Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Hop Light Ladies - Ernest V. Stoneman & His Dixie Mountaineers
2. Ain't Nobody's Business - Earl Johnson's Clodhoppers
3. Carve That Possum - Uncle Dave Macon
4. Unlucky Road to Washington - Ernest V. Stoneman & His Dixie Mountaineers
5. Hold the Woodpile Down - Uncle Dave Macon
6. Go Long Mule - Uncle Dave Macon
7. I Get My Whiskey from Rockingham - Earl Johnson's Clodhoppers
8. Red Hot Breakdown - Earl Johnson's Clodhoppers
9. Careless Love - Ernest V. Stoneman & His Dixie Mountaineers
10. Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line - Uncle Dave Macon
11. Sally Goodin - Ernest V. Stoneman & His Dixie Mountaineers
12. Susie Lee - Uncle Dave Macon
13. Western Kentucky Limited
14. Hard to Love
15. Shady Grove - The Prairie Ramblers
16. Hawkins' Rag - Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers
17. When the Train Comes Along - Uncle Dave Macon
18. Tanner's Boarding House - Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers
19. On Tanner's Farm - Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers,
20. Are You from Dixie - The Blue Sky Boys
21. East Texas Drag - The East Texas Serenaders
22. If the River Was Whiskey - Charlie Poole & the North Carolina Ramblers
23. Jackson Stomp - Mississippi Mud Steppers
24. I'll Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms - Buster Carter, Preston Young

Disc 2:

1. New River Train - The Monroe Brothers
2. On the Banks of the Ohio - The Monroe Brothers
3. Rosa Lee McFall - Charlie Monroe
4. Just a Song of Old Kentucky - The Monroe Brothers
5. Don't Forget Me - The Monroe Brothers
6. I'm Thinking Tonight of the Old Folks - The Monroe Brothers
7. Weepin' Willow Tree - The Monroe Brothers
8. No Home No Place to Pillow My Head - Charlie Monroe
9. Great Speckled Bird - Charlie Monroe
10. Bringin' in the Georgia Mail - Charlie Monroe
11. Once I Had a Darling Mother - Charlie Monroe
12. Mother's Not Dead She's Only Sleeping - Charlie Monroe
13. Mule Skinner Blues - Bill Monroe
14. No Letter in the Mail - Bill Monroe
15. Six White Horses - Bill Monroe
16. Dog House Blues - Bill Monroe
17. I Wonder If You Feel the Way I Do - Bill Monroe
18. Katy Hill - Bill Monroe
19. Tennessee Blues - Bill Monroe
20. Anniversary Blue Yodel [Blue Yodel No. 7] - Bill Monroe
21. Orange Blossom Special - Bill Monroe
22. Honky Tonk Swing - Bill Monroe
23. In the Pines - Bill Monroe
24. Back Up and Push - Bill Monroe
25. Rocky Road Blues - Bill Monroe
26. Footprints in the Snow - Bill Monroe

Disc 3:

1. Banjo Pickin' Girl - Coon Creek Girls
2. Little Burdie - Coon Creek Girls
3. It's Raining Here This Morning - Grandpa Jones & Ramona
4. Going Back to the Blue Ridge Mountains - The Delmore Brothers
5. I'm Lonesome Without You - The Delmore Brothers
6. Will the Circle Be Unbroken - Brown's Ferry Four
7. Rattlesnake Daddy - The Bailey Brothers
8. Happy Valley Special - The Bailey Brothers
9. Alabama - The Bailey Brothers
10. John Henry - The Bailey Brothers
11. I Will Never Marry - The Bailey Brothers
12. Cotton Eyed Joe - The Stanley Brothers
13. Death Is Only a Dream - The Stanley Brothers
14. I Can Tell You the Time - The Stanley Brothers
15. Mountain Dew - Grandpa Jones & Ramona
16. Cabin Home in Caroline - Armstrong Twins
17. Three Miles South of Cash in Arkansas - Armstrong Twins
18. Mother No Longer Waits for Me - The Stanley Brothers
19. I'm Going to Make Heaven My Home - Flatt & Scruggs
20. Farewell Blues - Flatt & Scruggs
21. Jealous Lover - The Stanley Brothers
22. My Cabin in Caroline - Flatt & Scruggs
23. Rambler's Blues - The Stanley Brothers
24. Come Here Soon - Curly Fox and Texas Ruby, Curley Fox
25. Run Mountain - J.E. Mainer
26. Baby Girl - Armstrong Twins
27. Let Me Be Your Friend - The Stanley Brothers
28. Beautiful Brown Eyes - The Bailey Brothers
29. Arkansas Special - Armstrong Twins
30. Uncle Eph's Got the Coon - Grandpa Jones & Ramona

Disc 4:

