From October 1, 2010 through to the end of September 2011, we will, each day, celebrate the life of Bill Monroe by sharing information about him and those people who are associated with his life and music career. This information will include births and deaths; recording sessions; single, LP and CD release dates; and other interesting tidbits. Richard F. Thompson is responsible for the research and compilation of this information. We invite readers to share any tidbits, photos or memories you would like us to include.
- February 5, 1991 CD released – Bill Monroe: Country Music Hall of Fame Series (MCAD 10082). *
- February 5, 2006 Don ‘Suds’ Slayman died in Imperial Manor, a Madison, Tennessee, nursing home. He was 78 and had been fighting Parkinson’s disease. He recently had a fall and suffered a heart attack. **
* Bill Monroe: Country Music Hall of Fame Series
Recorded between 1950 and 1988 the album is accompanied by liner notes by John Rumble and Chris Skinker. ??Bill Monroe made his most famous and popular — and arguably his best — recordings after he signed to Decca Records in 1950. For the next 40 years, he cut a number of classics, and 16 of his finest tracks are collected on Country Music Hall of Fame. The original versions of many of Monroe’s best-known songs, including New Mule Skinner Blues and Uncle Pen, are included, as well as his popular remake of his standard Blue Moon of Kentucky. Of course, a career as long and varied as Monroe’s is difficult to boil down to just 16 tracks and, inevitably, some of the latter-day cuts won’t please some dedicated fans. Nevertheless, it’s hard to beat Country Music Hall of Fame as a single-disc introduction to one of the greatest musicians in country music history.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Track listing – New Muleskinner Blues, Uncle Pen, Walking in Jerusalem, On and On, White House Blues, Happy on My Way, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Scotland, Midnight on the Stormy Deep, Kentucky Mandolin, Walk Softly on this Heart of Mine, The Lee Weddin’ Tune, Kentucky Waltz, My Last Days on Earth, My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darlin’ and Southern Flavor.
** A Nashville-based fiddle player, Don Slayman played in bands led by George Morgan, Little Jimmy Dickens and Marty Robbins.
He played fiddle on Nashville station WSIX for Goober Buchanan & His Kentuckians and also joined Big Jeff & His Radio Playboys. Slayman worked with notables such as Mother Maybelle and Carter Family, Chet Atkins, Minnie Pearl and Judy Lynn as well.
He appeared on several 1950s country hits including Hank Snow’s When Mexican Joe Met Jole Blon and Marty Robbins’ Maybelline and That’s All Right.
