& The Blue Grass Boys: Live at Mechanics Hall
Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys have had dozens of notable members over the years, a fact that fuels the popular pastime of arguing about which version was the greatest of all. One of the strongest contenders for the title is the band featured onLive at Mechanics Hall, a 1963 concert recorded byDavid Grismanand now commercially released for the first time. Monroe's band that night featured fiddler Joe Stuart, bassist Bessie Lee, banjo pickerBill Keith(whose innovative "melodic" style helped pioneer the progressive strain of bluegrass later taken up by players such asBéla Fleck), andDel McCoury, a powerful singer and guitarist who would go on to keep the traditional bluegrass flame burning into the next century. Monroe was 53 years old at the time, but his energetic performances on classic like "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Uncle Pen" show a man more the capable of keeping up with musicians half his age. Monroe had sung and picked these songs many times before this show, but it's hard to imagine that he ever performed them better.--Michael John Simmons