Bluegrass History Books & Videos
Rural Roots of Bluegrass -
Songs, Stories and History
by Wayne Erbsen
Media: Book with song lyrics and lead sheets
This wonderful book looks at the musical roots of Bluegrass. It explores the people and the traditional music of the Southern mountain country and offers offers a wealth of music. Included are the words and music to 94 songs along with historical notes on each song.
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Can't
You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass
by Richard D. Smith
Media: Book
The first published attempt at a comprehensive, critical biography of Bill Monroe. Much of the book relies on the archives of the late Ralph Rinzler, a Smithsonian folklorist whose plans to write a Monroe biography were thwarted by his untimely death. Taking up where Rinzler left off, Smith employs solid scholarship and thorough fieldwork, yet he remains clearly in awe of his subject, ranking him as a "true giant of American music."
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America's
Music - Bluegrass: A History of Bluegrass Music in the Words of
Its Pioneers
by Barry R. Willis
Media: Book
This huge book (631 pages) is a history of Bluegrass music in the words of its pioneers. Hundreds of interviews are accented with 400 plus photos and 26 chapters, which cover every aspect of bluegrass music. Chapters include: Biographies, Business, Women in Bluegrass, the Festivals, Instruments, Record Companies, International Music and even The Future of Bluegrass.
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Bluegrass:
A History (Music in American Life)
by Neil V. Rosenberg
Media: Book
Beginning with the musical cultures of the American South in the 1920s and 1930s, "Bluegrass: A History" traces the genre through its pivotal developments during the era of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in the forties. It describes early bluegrass' role in postwar country music, its trials following the appearance of rock and roll, its embracing by the folk music revival, and the invention of bluegrass festivals in the mid-sixties.
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Bluegrass
Breakdown - The Making of the Old Southern Sound
by Robert Cantwell
Media: Book
This is a detailed work placing bluegrass music into a historical, as well as musicological, cultural, and imaginative context. Robert Cantwell has taught at Kenyon College, the University of Iowa, Georgetown University, and the University of North Carolina. "Bluegrass Breakdown" is his first book, and it won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award and the Ambassador of Honour Book Award.
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Bluegrass:
An Informal Guide
by Richard D. Smith
Media: Book
A good introductory book about Bluegrass. Contains a lot of information for bluegrass newcomers This book provides engaging trivia, insider anecdotes, and suggestions for listening that will appeal to bluegrass newcomers and veterans alike.
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High
Lonesome - The Story of Bluegrass Music (DVD)
Directed by Rachel Liebling
Media: DVD
A 1991 documentary film which frames its historical survey around Bill Monroe, the father of Kentucky bluegrass. As Monroe visits his old Kentucky home, now dilapidated and full of memories, the film traces the emergence of bluegrass from Appalachian descendants of Scotch-Irish settlers, and a variety of bluegrass greats.
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