But the song was originally written and recorded by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe as a waltz written in 1946 and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley.
Elvis recorded and completely transformed it in to an lively rocking 4/4 blues favoured tune in 1954 at Sun Records.
Bill Monroe recorded it for Columbia Records on September 16. It was released in early 1947. At the time, the Bluegrass Boys included vocalist and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjoist Earl Scruggs, who would later form their own bluegrass band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Both Flatt and Scruggs performed on the recording, although Bill Monroe supplied the vocals on this song.
Elvis Presley Version
The search for another song to release along with That's All Right at Sun Records in July 1954 led to Blue Moon of Kentucky via Bill Black. "We all of us knew we needed something," according to Scotty Moore, and things seemed hopeless after a while. "Bill is the one who came up with "Blue Moon of Kentucky....We're taking a little break and he starts beating on the bass and singing "Blue Moon of Kentucky," mocking Bill Monroe, singing the high falsetto voice. Elvis joins in with him, starts playing and singing along with him," as did Moore himself. Elvis Presley Scotty and Bill, with the encouragement of Sam Phillips, transformed Monroe's slow waltz (3/4 time) into an upbeat, blues-flavored tune in 4/4 time.
Bill Monroe
" William Smith Monroe (September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American musician who helped develop the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. He is often referred to as The Father of Bluegrass."
Read more - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Monroe
No comments:
Post a Comment