful collection of those songs. Everything about this set is perfect. From the sound to the song selection. Even the packaging is classy. The music contained herein is delivered by true artists. Many a Bluegrass legend has "served time" in Mr. Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Kenny Baker, "Tater" Tate, Peter Rowen, Cubby Wise are all on this box set for your listening pleasure. And the great thing about it is that the extensive discography will tell you who's playing what and even when the track was recorded! I cannot think of a better collection of "Uncle" Bill's songs.

A Must for Collectors of American Music
This boxed set, while certainly not the complete recorded output of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, is an excellent sampling of Bill's music throughout his storied career. I would recommend this collection to anyone who is interested in the evolution of American music in particular "roots" music and early Rock n' Roll. While Monroe stayed within a simple chord progression format though the years, the textures of the music evolved with the changes of the band's personnel and his own experiences. Some of the instrumentals on disc one and two are examples of bluegrass "breakdowns" that are played at a breakneck pace. The instrumentals on disc three and four, while still played quickly, are more subtle and have a modal "old timey" quality to them, as if Monroe was returning to the sounds he heard as a child.
The vocal songs also show the changes that Monroe went through as a songwriter and song interpreter. The listener can compare "I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome" on disc one with a powerful yet understated quality, to "Blue Night" on disc three sung with a raw nerve exposed. On "Blue Night" with his voice against the urgent fiddle of Richard Greene played with a siren-like quality, the listener can take away the notion that as Monroe got older, the more he was willing to take a chance and challenge the listener as well. Background music this is not!
Credit is due to [the record company] for issuing this material and investing in the liner notes and photographs on such a non-mainstream project. The accompanying booklet is worth almost as much as the recorded material.
Just as Louis Armstrong is an important figure in American music and popular culture, Bill Monroe's music is equally as important as a synthesis of what he heard around him; Blues, Swing, Jazz, Gospel, Celtic and later even Rock n' Roll. Without Bill Monroe we may never have had the Everly Brothers, Elvis, or Buddy Holly. (Listen to Monroe's mandolin and compare it to Chuck Berry's guitar. Coincidence? I doubt it!) If you are reading this and don't own it, buy it now. You'll thank me later.