Video of the week - December 2012
Hi, and welcome to the Video of the week! Every week, I will choose a Youtube video for you to enjoy. These are not videos of us, but videos of bluegrass and country artists that we enjoy. For those of you who don't know much about our kind of music, hopefully you will get acquainted with it, and for those of you who know and like bluegrass, I hope you will enjoy the music and perhaps even learn a thing or two. I will try to write a few words about the song or artist with each video. Stay tuned!
Robin Holliger
24 December 2012 - #3
Bill Monroe - Christmas Time's A-Coming
Merry Christmas to you folks
This song, written by Tex Logan (a fiddler and electrical engineer for Bells Laboratories!), was first recorded by Bill Monroe in 1951 and was one of the early Christmas country songs. Back then, Country artists had not yet embraced Christmas as they have since, and Christmas songs were rare, not to mention Christmas albums. "Christmas Time's A-Coming" is still today one of the most popular country Christmas songs, and has been covered by countless artists (including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Sammy Kershaw, Buck Owens and so many more that they cannot possibly be all mentioned - I did say countless, right?). Hope you enjoy it!
The Froggy Mountain Brothers wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy holiday season with your family, in person or in thoughts for those who can't make it home tonight.
17 December 2012 - #2
Jim and Jesse - I Wonder Where You Are Tonight
Jim and Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys
Jim and Jesse McReynolds began recording bluegrass music in the 1950's, shortly after the music appeared, and were the longest-running active professional brother duet (55 years) in country music history, until the Jim's death in 2002 (Jesse is still in business as of today). They are primarily known for two things: the beautiful, spot-on, perfect hamonies of their voices, and the fast raging crosspicking mandolin of Jesse (who invented crosspicking on the mandolin). In this video from 1976, both are present, and could serve as teaching material. Crosspicking is a technique to play the mandolin where the player picks three (usually) strings alternately, like a banjo roll (but with a flatpick), and this video is a great example.
Jesse McReynolds: lead vocals, mandolin
Jim McReynolds: tenor vocals, guitar
10 December 2012 - #1
Bill Monroe - Uncle Pen
Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass music
How possibly could I begin this series with anyone else than Mr. Bill Monroe himself? This tune, composed by the father of bluegrass music about his (real-life) uncle Pendelton Vandiver, a fiddle player who had much influence on a young Bill Monroe, is considered a Bluegrass anthem. This clip shows Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys on the stage on the Grand Ole Opry in 1956, probably one of the earliest videos of Bill Monroe around. It is not the best quality, but it is a piece of history so that doesn't matter.
