Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys includes: Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin);
Lester Flatt (vocals, guitar); Earl Scruggs (banjo).
Recorded between 1940 & 1947.
Containing Monroe's first hit, "Mule Skinner Blues," as well as classic performances like "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Footprints in the Snow," Father of Bluegrass is an outstanding sampler that follows the the Blue Grass Boys through their first three lineups. It is especially valuable for its inclusion of 12 of Monroe's 1940-1941 recordings for RCA-Victor, which, while they may not be his most famous work, are nonetheless exhilarating sides that set the stage for the Maddox Brothers and just about every other slap-bass boogie outfit in the country. There's also ten tracks' worth of material from the Flatt & Scruggs-era band, rounding out a collection that says everything you need to know about this period in Monroe's development. ~ Jim Smith minimize