Jim & Jesse McReynolds

Here’s something that I wanted to blog about for a while now, but I never really knew how to approach the subject. I am going to talk a little about bluegrass artists covering pop and rock songs, trying to get them to sound bluegrass.

This idea has been around since bluegrass was still in its youth and the birth of rock-n-roll. Most everyone knows that Elvis Presley’s first single contained a rockabilly send-up of Bill Monroe’s lamenting waltz, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” Mr. Monroe didn’t think much of the cover, that is, until the royalty checks started coming in. Then, he was so impressed that he re-recorded the song to include a rockin’ 4/4 time version on the second half of the recording.

Through the years, bluegrass bands have dipped into the pop and rock-roll bag to get new musical ideas as well as to keep bluegrass relevant. Jim & Jesse McReynolds recorded a whole album’s worth of Chuck Berry songs. Through the 1960s, bands such as Flatt & Scruggs and the Country Gentlemen often picked up on rock and folk songwriters for material. Flatt & Scruggs had a minor hit with the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Nashville Cats” (which Del McCoury also recorded, and I will look at later), and a number of Bob Dylan compositions. That led to the disagreements of the band’s direction and ultimate break up. Earl Scruggs would go on to record and perform a number of pop and rock songs with his sons, while Lester Flatt would delve back into the traditional bluegrass sound.

During the 1970s and 80s, there was a lot of bluegrass artists covering pop and rock songs. Tons of bluegrass bands were covering the Beatles’ songs because they were popular. The Seldom Scene covered Ricky Nelson’s “Hello Mary Lou” (which has now become a bluegrass standard), as well as many Grateful Dead compositions. Of course, it helped that the band, particularly Jerry Garcia, was big fans of bluegrass, and the Garcia/Robert Hunt writing team was highly influenced by old-time music. Progressive bluegrass bands such as the New Grass Revival would often incorporate pop and rock songs their albums. NGR does an amazing cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t that Peculiar.”

But what about today’s bluegrass bands and their choices in pop and rock music. Some bands such as Del McCoury can pull it off pretty well. Take his cover of the aforementioned “Nashville Cats”:

However, with his band’s cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” in which they are joined by Sierra Hull, the Gibson Brothers, and a few others, it comes off to me as very tiring:

A few years back, the Grascals, who have always been known to cover popular country songs, had a bluegrass hit with its version of the Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville.” For me, it was OK, but not fantastic. Granted, at the time of the release, the Grascals were probably the most popular band in bluegrass, so they could take a chance on material.

Of course, Alison Krauss knows a good song when she hears one, and can make it her own. While not exactly bluegrass, she did put an acoustic swing to Bad Company’s “Oh, Atlanta”:

One artist that I think has a really good ear on choosing pop and rock songs to cover in the bluegrass vein is Dale Ann Bradley. I have always been a big fan of her, and part of the reason is that she chooses great material to record. Here are two fine examples of covers – the Kris Kristofferson/Janis Joplin hit “Me and Bobby McGee,” and Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”:

A band out now that I really like is Echo Valley. They are a bunch of young kids that sound great together, and I was glad to finally see them live last January at the SPBGMA conference. They perform some great bluegrass gospel, and have a few decent traditional sounding songs. However, I am not too impressed with their choices of covering modern rock songs. Among these are Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” Electric Light Orchestra’s “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and Guns & Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine”:

Again, I really like this band, but the choice of rock songs makes me wince. Maybe it’s me, but I just don’t hear a good melding of genres here.

This is definitely a “Chew on it and comment” blog. I would like to hear what others think. My blog next week will be a little late, as I will be going to Owensboro, Kentucky on the Thanksgiving weekend to visit the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

I realize that I am about two weeks late on this, but it slipped my mind, and I did want to say a few words about two great bluegrass mandolinists.

Jesse McReynolds passed away on June 23, a few days short of his 94th birthday. I was at the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival at the time when the news came down, and word spread throughout the bands and crowd slowly that afternoon. By the evening, each band that came on stage made a short announcement and dedication.

Jesse performed for over 50 years with his brother Jim as Jim & Jesse. He had a very unique style of mandolin playing. Instead of hard, barking rhythmic strumming and fast single-note leads, he instituted and perfected an arpeggio-style of picking to simulate the picking of a banjo. The duo had a number of hits on the bluesgrass charts, most notably recording an album of Chuck Berry songs in bluegrass style. Jim McReynolds died of cancer in 2002, and Jesse continued on solo, recording with a number of collaborators. He was also a big fan of jam bands, particularly the Grateful Dead, with one of his last recordings being Songs of the Grateful Dead: A Tribute to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter in 2010. I had the chance to speak with him briefly at an IBMA World of Bluegrass conference back when it was in Nashville, and he was a true, humble gentlemen.

Bobby Osborne passed away on June 27 at the age of 91. With his brother Sonny, they helped bluegrass gain a foothold in the country and pop music world during the 1960s as the Osborne Brothers with the standard “Rocky Top.” The band was well known for pushing the bluegrass barrier, often plugging in their instruments into amplifiers and having a drummer so that they could compete with country bands at outdoor shows. Bobby was also instrumental in having his high tenor voice serve as the lead singer while harmonies were sung in the lower registers. One of his most memorable vocal songs is “Ruby Are You Mad.” in which he holds a falsetto note often throughout the song for a number of seconds. After Sonny’s retirement in 2005 (he passed away in 2021), Bobby continued to perform with his sons as the Rocky Top X-Press. The band performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry until Bobby’s passing. I also met Bobby at an IBMA World of Bluegrass conference in Nashville, but not the same year as when I met Jesse. Bobby as well was friendly and humble about his work in the bluegrass field.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtSNeANMDd4

What will be missed about both of these mandolin players is their love of bluegrass music, the dedication to the art, and how much of an impact that they both had on players of today. Yes, they were in their old age, but it is always heartbreaking when those that were pioneers in the music industry leave us. Ironically, one of the last recordings that these men did was an album together, Masters of the Mandolin. That might be a good one to hunt out.

Chew on it and comment.