The Legend Lives On: A Tribute to Bill Monroe - Various Artists

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Reviewed by Kathy Coleman

Tribute albums are a dime a dozen these days. When all else fails, it seems, put out a tribute album and pack it as full of big names as you can get to record a song for it (and then don't even release the best of these tracks as singles, to give them some exposure). There have even been tributes to Bill Monroe in the past, notably the Ricky Skaggs vehicle, Big Mon (recently re-issued as Ricky Skaggs & Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe). But this release, The Legend Lives On: A Tribute To Bill Monroe, is a little different from these sorts of tribute albums.

Firstly, it's a live concert, recorded at the Mother Church of Country Music, the Ryman Auditorium, in April of 1997. Secondly, while it does host a score of huge names in the old-time and bluegrass arenas, it's not their performances that are in the spotlight -- it is the heavenly style itself, the brand of music that Bill Monroe made which has come to be called "bluegrass" after his band, the Blue Grass Boys (a name he chose because they all hailed from Kentucky, the Blue Grass State). That is what really makes this album special. The songs presented here aren't strictly "Bill Monroe" songs, although many of his standards are here; nor are they strictly "bluegrass" songs. This is a celebration of the man and all he gave to country music through his music.

"Bluegrass" is a relatively new style of music, when looked at in the overall history of country music; it came along in the late 40's, when Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys started touring and playing the Opry, with the also-legendary Earl Scruggs innovating the way banjo was played. Bill Monroe took the Appalachian folk/old-time mountain music he loved and made it his own, branding a signature on it that would forever bear the name of his band and his home state. And that is what this disc celebrates: That music, that grand and glorious music that lived before "Mr. Bill" and will live long even now that he's gone.

Featured on the disc are, of course, Ricky Skaggs and his Kentucky Thunder, who have been carrying high the banner since the loss of Bill Monroe; the late and dearly missed John Hartford; the Del McCoury Band; the frequently underappreciated but stunningly talented Marty Stuart; Larry Sparks; Tim O'Brien; Jim & Jesse; Charlie Daniels; The Bluegrass Boys; The Whites; Bill Carlisle; the amazing Ralph Stanley; Jerry & Tammy Sullivan; and Bill's son James Monroe, who presents a heart-felt tribute to his father with "Bean Blossom Memories," near the end of the second disc. Songs performed include Bill Monroe standards such as "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Rocky Road Blues," but also old-time favorites such as "Uncle Penn," "Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms," and gospel hymns "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken."

Perhaps because the artists are all gathered together for a live concert this disc, more than many other "tribute" discs, has a cohesive feel to it, a strong undercurrent of emotion that is missing from some tributes, which are often dry and lifeless studio mouthings of familiar songs, discs full of ordinary rather than extraordinary covers. When these particular artists sing these particular songs, they don't feel like simple cover songs -- because they are ancient folk songs, they have ancient roots, and as long as they are sung from the heart, they feel as real and as moving as when Bill Monroe sang them.

Bill Monroe's legend does indeed live on. As long as artists like these love this style of country music, it will live forever.

Disc 1

1. Uncle Penn
2. Cross Eyed Child
3. John Henry
4. Walkin in Jerusalem
5. Raw Hide
6. Can't You Hear Me Callin'
7. Rose of Old Kentucky
8. Highway of Sorrow
9. Wicked Path of Sin
10. Orange Blossom Special
11. Rocky Road Blues
12. Blue Eyed Darlin'
13. Blue Moon of Kentucky
14. Will the Circle Be Unbroken