A Birth of Country 1
A You Tube History of Music
Bluegrass Music
Featured on this page loosely in order of first recording or record release (as possible):
Eck Robertson John Carson Dave Macon Skillet Lickers Tennessee Ramblers
Wade Mainer Bill Monroe Brother Oswald Chubby Wise Grandpa Jones
Lester Flatt Earl Scruggs Arthur Smith Mac Wiseman Vassar Clements
Jimmy Martin Osborne Brothers Red Allen David Grisman Doc Watson
Not on this page? See history tree below.
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Bluegrass (not
called that at its first) is one of the three major veins out of which
country western developed, folk and swing (originating via early jazz) the other two. As it isn't always
possible to distinguish between genres except artificially, if what you're
seeking isn't on this page you might find it in one of the other Country
categories at the bottom of this page. All the blending aside, bluegrass in
general emphasized instruments while folk emphasized song.
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Among the earliest "bluegrass" recordings are those by fiddler Eck Robertson, releasing 'Sallie Gooden' in 1922. Eck Robertson 1922 Eck Robertson 1923 Eck Robertson 1923
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Eck Robertson
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John Carson
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Fiddler John Carson released a number of popular songs in the twenties, his first in 1923 below. John Carson 1923 Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane John Carson 1924 I'm Nine Hundred Miles From Home John Carson 1928 John Carson 1929
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Uncle Dave Macon |
Like Carson, banjo player Uncle Dave Macon could feasibly be considered early folk music but for the skill he demonstrated with his instrument. Macon got together with fiddler Sid Harkreader to release a number of recordings in 1924 (three of which are below). Uncle Dave Macon 1924 Uncle Dave Macon 1924 Uncle Dave Macon 1924 Uncle Dave Macon 1929
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Gid Tanner |
Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers popularized "hillbilly" music in the twenties. (The authorship of 'Dixie', in the 1850's, to which this history points below is uncertain.) Blind guitarist Riley Puckett was a member of the Skillet Lickers, together with fiddler Clayton McMichen who also performed lead vocals. During the same period the Carter Family (Country 2) took country the folk direction. Skillet Lickers 1926 Skillet Lickers 1926 Dance All Night With a Bottle In Your Hand Skillet Lickers 1926 Skillet Lickers 1926 Skillet Lickers 1926 Skillet Lickers 1926 Ya Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Aroun' Skillet Lickers 1928 Skillet Lickers 1931 Skillet Lickers 1934 Skillet Lickers 1928
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Riley Puckett |
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The Tennessee Ramblers first recorded in 1928. The Ramblers were a string band based in Tennessee, not to be confused with the Tennessee Ramblers of North Carolina, a country western band (Country 3). Tennessee Ramblers 1928 Tennessee Ramblers 1928 Preacher Got Drunk and Laid His Bible Down
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Banjo player Wade Mainer first recorded 'Seven and a Half' in 1935 with the Mountaineers. Banjo player Snuffy Jenkins was also a member of the Mountaineers. Wade Mainer 1935 Wade Mainer 1936
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Wade Mainer
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Mandolinist Bill Monroe, who played a lot with Mainer, first recorded 'New River Train' in 1936 while working with his two brothers as the Monroe Brothers. He soon after formed the Blue Grass Boys, hence the "bluegrass" genre. Bill Monroe 1936 Bill Monroe 1946 Bill Monroe 1954 Bill Monroe 1954 Bill Monroe 1973
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Bill Monroe | |
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It was New Year's day, 1939, that Beecher Ray Kirby joined the Grand Ole Opry with Roy Acuff's band. The members would soon be calling him Bashful Brother Oswald , recording for the first time in 1939 with Roy Acuff as well ('Old Age Pension Check'). Though Brother Oswald was a banjo, guitar and slide guitar wizard he played Dobro on that first recording. A resonating guitar, "Dobro" is a contraction of the "Dopyera brothers" who invented it, meaning "goodness" in their native Slovak. The Dopyeras would own Dobro throughout most the history of country, not acquired by Gibson until 1997. (More Roy Acuff in A Birth of Folk Music.) Brother Oswald 1939 With Roy Acuff Brother Oswald 1940 With Roy Acuff Brother Oswald 1964 Live performance Brother Oswald 1964 Live performance Columbus Stockade Blues/Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad Brother Oswald 1972 Brother Oswald 1995
