Women in Bluegrass Newsletter Archive, Reader’s Edition

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Bill Monroe

William Smith "Bill" Monroe (September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was a mandolinist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader from Rosine, Kentucky. The name “bluegrass” comes from his band, the Blue Grass Boys, themselves named for his home state. As the creator of the style he is often referred to as the “Father of Bluegrass.” He first recorded with his brother Charlie as the Monroe Brothers, who signed with RCA Victor in 1936 and had their first hit with "What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul?" before splitting up in 1938. He formed the Blue Grass Boys soon afterward and joined the Grand Ole Opry in October 1939. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were in the band from December 1945 until early 1948. The Columbia recordings that lineup made in 1946 and 1947, including "Molly and Tenbrooks," set the form of the genre. In 1967 he founded the bluegrass festival at Bean Blossom, Indiana. Several women played in his band or worked with him including Sally Ann Forrester who played accordion with the Blue Grass Boys from 1943 to 1946, and Bessie Lee Mauldin who played bass from the mid-1950s to 1964. Vivian Williams filled in on fiddle during a Pacific Northwest tour. He played mandolin on Rose Maddox's 1962 album Rose Maddox Sings Bluegrass, and encouraged Betty Fisher to form her Dixie Bluegrass Band in 1973. He joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. He received a National Heritage Fellowship in 1982 and was one of the first inductees into the IBMA Hall of Honor in 1991. Southern Flavor, recorded with his 1988 band, won the first Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. He also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993 and the National Medal of Arts in 1995. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him as an early influence in 1997.

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