DEL MCCOURY
Old Memories: The Songs Of Bill Monroe
The Del McCoury Band's tribute to Bill Monroe, Old Memories: The Songs of Bill Monroe, is being released on CD just in time for the Grammy Awards. The album was previously released digitally and on vinyl in September 2011 and received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album in December.
The aforementioned September date, also marked the 100th anniversary of Bill Monroe's birth, and not surprisingly, there have already been plenty of tributes to the Father of Bluegrass Music, with more still to come. But when listeners turn to Old Memories: The Songs Of Bill Monroe - what they hear won't be the result of a carefully crafted campaign, but the result of a decision that was as spontaneous as it was inevitable - because for Del McCoury, Bill Monroe's legacy isn't just a matter of history, but something that's as immediate and personal as the guitar he picks up every time he gets ready to play.
Backed as always by his ace Del McCoury Band - son Ronnie on the mandolin, son Rob on the banjo, along with long-time fiddler Jason Carter and six-year veteran Alan Bartram on bass - McCoury works his way through a generous 16-track set that nods to the show he played with Monroe by starting with a quick 'Watermelon On The Vine' and concluding with a bit of a favorite closer, 'Y'all Come.' In between there are well-known classics like 'Close By' and 'Rose Of Old Kentucky,' obscurities like the Hank Williams-penned 'Alabama Waltz,' rarities like 'The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band' and 'Train 45' - Monroe was one of the few to record the tune with lyrics - and much more.
Whether they're staples of the bluegrass repertoire or resurrected rarities, what each has in common is an incomparable authenticity, bestowed in equal measure by Del McCoury's personal connection to Monroe and his music, and by his unalloyed musical integrity. And in the end, that makes Old Memories: The Songs Of Bill Monroe not just the tribute to Bill Monroe that it's intended to be, but a tribute, too, to the newest member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame - Del McCoury.
