Bill Monroe & The Blue Grass Boys – Live At Mechanics Hall

More than a couple of live recordings of Bill Monroe are available, and probably more are on the way. For now, though, this 1963 disc — recorded by a young David Grisman in Worcester, Massachusetts — is the one to have.

In terms both of his band’s music and his outlook, Monroe was on the way back up from his career low point of the late ’50s and early ’60s. That was due in part to his lineup, which included Del McCoury on guitar and lead vocals, and, more importantly, dynamic young banjo whiz Bill “Brad” Keith, whose melodic style innovations allowed for a more precise rendering of tunes than Earl Scruggs’ straightforward approach.

This allowed Monroe to tout his banjo player as superior to Scruggs, who, with fellow former Blue Grass Boy Lester Flatt, was considerably more successful than Monroe at the time. Not unrelated was the growing success of admirer and former manager Ralph Rinzler in countering the publicity Flatt & Scruggs had gotten with his own assertion that Monroe was the ultimate “Daddy of Blue Grass.”

With an audience composed largely of folk music enthusiasts, and a lineup fleshed out by longtime bass player Bessie Lee Mauldin and on-and-off Blue Grass Boy utility man Joe Stuart on fiddle, Monroe romped through a strong set typical of the period. There are old favorites aplenty, of course, including “Blue Moon Of Kentucky”, “Footprints In The Snow” and a blistering “Rawhide”; a couple of numbers featuring McCoury’s lead vocals (his decidedly not sky-high work will come as a surprise to those who know only his work as a bandleader); and a good dose of Monroe’s inimitable between-song patter.

But there are some neat extras, too, including a couple songs by daughter Melissa (one of them a peculiar but not unpleasant stab at imitating Mac Wiseman on “Dreaming Of A Little Cabin”) and a nifty duet with Bea Lilly on an old Monroe Brothers number, “What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul”, that powerfully illustrates the difference between Monroe’s “brother duet” approach and his later, full-fledged bluegrass sound.

Live At Mechanics Hall has considerable historical value but also works well as a complete and satisfying showcase of Monroe’s music rendered by a well-trained and inspired band. For those not yet familiar with the Father of Bluegrass, it’s as good an introduction as any, and better than most.