As we left the bus to go play the show, when it was just him and I, I told him I would do by best for him that day and that I hope it will be good enough, to his reply, ‘Oh, It’s just bluegrass.’ We met on the bus before the show, and Bill and the band talked through the show with me, the order of the first three or four songs, where I would play a banjo instrumental ( Blue Grass Breakdown), even tried me out singing baritone on Cryin’ Holy Unto the Lord, which I did not nail the first time, even though I know I could have sung it, to which he snapped, ‘We’ll do it as a trio!’ so I never sang with him.
When he returned with the mandolin, Bill and John played Old Joe Clark together, playing each other’s mandolins. In the first show, Bill broke a string, and John Duffey, who had been watching the show, brought him his own mandolin, and took Bill’s Lloyd Loar to fix the string. Later, from the stage, I see him talking quietly to JD Crowe and pointing my way, enough to rattle any banjo player’s cage. I recall following the Seldom Scene and Ben Eldridge being surprised to see me in the hat and wished me well. I have remained good friends with Mark and his wife Georgia. The band consisted of Kenny Baker, Wayne Lewis and Mark Hembree.
Kentucky mandolin bill monroe mac#
Mac Martin, the great singer/stylist from Pittsburgh still mentions to me the time he saw me play that day. The crowd was very supportive, as I was from that general area (Chardon, OH). With all the great talent there, folks were surprised to see me up there with the Father of Bluegrass, and no one really knew until we tool the stage. He came to me, asked if I’d do it, and told me to shave and clean up some. Though there were many banjo players willing to offer their services that day, he went to his old friend, Jerry Williamson, who had been running sound all weekend, and asked him to find a banjo player. When Monroe arrived at the festival grounds, word had preceded him that he was without a banjo player. I was performing with my band, Hotfoot Quartet, had played all weekend and that day was a day off to enjoy the bigger tour bands. The date was Sunday, July 5, 1981, in Geneva, Ohio, just a day or two after Butch Robbins left. Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, but he made me feel like he wanted me to BE a Blue Grass Boy for that day, loaning me a matching tie and hat, three-eights, just my size. *** Paul Kovac recalls the events surrounding his time he worked for Bill Monroe …. He was among the session players with Monroe for Tom T Hall’s recording of Molly And Tenbrooks (Mercury Records). He helped with the recording of Kentucky Waltz, My Little Georgia Rose, Tallahassee, Kiss Me Waltz, Jenny Lynn and Millenburg Joy. ** Banjo player Bobby Thompson participated in four recording sessions during the early1970s.Īn early originator of the chromatic style of playing, Thompson was a top studio session player. He recorded with Kenney Haddock and during the late 1970s he had two fiddle albums on the Old Homestead label. Later the duo worked together when McCoury formed the Dixie Pals. In 1964 Baker and Del McCoury formed the Shady Valley Boys and recorded for Rebel Records. He never formally recorded while working with Monroe, but he is featured on a pirated radio transcription session (July 23, 1963) and while playing during Bill Monroe’s first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, July 26 and 27, 1963. * Billy Baker played for Bill Monroe for three spells, one in 1961, another for two months in 1963 – as a replacement for his namesake, Kenny Baker – and again in the winter of 1963/1964. Others on the bill included Ralph Stanley and Larry Sparks.
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