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Brother Oswald | |
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Rather the obverse of mining and trucking, country music more representing the trucker and miner than those industries, so did country more represent the railroad industry (: the train) than the railroad laborer (in general). Nevertheless, fiddler Chubby Wise, composer of 'The Orange Blossom Special', began his career in 1930 at age fifteen, playing local gigs in Jacksonville, Florida. He would join Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in 1942, with which he made his first recordings (the original 'Bluegrass Breakdown', below, among them). Wise played with the Blue Grass Boys until 1948. In 1954 he joined Hank Snow's Rainbow Mountain Boys with which he remained until 1970. Chubby Wise 1948 With the Blue Grass Boys Chubby Wise 1962 With the Rainbow Mountain Boys Chubby Wise 1962 With the Rainbow Mountain Boys Chubby Wise 1962 With the Rainbow Mountain Boys Chubby Wise 1971 Live with Mac Wiseman
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Chubby Wise | |
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Grandpa Jones
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Banjo player Grandpa Jones (Louis Marshall Jones) first recorded in 1944, a stereo version of that below. Grandpa Jones 1944 It's Raining Here This Morning Grandpa Jones 1945 Grandpa Jones 1947 Grandpa Jones 1947
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Lester Flatt, guitarist and vocalist, got his major professional push with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in 1945. To mention Lester Flatt is nigh as to mention Earl Scruggs since they worked together for twenty years upon forming the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1948, which group enjoyed great popularity until disbanding in 1969. Lester Flatt 1951 With Earl Scruggs I'll Just Pretend/Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms Lester Flatt 1961 With Earl Scruggs Lester Flatt 1973 Mandolin: Marty Stuart
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Lester Flatt | |
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Earl Scruggs |
Phenomenal banjoist Earl Scruggs also got his major career boost in 1945 with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. Scruggs is famous for 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown', first recorded in 1948, and 'The Ballad of Jed Clampett' in 1962, theme song for the television comedy 'The Beverly Hillbillies'. Earl Scruggs 1948 With Lester Flatt Earl Scruggs 1962 With Lester Flatt Vocals: Jerry Scoggins Earl Scruggs 1986 With Lester Flatt Composition: Chubby Wise Earl Scruggs 2001 Live performance with Steve Martin
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Arthur Smith |
Arthur Smith released his first single in 1948 ('Banjo Boogie' with 'Guitar Boogie' flip side). (Boogie woogie, incidentally, is the southern equivalent of ragtime, the latter out of which jazz largely developed.) In 1955 Smith partnered with banjo player Don Reno to record 'Feudin' Banjos', which tune was later used in the 1972 film, 'Deliverance'. Smith is otherwise best known as television host of 'The Arthur Smith Show' which ran for about thirty years. Arthur Smith 1948 Arthur Smith 1948 Arthur Smith 1955 With Don Reno
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Mac Wiseman, guitar and upright bass, began his music career as a disc jockey for WSVA radio in Harrisonburg, Virginia, upon studying music at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. He began his career as a musician playing upright bass for country singer Molly O'Day. Wiseman first recorded soon after in 1948 with the Foggy Mountain Boys, formed that year by Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt upon leaving the Blue Grass Boys (among those first recordings see 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' under Earl Scruggs above). In 1949 he recorded 'Travelin' Down This Lonesome Road' and a couple duets with Bill Monroe (unfound) just prior to forming his own band that same year. Mac Wiseman 1953 Mac Wiseman 1957 Mac Wiseman 1959 Mac Wiseman 1960 Mac Wiseman 1965 Fiddle: Ward Allen Mac Wiseman 1971 With Lester Flatt Mac Wiseman 2001
