[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 10, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10204-S10205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                          DEATH OF AN ORIGINAL

 Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, with Monday's passing of 
bluegrass legend Bill Monroe at the age of 84, Tennessee and the world 
mourn the loss of an American musical original.
  In a career spanning more than 60 years, Bill Monroe was the 
undisputed king and keeper of the music that he pioneered. In his 
trademark dress suit, and white, ten-gallon hat, Bill Monroe held the 
stage before admiring audiences around the world who watched him create 
and then popularize bluegrass music.
  Bill Monroe's music is truly American and completely original. He 
created bluegrass from his imagination and named it for the rolling 
hills where he was born.
  With his band, the ``Blue Grass Boys,'' Monroe mixed the music he 
heard as a child with the blues, Irish fiddle tunes and his own energy 
to create the sound we know today.
  Bill Monroe's bluegrass is high-powered folk music, known for the 
instrumental mastery it demands, the high-velocity picking, tight 
harmonies, and the high, lonesome sound of the tenor lead.
  Bill Monroe created a wonderful mix of crackling, bright sound with a 
lightning pace that instantly challenged musicians and listeners alike.
  Bluegrass sounds like no other music before or since, and we have 
Bill Monroe to thank for it.

[[Page S10205]]

  This musical frontiersman will be sorely missed He was a musical 
museum of American folk life who regularly entertained in bluegrass 
clubs and at outdoor festivals until the end of his years.
  Though he was born in Kentucky, those of us from Tennessee proudly 
claim Bill Monroe as one of our own. He was a fixture on the Grand Ole 
Opry, and he spent much of his time in and around Nashville when he 
wasn't out on the road, playing for the massive crowds that always came 
out to hear him.
  Bill Monroe didn't talk much, but his feelings came out eloquently 
when he was behind his mandolin and in front of an audience. Songs like 
``Blue Moon of Kentucky,'' ``Uncle Pen,'' and ``Rawhide'' have already 
stood the test of time to become classics, and Bill Monroe's original 
gift comes through in each note.
  He was born September 13, 1911 in rural western Kentucky into a 
family where nearly everyone played a musical instrument. The youngest 
of eight children, he went on to win numerous awards, including a 
Grammy and the National Medal of Arts for his life's achievement.
  Almost no kind of music can be traced to the work of a single person, 
but bluegrass is different. It will always belong to Bill Monroe. His 
contribution to music is unequaled, and he will be greatly missed by 
all of us.

                          ____________________