MONROE, Bill: Father of Bluegrass Music
Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music
Monroe, Bill
Bill Monroe Blue Grass Boys
Television Director: Gebhardt, Steve
Playing Time: 01:38:28
Catalogue Number: MVDV4577
UPC: 022891457794
No single figure in American music so dominated a genre as Bill Monroe did bluegrass. This film stands alone as the most intimate and detailed portrait of this unique musical innovator, creating an experience akin to having a one-on-one conversation with the bluegrass master.
A star of the Grand Ole Opry from 1939 until his death in 1996, he created bluegrass music out of his deep Kentucky roots, fusing the fiddle tunes and Scotch-Irish ballads learned from his mother Malissa and Uncle Pen Vandiver with the "old Southern blues" taught him by black blues guitarist Arnold Schultz. The result was brand new yet timeless, a distinctly personal sound that influenced generations of musicians, from his sidemen in the original bluegrass band - Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Howard Watts - to Ricky Skaggs and Del McCoury (himself a former Blue Grass Boy) and modern superstars like Alison Krauss and Nickel Creek.
Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music is a dynamic music documentary combining historic interviews with rare musical performances by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, Lester Flatt, Emmylou Harris, Paul McCartney, the Osborne Brothers, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, John Hartford and a once-in-a-lifetime Blue Grass Boys reunion featuring Del McCoury, Chubby Wise and Bill Keith.
The film features archival footage and rare 1990s performances from Monroe's final years, including many of the greatest songs from his seven decades of recording, among them "Uncle Pen" and "Muleskinner Blues." In addition, it offers unparalleled access to Bill Monroe, following him from the backstage of the Grand Ole Opry to his farm outside Nashville and on the road in his legendary "Blue Grass Express" tour bus. Interview subjects range from the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia to country music pioneer Roy Acuff in one of his final film appearances.
Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music presents the true life story of one of the original architects of American music, told in his own words and his own songs.
