Reviews

I'm Old Kentucky Bound:
Charlie Monroe: His Recordings 1938-1956

This review appeared in the Bluegrass Unlimited magazine in July 2008.

“It wasn’t Charlie’s fault that he wasn’t Bill Monroe,” says Dick Spottswood in his liner notes to the new 4-CD boxed set of Charlie Monroe’s collected recordings. Indeed it must have been hard to live in the shadow of a younger brother. But, as this set amply demonstrates, Charlie’s own talent as a vocalist and guitar player was prodigious.

These recordings stretch from just after the brothers went their separate ways in 1938 through the late-fifties. Along the way we can hear Charlie’s music evolve as the prevailing popular country music changed. It transitions from brother duet style to a full band with electric lead guitar or steel guitar, to finally a more bluegrassy sound that includes a banjo. After leaving behind the close harmonies of his duo days, he never has another person singing with him, except in his excellent gospel quartets. The solo vocal distinguishes his music from bluegrass proper, which typically features harmony on the choruses.

As on all Bear Family releases, the songs are on the CDs in the order that they were recorded. Disc three contains previously unissued alternate takes of seven songs. These do not differ significantly from the released versions, and since each pair is grouped together, I found the constant repetition of songs annoying.

Charlie’s early recordings rely heavily on traditional material and gospel songs, including many Carter Family selections, while later he wrote or copyrighted more unique selections like “Red Rocking Chair,” “It’s Only A Phonograph Record,” and “Down in Caroline.”

The fourth disc contains live performances from 1955 and ’56, recorded at New River Ranch in Maryland. It gives a nice taste of Charlie’s stage patter, his jokes, and his goofy laugh. He’s backed by folks who are not members of his regular band, so one wonders why Bear Family chose to include three extremely mediocre banjo tunes and five fiddle tunes. That space could have been better taken up by more of Charlie’s singing, or even one of the Monroe Brothers reunions that occurred in 1955.

Overall this set is a must-have for any bluegrass completist. The extensive liner notes are well written and informative and the music is worth every penny. [Bear Family Records, BCD 16808 DK] (Bear Family Records, P.O. Box 1154, D-27727 Hambergen, Germany, www.bear-family.de)