Tunes for Twangers
Music 305 A
A History of Country Music
Module IV ~ Kentucky & Bluegrass & Folk
Music
This Module – shall definitely be a little “different” from all other modules
presented in Tunes for Twangers. At the outset – shall take advantage of an
amazing new resource [2006] by the Kentucky Historical Society ~ “More than Music” – a Heritage Driving Tour
of
The driving tour is narrated by Ricky Skaggs and is meant to be a “listening
companion” as folks drive Route 23 from the Ohio River to
Following this virtual journey, we shall then briefly discuss Bluegrass &
Folk music and great artists associated with this virtuosic style.
First – a bit of very, very basic
Kentucky History
Indigenous folks
Cherokee, Shawnee & Mingo
Early Explorers
Daniel Boone & Simon Kenton
People Came Via …..
Ohio River and the Cumberland Gap
1776: Western County of Virginia
1792: 15th State – the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Early Revenue Sources
Hemp [World Leader]
1789 – Elijah Craig “invents” bourbon
1811/1812 – New Madrid Earthquake & Fault [western Kentucky]
Civil War – Border State
Abraham Lincoln – native of KY
Jefferson Davis – native of KY
After the Civil War
Tobacco, Bourbon, Horses
1875 – First Kentucky Derby
Early 1900’s
Coal Mining
Eastern Kentucky
geographically isolated, hard times, religious
Kentucky ~ Route 23
A “virtual” journey via listening [as with all listening examples these are
contained on the restricted, internal drive] …..
Introduction: Ricky Skaggs
Excerpted Selections
Connemara - R. Skaggs
Amazing Grace: J. Ravizee
Cabin on the Hill: H.
Readin' - Rightin' - Route
23: D. Yoakum
Coal Miner's Daughter: L. Lynn
Birds Fly South: Z. Speaks
The Tour Begins
Kentucky Side of Grant’s Bridge
Collier-West Memorial Highway
Billy Ray Cyrus Country Music Highway Sign
North American Refractories
Road to Spencer: R. Skaggs
Snake Winder: R. Coope
Some Gave All: B. R. Cyrus
Van Lear ~ Butcher Holler ~ Loretta Lynn
Van Lear and Butcher Hollow
Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle and Hylo Brown Country
Music Sign
Jenny Wiley Gravesite
Swinging River Bridge
Coal Miner’s Museum ~ Van Lear Historical Society
Coal Miner's Daughter: L.
Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue: C. Gayle
Cabin on the Hill: H. Brown
Railroad Museum in Elkhorn
Pine Mountain Trailhead
Breaks Interstate Park
Jefferson National Forest
Man of Constant Sorrow: R. Stanley
David Zeeger Coal and Railroad Museum
Pound Gap
Coal Mining Man: R. Skaggs
Stayed on Jesus: Tri-City Messengers
Bluegrass Music
*please note that although this popular and important genre of country music is
called “bluegrass” [actually originally two words – now consolidated to one –
the style has little to do with the region in which we leave [aka Georgetown, KY] oft-times called the “Heart of the
Bluegrass” and more to do with the fact that Bill Monroe [from western Kentucky
and generally called the “Father of Bluegrass” named this type of music for his
home state of Kentucky – the Bluegrass State*
Basically, bluegrass music is a traditionally
oriented country music, initially created as the stringband
sound of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, which became widely imitated and
evolved into a distinctive musical genre [Encyclopedia of Country Music].
