In It for the Long Run: A Musical Odyssey

Bluegrass and Folk Voices

242 THE LONG RUN BLUEGRASS AND FOLK VOICES On September 9, 1996, just after I had returned to Nashville from our “weddingattherock,”BillMonroeleftthisworld.Hehadbeenincapacitated by a stroke a few months earlier and had been living in a nursing home in Springfield, Tennessee. Two or three weeks before he died, I wentouttopayhimavisit.OverthecourseofthepastfewyearsBillhad had a series of health problems. I had seen him when he looked weak and barely able to get to the stage, but once on stage, he would come to life and be dancing at the end of his set to “Uncle Pen” and do endless encores to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Now, however, he was in a wheelchair and unable to speak. Still, his eyes had the same intensity as he took my hand in his. There was no point in trying to make small talk, so I took out my guitar and sang him some songs I knew he would like—BillMonroesongs.Twoorthreeofthenursesandacoupleofother patients came around. Bill was smiling and moving his hand in time to the music. That time never left him. When I saw him next he was lying in state at the Ryman Auditorium as thousands passed by to pay him theirlastrespects.Whenwesang“SwingLow”thatdayweknewhewas where he wanted to be. Back in 1985 I had worked with Peter Rowan on an album of all Bill Monroe songs called FirstWhippoorwill. It was what I like to call a “hardcoreBluegrass ”album,featuringformerBluegrassBoysBillKeith,Buddy Spicher,andRichardGreene.EarlierthisspringIhadworkedwithPeter onanotherhard-corealbum,whichhecalledBluegrassBoy.Althoughthe songs were all new and written by Peter, he was definitely channeling Bill Monroe’s style and energy in his writing, singing, and playing. HecoveredthewholerangeofMonroesongsstartingoutwithagood up-temponumbercalled“Nighttime,”followedbythelonesome-sounding “WildGeeseFlyAgain.”“AJealousHeartandaWorriedMind”could havecomeoutoftheMonroe/JimmyMartinperiod,whiletheracy“Stable Boy Blues” was out of the early Bluegrass period with Clyde Moody. There can be no doubt that Bill drew great strength from working the land. He had talked to Peter about the concept of letting the harvest go toseedtoprovidesustenancethroughthewinterforthebirdsand“little 243 BluegrassandFolk Voices critters.” Peter asked Del McCoury, one of the greatest singers to ever work with Monroe, to join him in singing “Let the Harvest Go to Seed”: Oh I feel like that old mountain Standing lonesome in the sky Where the cries of the wolf Hungry wind’s mournful sigh High above our little cabin Lay my bones there to rest Where the wild birds and critters Still make their little nest You have been my true companion Since the day our love was young Darling, stand beside me And watch the setting sun If I die before you do One request I ask you please Pray Jesus take my soul Let the harvest go to seed Peter chose to close the album with the title song, a lullaby, “Bluegrass Boy.”Whenwestartedmakingthisalbum,Billhadn’thadhisstroke,but his health was failing and the chances of his making a comeback were slim—although, tough as he was, none of us would have been totally surprised if he had. BluegrassBoy was a chance for us to quietly and gently let Bill go. The sound of Richard’s droning fiddle and Peter’s sweet, trilling mandolin created a hypnotic setting for the lyrics: Hushabye my bluegrass boy Put away your little toys All the stars in the heavens we will count them Hush the fiddle, hush the bow Mandolin, guitar, banjo All is sleepy from the schoolhouse to the mountain Hushabye now don’t you cry While I sing this lullaby All is peaceful now where darkness spreads her mantle 244 THE LONG RUN Stars are blinking one by one Now your busy day is done Close your eyes in the light of this candle Soon the night will pass away And the dawning of the day Will awaken you with joy my bluegrass boy And the birdies on the wing Melodies upon the wind Will be songs for you to sing, my bluegrass boy Hushabye . . . Hushabye . . . my bluegrass boy With that, the band came in playing the melody as a beautiful, fading bluegrass waltz, the kind Bill Monroe loved best. Since I had first seen Bill in person at Watermelon Park in 1960 and methimat“TheBluegrassHome”inNashvillein1963,hehadplayedan importantpartinshapingmyapproachtomusicandtoliving.Musicfor FIGURE 29. Bill Monroe cradling his mandolin. Photograph: © McGuire. 245 BluegrassandFolk Voices Billwasanessentialpartoflifeandenabledhimtodealwithwhateverit mightbringhim.PeterRowan’sgeniusliesinhisabilitytoabsorbdifferent kinds of music and make them his own, but I believe the music that affectedhimmostdeeplywasthemusicofBillMonroe.Inthemakingof thisalbumPeterandIwereabletoacknowledgeBill’stremendousinfluence on us and to let him know that we would be following his...