1. Blue Moon of Kentucky - Bill Monroe
2. Toy Heart - Bill Monroe
3. California Blues [Blue Yodel No. 4] - Bill Monroe
4. Will You Be Loving Another Man? - Bill Monroe
5. Girl Behind the Bar - The Stanley Brothers
6. Little Glass of Wine - The Stanley Brothers
7. My Rose of Old Kentucky - Bill Monroe
8. Bluegrass Breakdown - Bill Monroe
9. Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong - Bill Monroe
10. When You Are Lonely - Bill Monroe
11. Little Maggie - The Stanley Brothers
12. Old Rattler - Grandpa Jones & Ramona
13. Molly and Tenbrooks - The Stanley Brothers
14. Blue Grass Stomp - Bill Monroe
15. Girl in the Blue Velvet Band - Bill Monroe
16. We'll Meet Again Sweetheart - Flatt & Scruggs
17. Our Darling's Gone - The Stanley Brothers
18. Is It Too Late Now? - Flatt & Scruggs
19. Poor Ellen Smith - Molly O'Day
20. So Happy I'll Be - Flatt & Scruggs
21. God Loves His Children - Flatt & Scruggs
22. Baby Blue Eyes - Flatt & Scruggs
23. Why Don't You Tell Me So - Flatt & Scruggs
24. New Mule Skinner Blues - Bill Monroe
25. Uncle Pen - Bill Monroe
26. My Little Girl in Tennessee - Flatt & Scruggs
27. I'll Never Shed Another Tear - Flatt & Scruggs
28. Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Flatt & Scruggs
29. I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome - Bill Monroe

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34858 in Music
• Released on: 2001-09-24
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Import

Album Description
Monster 109 track set tracing the history of bluegrass from the early days of the country string bands of the 20s & 30s through to 1950 with works by it's greatest exponents, Bill Monroe & Flatt & Scruggs. All the major artists are featured, The Stanley Brothers, Ernest V. Stoneman, Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, Grandpa Jones, The Delmore Brothers & Uncle Dave Macon plus many more. Includes 40 page illustrated booklet. Four standard jewel cases housed in a slip-box. 2001.

Customer Reviews

some of the best music ever made in America
The 109 cuts in this box set document the evolution of bluegrass from its roots in early 20th-Century mountain string bands. Before the set ends in 1950, Bill Monroe, followed shortly thereafter by the Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs, has formalized a genre -- it had yet to be called "bluegrass" -- from which formula, more than half a century later, performers within the genre depart at their peril. The songs (and occasional instrumentals) are well chosen, and the sound quality is cleaner and sharper than one would expect from vintage recordings, some going back to the late 1920s.

Besides the old-time string bands, Bluegrass Bonanza highlights once-popular hillbilly-brother-duet groups such as the Monroe Brothers (of course) and the Delmore Brothers as well as neglected acts like the Armstrong Twins and the Bailey Brothers. One whole disc (#2) is devoted to the Monroes together and apart. Given how hard it is to find his solo work on CD, the Charlie Monroe sides are especially welcome. If you don't love his "Bringin' in the Georgia Mail" (which sounds like a traditional folk song, though written by Nashville producer and tunesmith Fred Rose, better known for his [later] association with Hank Williams), you might put a mirror to your mouth to see if you're still breathing. Though no bluegrasser, Grandpa Jones appears on #3 and #4, evidently in recognition of his role in keeping mountain music, without which there would be no bluegrass, alive on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Curly Fox's one cut, the traditional "Come Here, Son" (#3; actually, "Fire on the Mountain"), hints at what bluegrass might have sounded like if electric guitar had not been forbidden therein at any early stage. Disc #4, except for a single Molly O'Day side (the murder ballad "Poor Ellen Smith") and Grandpa Jones's standard "Old Rattler," is all early Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and Stanleys, the last sounding a bit tentative, their sound somewhere between the Delmores and Monroe, minus the blues influence. It would be a while before Ralph and Carter found their voice, but even here their devotion to the older Appalachian traditions is palpable.

Rather than pour on the superlatives and the flattering adjectives, just let me say that this box set does its subject proud. Whether you're new or old to country string-band music, you will want this collection. This is some of the best music ever made in America.

What a deal
Hard to find a better deal than this one--over 100 vintage songs in a four-CD set (lasting about five hours) at a price that doesn't break the bank. The selection of songs is well conceived: a strong emphasis on the Monroe Brothers (a total of about an hour and a half, including the entire second disk, is devoted to them alone), along with well known songs by other classic bluegrass singers (such as Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, Delmore Brothers), and a very interesting first disk containing string-band songs from the 1920's and 30's (including my personal favorite, Uncle Dave Macon's version of "Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line," a traditional song about the Coal Creek Rebellion of 1891).

The sound quality, as mentioned in the other review, is surprisingly good; some of the oldest songs are a little grainy, but most are quite crisp. The booklet, on the other hand, is somewhat disappointing. The information is generally accurate (disregarding the typos--for example, it's "Bringing in the Georgia Mail," not "Georgia Mill"), but the notes are conceptually thin, with very little discussion of the music itself, and virtually no reference to the lyrics.

If you love bluegrass music--and it isn't for everyone--you can't miss with this set: all your favorites are here, as well as dozens of genuine old songs that you may not have heard before.

More Holes Than Swiss Cheese
It's very difficult to put out a 4 CD history of Bluegrass music and leave as many gaps as does this compendium. There's some great music here, much of which isn't Bluegrass at all, but old-time Country Music (e.g. Gid Tanner, Uncle Dave Macon, Charlie Poole, etc). But Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, and Flatt & Scruggs account for 50+ cuts. There isn't a single inclusion by Reno & Smiley, The Osborne Brothers, Jim & Jesse, The Country Gentlemen, Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman and others, however. I gave the collection two stars because the purchase price was so low as to make it worthwhile for someone starting out a collection.