1.With his Blue Grass Boys, this man crystallized the sound that is called bluegrass. Who is the 'father' of the bluegrass sound?
Bill Monroe was born in Roscine, Kentucky, on September 13, 1911. In 1934, with his two brothers, Birch (on fiddle), Charlie (on guitar), and Monroe (on mandolin), they were offered fulltime employment at radio WLS in Chicago. Shortly after, Birch quit music, but Charlie and Bill regrouped calling themselves the Monroe Brothers. In 1938, the brothers parted ways, and Bill, with his newly formed group, the Kentuckians, moved to KARK Radio in Atlanta, Georgia. It was in Atlanta that the Blue Grass Boys evolved. In 1939, Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys were invited to join the Grand Old Opry. In 1945, banjo picker Earl Scruggs joined the group. By 1946, the Blue Grass Boys consisted of one of the finest string and vocal bands ever assembled, with Monroe on mandolin and tenor vocals, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Lester Flatt on lead vocals and guitar, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Cedric Rainwater (aka Howard Watts) on stand-up bass.
2.The Stanley Brothers (Carter and Ralph) not only developed their own unique style but also greatly influenced the bluegrass sound. What was the name of their group?
The Clinch Mountain BoysTogether the Stanley Brothers made some of the most beautiful music in bluegrass. With Carter on guitar and Ralph on banjo, they formed the Stanley Brothers in 1946. Perfecting their own rich style of mountain music with their group, The Clinch Mountain Boys, they recorded and traveled throughout the 1950's and 1960's. In March of 1966, the Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys played at London's Royal Albert Hall. Sadly, Carter Stanley died of cancer that December. Ralph has kept their music alive heading up The Clinch Mountain Boys. He was inducted into the National Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 1992.
3.What is the trademark instrument of bluegrass great, Bill Monroe?
MandolinBill Monroe was taught to play the mandolin as a small child.
4.How did Flatt and Scruggs choose the name of their band, The Foggy Mountain Boys?
The name the Foggy Mountain Boys came from the title of the Carter family song 'Foggy Mountaintop'.
5.Who was in both The Foggy Mountain Boys and The Blue Grass Boys?
Mac Wiseman
He joined the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1948, and a year later, he left to join Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys.
6.Who is best known for his three-finger picking of a five-string banjo?Earl ScruggsBorn east of the Appalachian Mountains in Flint Hill, North Carolina, June 6, 1924, Scruggs was taught to play the five-string banjo with a three-fingered picking style. He is considered one of the finest banjo players in bluegrass. By the time he was six, he was playing with his brothers. At age sixteen, he was playing with the group the Carolina Wildcats. In 1945, he joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys.
7. True or False Bluegrass legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs recorded and traveled together until Flatt's death in 1979.
False
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs broke up in 1969 when Scruggs wanted to change their traditional bluegrass sound. Flatt then reassembled most of the Foggy Mountain Boys into the group Nashville Grass. They were very successful playing his trademark bluegrass sound until Flatt's death in 1979. Earl Scruggs went on to travel and record with his Earl Scruggs Review.
8.Which University of Wisconsin and Julliard graduate whose banjo picking is featured on "Deliverance" proves you do not have to be a 'good ol' Southern boy' to pick a mean banjo?
Eric Weissberg Arthur Smith was nominated for a 1973 Golden Globe for the music and Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel were nominated for their arrangement of this song. Weissberg also plays pedal steel, 'dobro' (the trademark of Gibson guitar company for an acoustic guitar with a metal striking plate), mandolin, and fiddle.