# Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body and Soul

Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body and Soul is the 12th studio album by American bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and his band, the Blue Grass Boys. Released by MCA Records on January 10, 1977, it features six songs recorded in October 1976 and four taken from sessions between 1969 and 1972, three of which were previously released on singles or B-sides. One single was released from the new sessions: "My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darlin'" backed with "Monroe's Blues" on January 17, 1977.

## Background

Six of the ten songs on Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body and Soul were recorded over two sessions on October 20 and 21, 1976. The lineup for these sessions included the Blue Grass Boys lineup of guitarist Wayne Lewis, banjo player Bill Holden (both of whom had joined in the last few months), fiddler Kenny Baker and bassist Randy Davis, in addition to James Monroe on second guitar, Joe Stuart on second fiddle and Baker's protégé Blaine Sprouse on third fiddle. The first session saw the group recording Flatt and Scruggs' "My Cabin in Caroline", the folk standard "No Place to Pillow My Head", and the new original "My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darlin'", which was written in reference to Monroe's latest love interest, Julia LaBella. The latter two tracks featured a vocal trio, with Lewis performing lead vocals.
The band started the next day's session with the mandolin-led instrumental "Monroe's Blues", which had originated from Monroe "noodling around" on the group's tour bus several months earlier, and named by previous Blue Grass Boys banjo player Bob Black. After an "unsuccessful attempt" at a new version of "The First Whippoorwill" (with James Monroe on lead vocal), the group recorded another new composition, "Lucky Lady", which a friend of Monroe's claims was inspired by another love interest of the bandleader — a claim which he denied. The final song recorded at the session was another track written about a woman, "My Louisiana Love", who Monroe biographer Tom Ewing claims "refused [Monroe's] advances". This was the third song to feature a vocal trio — Davis on lead, Monroe on tenor and Stuart on baritone.
The rest of the album was made up of slightly older recordings. Virginia Stauffer's "With Body and Soul", which inspired the title of the album, comes from a session on April 29, 1969, which featured James Monroe, banjo player Rual Yarbrough, Baker, guest fiddler Tommy Williams, and session bassist Joe Zinkan. It was originally issued as the B-side to "Fireball Mail" later that year. "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine", written by Monroe with Jake Landers, was recorded on October 28, 1969, with Joe "Red" Hayes in place of Williams and Bill Yates in place of Zinkan. It was initially released as a standalone single on March 9, 1970. "Milenburg Joy" comes from January 20, 1971, the last session for 1972's Uncle Pen, featuring Bobby Thompson on banjo, Buddy Spicher on second fiddle and Stuart on bass; and "My Old Kentucky and You" was recorded on March 21, 1972, with bassist Monroe Fields singing lead, Stuart on guitar, Jack Hicks on banjo, and Williams on second fiddle.

## Release

Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body and Soul was released by MCA Records on January 10, 1977. "My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darlin'", backed with "Monroe's Blues", followed as the sole single from the October 1976 sessions a week later.

## Reception

Cash Box magazine published a positive review of Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body and Soul. They called the album "a complete bluegrass package", praising "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine" and "With Body and Soul" as "the LP's two strongest entries yet" and hailing "Milenburg Joy" as a "fresh uptempo bluegrass instrumental [which] helps balance the album's ... variety". It reached the top 50 of the Record World Country Album Chart in February 1977.