Main Characteristics
- old-time mountain modal music
- ballad singing
- square dance fiddling
- blues
- gospel
- some “jazz-like” elements as soloists take turns “improvising”
- technical virtuosity
Bluegrass Bands [generally]
- 5-string banjo
- fiddle
- mandolin
- 6-string guitar
- bass
- optional instruments include: dobro, additional
fiddles and guitars
- vocalist generally also play an instrument
“Signature Tunes” associated with Bluegrass Music
Orange Blossom Special
Cripple Creek
Stars of the Style
Bill Monroe, Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs
Bill Monroe (1911-1996)
- born in Rosine, KY
- associated almost exclusively with bluegrass music
- for over 50 years he shaped the genre
- mandolin, high-pitched – mournful voice
- youngest of 8 children – parents died when he was 16
- influenced by fiddling of his Uncle Pendleton Vandiver
[Uncle Pen] and Arnold Schultz [clack guitarist]
- went to Chicago to work in refinery
- performed as a square dancer on WLS National Barn Dance
- with brother formed first band and moved to North Carolina in 1935
- feud with brother – “Monroe Brothers” broke up – formed Blue Grass Boys
- went to Nashville, WSM, George Hay, Grand Ole Opry
- immediately hired and began an extremely successful career
- style was not called “bluegrass music” until well into the 1950’s
- 1945 added the legendary artist Earl Scruggs [banjo] to the band
- recording made in the late 1940’s are considered some of the finest ever of
the style
- next forty years – triumphal, influential, successful
Stanley Brothers
Carter Glen Stanley (1925-1966) Guitar and Ralph Edmond Stanley (born 1927)
Banjo
- born in Stratton, Virginia
- one of the premier bluegrass bands of all-time
- combination of old-time and quick rhythms associated with Bill Monroe
- their band – Clinch Mountain Boys
- started recording in 1947, in 1948 were contracted with Columbia
- Ralph [banjo] changed from 2-finger style – to 3-finger style popularized by
Earl Scruggs
- mid to late 1950’s Stanley’s recorded with Mercury – perhaps their finest
- during 1960’s folk revival Stanleys very popular
- 1966 Carter died [very young] Ralph continues to work to this day
Flatt & Scruggs
Lester Raymond Flatt (1914-1979) Guitar and Earl
Scruggs (born 1924) Banjo
- Flatt from Tennessee; Scruggs from North Carolina
- much to popularize Bluegrass music
- popularity of television show – the Beverly Hillbillies [theme song]
- met when they were both playing with Bill Monroe in his Blue Grass Boys
- left Monroe and started their own band – Foggy Mountain Boys
- started recording with Columbia – with whom they stayed the rest of their
careers
- members of the Grand Ole Opry
- very popular in the 1960’s
- artistic differences caused them to separate
- both continued to perform
Listening
Blue Moon of Kentucky: Bill Monroe
Uncle Pen: Bill Monroe
Foggy Mountain Breakdown: Flatt & Scruggs
Orange Blossom Special: Stanley Brothers
Little Cabin on the Hill: Ricky Skaggs
Assorted Folk Music Offerings
Bluegrass Music Today
Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck & Allison Krause
Folk Music Movement
- mid 1940’s through early 1970’s [and in many ways still today]
- wove Appalachian traditions with Delta influences
- oft-times associated with protests, worker rights, civil rights and the
unrest of the 1960’s
- many tunes have become part of the musical fabric of America, recorded,
re-recorded by many
Father of American Folk Music ~ Woody Guthrie [1912-1967]
- combined traditional ballad-singing and guitar playing
- best known and signature tune – “This Land Id Your Land”
- father of Arlo Guthrie
- influenced Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bruce
Springsteen, Phil Ochs, et al
The Icon/Titan of American Folk Music ~ Pete Seeger
[born in 1919 (and yes, still alive)]
- American Folk Singer
- iconic status
- folk music revival movement
- worked with Alan Lomax at the Library of Congress
[young age]
- associated with long-neck, 25-fret five-string banjo
- early on worked with Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Burl
Ives, et al
- activist, impact of the Red Scare
- the Weavers [before being banned]
- Signature Tunes – “Turn, Turn, Turn”; “If I Had a Hammer”; “Little Boxes”; “Where
Have All the Flowers Gone” et al
- performed “This Land Is Your Land [Woody Guthrie] for President Obama’s Inauguration in 2009 [with Bruce Springsteen and
others]
Other Folk Singers of Note
- Bob Dylan [born 1941] … Signature Tune – Blowin’ In
the Wind
- Joan Baez [also born 1941] … very
distinctive voice, Activist
began her career in the coffeehouses of Boston and Cambridge
big break – 1959 Newport folk Festival
oft-associated with … “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”; “Diamonds and Rust”;
“Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word” and “We Shall Overcome”
- Judy Collins [born 1939] … American Singer and Songwriter, Activist
influenced by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger
oft-associated with … “Both Sides Now”; “Send in the Clowns”; Turn, Turn, Turn,
et al