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Mac Wiseman | |
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Vassar Clements, largely fiddle, first recorded with Bill Monroe in 1950, replacing fiddler Chubby Wise for the next eight years. But the first recording on which he appears that we could find is not until 1951, 'The First Whippoorwill'. He would not release his first album, 'Southern Country Waltzes', until 1972 (unfound). His next album, 'Crossing the Catskills', was released the next year. Alike Chet Atkins, Vassar played a variety of genres. Vassar Clements 1951 With the Bluegrass Boys Vassar Clements 1973 Vassar Clements 1973 Live performance with David Grisman and Jerry Garcia Vassar Clements 1980 Composition: Miles Davis Live performance Vassar Clements 2003 Composition: Chubby Wise Live performance
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Vassar Clements | |
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Jimmy Martin
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Farmboy Jimmy Martin was twenty-two when he snuck backstage at the Grand Ole Opry and got hired by Bill Monroe, replacing Mac Wiseman who had just left the band. (A guitarist, he also sings lead on the tracks below with the Blue Grass Boys.) Martin released his first record album in 1960 ('Good n Country'), steadily creating one album each year up to 1974 (excepting 1971), after which his LP releases were less regular. Unfortunately the earliest album recording found is not until 1964, the trucking tune 'Widow Maker'. Jimmy Martin 1950 With the Blue Grass Boys Jimmy Martin 1950 With the Blue Grass Boys Jimmy Martin 1964 Jimmy Martin 1971 Live performance Jimmy Martin 1971 Live performance When the Savior Reached Down His Hands For Me
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Osborne Brothers |
In 1954 the Osborne Brothers made their first six recordings with Jimmy Martin, among them 'Chalk Up Another One' below. Sonny Osborne played banjo. His brother, Bobby, played mandolin. Osborne Brothers 1954 With Jimmy Martin Osborne Brothers 1956 With Red Allen Osborne Brothers 1956 With Red Allen Osborne Brothers 1963 Osborne Brothers 1967 Live performance Osborne Brothers 1979 I Can Hear Kentucky Calling Me
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Guitarist Red Allen (not to be confused with the jazz trumpeter Henry James Red Allen) got his big break with the Osborne Brothers, first recording four songs with them in 1956 ('Once More' below, 'Ho Honey Ho' and 'Ruby Are You Mad?' under the Osborne Brothers above). Red Allen 1956 With the Osborne Brothers Red Allen 1956 Red Allen 1956 Composition: Kitty Wells Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On
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Red Allen | |
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Dave Grisman |
Mandolin player David Grisman (the Dawg) first recorded with the Even Dozen Jug Band in 1963. He later recorded with Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys before helping Peter Rowan form the psychedelic band, Earth Opera. Their first album, released in 1968, was titled simply 'Earth Opera'. Their second album, 'The Great American Eagle Tragedy', was released the next year. (Tracks from those albums are under Peter Rowan below.) Tracks below include collaborations with Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice and Doc Watson. David Grisman 1963 With the Even Dozen Jug Band David Grisman 1966 With Bill Monroe David Grisman 1981 Live performance David Grisman 1981 Live performance David Grisman 1992 Live with Jerry Garcia David Grisman 1993 With Jerry Garcia Album: 'Not For Kids Only' David Grisman 1994 Album with Tony Rice David Grisman 1998 Live with Doc Watson David Grisman 1998 Live with Doc Watson David Grisman 2008 Live with the Del McCoury Band David Grisman 2008 Live performance
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Blind bluegrass virtuoso Doc Watson had been playing banjo, guitar and harmonica nigh thirty years before recording his own debut album, titled simply 'Doc Watson', in 1964. A humble man, ironic to the esteem in which he is kept. Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1964 Doc Watson 1991 Live performance Doc Watson 1991 Live performance Doc Watson 1998 Live with David Grisman & Jack Lawrence
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Doc Watson | |
