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Bill Monroe
and the Bluegrass Boys
with special guests:
Mac Wiseman
&
Carter Stanley
July 4, 1961 early set
Oak Leaf Park
Luray, VA
* Bill Clifton's Bluegrass Day *
sbd mono reel master > ? > cd => {wavelab > flac (KP)}
01. intro...
02. band intros
03. Panhandle Country
04. Gotta Travel On
05. Blue Moon of Kentucky
06. Put My Rubber Doll Away
07. Rawhide
08. Linda Lou
09. introduces Carter
10. banter
11. Sugar Coated Love ^
12. What Would You Give In Exchange for Your Soul?
13. banter
14. Sweetheart of Mine (Can't You Hear Me Callin') #
15. Travelin' That Lonesome Road
16. Whitehouse Blues
17. y'all Come
Beth Lee
Billy Baker
Bobby Smith
Tony Ellis
# Mac Wiseman
^ Carter Stanley
NOTEs -
This was the first "Bluegrass Festival". Fincastle was the first multi-day BGF in 1965 ...
The following is an excerpt from: The Origins of Bluegrass Festivals in Indiana
by Frank Overstreet & Jim Winger
The first event that used the words, "Bluegrass Festival," was promoted by the legendary singer and recording artist, Bill Clifton.
The location was Oak Leaf Park in Luray, Virginia, and the date was July 4, 1961.
This was also the first time that more than two well-known Bluegrass acts were booked on the same show.
Prior to that occasion, one or two Bluegrass bands would be booked on a country show of that period.
The festival was a one day event that featured Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, The Country Gentlemen,
Jim and Jesse, Mac Wiseman and Bill Clifton. This was also the first time that Bill Monroe called former
members of The Blue Grass Boys to the stage to play and sing. When 2,200 people attended the show,
it opened up a new venue for Bluegrass music.
The following is an excerpt from: "Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass"
by Richard D. Smith, pp. 152-3 ...
In 1961, Clifton was show producer at Oak Leaf Park, in Luray, Virginia, seventy-five miles
west of Washington, where bluegrass bands drew good crowds. For an all-bluegrass show on July 4,
he signed up Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Jim and Jesse, and Washington's hot new
progressive bluegrass band, the Country Gentlemen. Clifton also performed himself.
Flatt and Scruggs declined to appear. The issue was not money. Louise Scruggs informed Clifton
that they would not appear if Bill Monroe was there. When Clifton persisted, he was told that
working with the Stanley Brothers was also unacceptable. Having no desire to take sides,
Clifton booked Flatt and Scruggs for later in the season. The promotion attracted fans not only
from the D.C./Baltimore/ Northern Virginia region but from as far away as New York City and Boston,
many of them bluegrass- curious folkies. Israel Young later wrote in Sing Out!, the leading folk music
publication, "By the end of the day I wasn't sure yet of a definition of Bluegrass Music, but I realized,
to my great satisfaction, that it is a modern offshoot of traditional music...":During his set,
Monroe featured one of his occasional reunions with former Blue Grass Boys, this time inviting Carter Stanley
to join him for duets like "Sugar Coated Love." What happened next became one of the most notorious incidents
in bluegrass history. Clifton had provided some backstage hospitality in the form of a spiked punch.
That was a mistake, considering that Carter had a serious problem with alcohol. By the time Carter joined Monroe
onstage he was merry and feisty. Then Monroe made his own error in judgment. He couldn't resist a dig at the
former sidemen who had refused to share a stage with him. "It's a shame," Monroe said to the crowd,
"a lot of bluegrass people you know think they are ... they don't want to be on a show with you or something,
if the folks will think you started them. Well, it's the truth, so they shouldn't a-mind that, and they should
be glad they got a start, they'd-a probably had to plow a lot of furrows if they hadn't-a been in bluegrass music."
Monroe seemed satisfied with this. He had not-so-subtly declared himself the originating and mentoring figure in
bluegrass and had expressed irritation at his famous proteges without publicly identifying them. But that just
set off the lubricated Carter, who had his own ax to grind. "I guess I'll just break into this kindly blunt like,"
said Carter, stepping up to the microphone. "I understand they was a group that some of the folks asked to come in
here today. They said no, they didn't want to play here because Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers was gonna be here.
And that was Flatt and Scruggs. You know, we missed'em a heck of a lot, ain't we?" The gibe elicited laughter and applause from the crowd. Now that names had been named, Monroe decided to be more specific. "Well, you're talking about Lester and Earl," he said. "Now I started the two boys on the Grand Ole Opry, and they shouldn't he ashamed to come on the show and work with us." After more laughter and applause, Monroe added, "And I am sure I wouldn't hurt either one of them."
It was Monroe who could be hurt, and hurt badly, by this joking banter between a slightly drunken man and a sober but prideful one. Within a year, there was the prospect of a major lawsuit and the loss of his cherished berth on the Opry. The aftermath of this incident even threatened to derail the best chance Bill Monroe had to get his career back on track. But for the time being, the comments caused
only titillation in bluegrass circles.
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