[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 126 (Friday, September 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10539-S10540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO BILL MONROE

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the music world lost one of its most devoted 
artists on Monday when the legendary Bill Monroe passed away at the age 
of 84. The Bible says:

       The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if 
     by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their 
     strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we 
     fly away.

  Bill Monroe lived to be 84.
  His bluegrass music--the hybrid of folk, country, blues, and gospel 
styles--originated in the United States more than 60 years ago and 
continues to be popular across the country. Nowhere is this more true 
than in the Appalachian States, where it embraces the spirit of that 
region. Bluegrass is brought to life by combining high tenor vocals 
with instruments like the mandolin, fiddle--or violin--guitar, banjo, 
and bass, and is most often associated with Monroe, the creator and 
master of the style.

  I was fortunate to have been able to play my fiddle with Bill Monroe 
in Boone County, West Virginia, when he appeared there years ago. I 
remember how enlivening it was to make music with such a first-rate 
musician. Monroe's stage performance exuded the passion and dedication 
he had for music. He told me how he believed in a, ``good, clean 
show.'' Bill Monroe was a true gentleman. He never drank, smoked, or 
used offensive language. I remember he referred to liquor as ``slop,'' 
and would tell aspiring musicians to go onto the stage, ``looking right 
and smelling right,'' meaning that they should have no traces of 
whiskey on their breath. Indeed, Monroe was a role model for the more 
than 200 performers who played with The Blue Grass Boys throughout all 
of their Saturday evening appearances at the Opry. Musicians would 
travel to Nashville just to be able to say they had had a chance to 
work with the legendary performer.
  And I would imagine that the Senator who is presently presiding over 
this great body has been out to the Grand Ole Opry himself on a few 
occasions, being fortunate in that the Grand Ole Opry was in his native 
State of Tennessee.
  Musicians would travel to Nashville just to be able to say they had 
had a chance to work with this legendary performer.
  William Smith Monroe was born in Rosine, Kentucky, on September 13, 
1911. His parents died when he was still young, and he went to live 
with his Uncle Pen, a fiddle player.
  There is a tune called ``Uncle Pen,'' and I am sure that it was the 
product of Bill Monroe's prolific musical mind and written in honor of 
his uncle, Uncle Pen.
  As the youngest of eight children in a musical family, Monroe learned 
about music early on, influenced by secular and religious folk 
traditions, gospel, blues, and Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes. He 
would later tell people that his mastery of the mandolin stemmed from 
the fact that his older siblings took their first pick of other 
instruments. Later on, this proved to be a blessing, since much of 
Monroe's success is attributed to his mandolin's unique sound which 
became the signature instrument of his bluegrass music. Monroe and two 
of his brothers--Charlie, who played the guitar, and Birch, who played 
the fiddle--moved to Chicago in 1930. The music they played there for 
dances and house parties was a traditional country style, but even in 
those early years, it was characterized by a faster tempo and the high-
pitched harmonies that later evolved into Monroe's bluegrass trademark.
  In 1938, Monroe auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry. The audition with 
Opry chief George Hay--the solemn old judge--was such a success that 
when Hay signed Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, he told them, ``If you 
ever leave the Opry, it'll be because you fired yourself!'' Monroe's 
debut at the Opry marked the first time in the hall's history that the 
audience demanded an encore.
  By the 1940's, Monroe's style was moving further from traditional 
country music and toward its own distinct sound. The country music 
scene considered his music too old fashioned to be called country music 
and the folk music scene wanted to maintain its image as a more 
affluent style. Monroe finally found a place for his music where he 
always wanted it--in its own class. His style became known as 
Bluegrass, as identified with his band, the Blue Grass Boys. In the 
late 1940's, the classic Blue Grass Boys lineup featured Lester Flatt 
on the guitar, and Earl Scruggs, who mastered the three-finger-roll 
banjo technique which added to their distinct sound.
  As a boy, I used to listen to people in West Virginia play the banjo. 
They

[[Page S10540]]

played it claw-hammer style. But when Bill Monroe came along--Earl 
Scruggs developed a three-finger roll, which was very lively. That 
three-finger roll had a great deal to do with putting the stamp on the 
music as bluegrass music.
  Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys continued to please crowds at the Opry 
through the 1950's, and, in the 1960's, they began to appear in 
auditoriums throughout the country. In 1970, Monroe was inducted into 
the Country Music Hall of Fame.

  Bluegrass music is no longer confined to rural communities in the 
heart of the Appalachian States. Today, Bill Monroe's songs are not 
limited to public radio or the Nashville Network. The popularity of 
Bluegrass has expanded, and is now an internationally recognized and 
appreciated form of music. Monroe's legacy will endure through the 
sounds that he invented, and in the bands that play his songs. He was 
an innovative and very gentlemanly performer who was an inspiration to 
other musicians, especially to country musicians. And I am thankful to 
have had Bill Monroe as a friend. Although Bill Monroe will be missed 
dearly, his music and his legend will live on. His influence has 
forever changed the shape of the American music industry, and I know 
that his sounds will continue to reverberate throughout the Appalachian 
Mountains and through the hills and mountains and hollows of West 
Virginia and throughout the world for all years to come.

                          ____________________