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Guitarist Peter Rowan got his big break in Nashville with Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys with which he first recorded in 1966. In 1967 he helped David Grisman shape the acid band, Earth Opera. Their first album, released in 1968, was titled simply 'Earth Opera'. Their second album, 'The Great American Eagle Tragedy', was released the next year. Rowan went on to become a member of numerous bands such as Seatrain, the Muleskinners and Old and In the Way, the latter with whom he played with Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and Vassar Clements. Rowan is perhaps most notable for his collaborations with mandolinist, David Grisman, and guitarist, Tony Rice. Many tracks with Tony Rice below. A couple of cuts from Rowan's reggae period are included below as well. Peter Rowan 1966 With Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys Peter Rowan 1966 With Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys Peter Rowan 1968 With Earth Opera Album: 'Earth Opera' Peter Rowan 1969 With Earth Opera Album: 'The Great American Eagle Tragedy' Peter Rowan 1969 With Earth Opera Album: 'The Great American Eagle Tragedy' Peter Rowan 1971 With Seatrain Peter Rowan 1972 With the Rowan Brothers Peter Rowan 1973 With Old and In the Way Peter Rowan 1973 With Old and In the Way Peter Rowan 1973 With Old and In the Way Peter Rowan 1973 With Old and In the Way Peter Rowan 1993 Album: 'Awake Me In the New World' Peter Rowan 1998 Album: 'Reggae Around the World' Peter Rowan 2000 With Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2000 With Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2000 With Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2000 With Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2000 With Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2002 Peter Rowan 2005 With Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2008 With The Free Mexican Air Force Peter Rowan 2010 With Tim O'Brian & Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2010 With the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band Peter Rowan 2010 With Tim O'Brian & Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2010 With Tim O'Brian & Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2010 With Tim O'Brian & Tony Rice Peter Rowan 2011 Peter Rowan 2012 Peter Rowan 2012 Peter Rowan 2012 With Tony Rice The seventies would see the rise of talent such as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (with whom Clements and Watson performed). But we presently pause this rather lean history of bluegrass music with Peter Rowan.
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Peter Rowan | |
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47 Years of 'Orange Blossom Special' Composition: Chubby Wise Lyrics: Ervin Rouse Johnny Cash 1965 Chubby Wise 1971 Chet Atkins 1978 Mickey Gilley & the Urban Cowboy Band 1980 Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs 1986 Roy Clark 1987 Doug Kershaw 1989 Seatrain 1995 Well Oiled Sisters 1998 Vassar Clements 2003 Country Sisters 2006 James Last 2007 Veronika Shabashova 2009 Annie Staninec 2009 RV 2005 Michael Cleveland 2010 IBMA Kids 2010 Steve Martin 2010 Charlie McCoy 2010 Ray Steelman 2010 Mikayla Roach 2011 Cistillo Kids 2012 Adam Larkey Band 2012 Memories Band 2012 Crystal Shipley & Raisin' Cain 2012
We pause this lean history of bluegrass with many a gap to fill. We will be listing more as such occur. |
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A Birth of the Blues 1: Early Blues 1: Guitar
A Birth of the Blues 2: Early Blues 2: Vocal - Other Instruments
A Birth of the Blues 3: Modern Blues 1: Guitar
A Birth of the Blues 4: Modern Blues 2: Vocal - Other Instruments
A Birth of Country 1: Bluegrass
A Birth of Country 3: Country Western
A Birth of Jazz 1: Early Jazz 1: Ragtime - Bands - Horn
A Birth of Jazz 1: Early Jazz 2: Ragtime - Song - Hollywood
A Birth of Jazz 1: Early Jazz 3: Ragtime - Other Instrumentation
A Birth of Jazz 2: Swing Era 1: Big Bands
A Birth of Jazz 3: Swing Era 2: Song
A Birth of Jazz 4: Modern 1: Saxophone
A Birth of Jazz 5: Modern 2: Trumpet - Other Horn
A Birth of Jazz 6: Modern 3: Piano
A Birth of Jazz 7: Modern 4: Guitar - Other String
A Birth of Jazz 8: Modern 5: Song
A Birth of Jazz 9: Modern 6: Percussion - Other Instruments
A Birth of Rock & Roll 1: Early - Boogie Woogie - R&B
A Birth of Rock & Roll 2: Other Musical Genres
A Birth of Rock & Roll 3: Doo Wop
A Birth of Rock & Roll 4: The Big Bang
Musician Index 2: Country Music - Bluegrass - Folk
Musician Index 3: Country Music - Country Western
Musician Index 4: Jazz Early - Swing Jazz
Musician Index 5: Jazz Modern - Horn
Musician Index 6: Jazz Modern - Piano - String
Musician Index 7: Jazz Modern - Percussion - Song - Other
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