I’m Going Back To Old Kentucky #224

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.

  • May 12, 1949 Joseph Calvin ‘Butch’ Robins was born in Lebanon, southwest Virginia. *
  • May 12, 1967 Doug Dillard played, as fill-in on banjo, with the Blue Grass Boys.
  • May 12, 2006 Book published – Bean Blossom: Its People and Its Music [Jim Peva] Infinity Publishing **

* Banjoist Butch Robins was a Blue Grass Boy briefly in June 1967, then from September 1977 to July 1981.

He participated in several recording sessions while with Bill Monroe. The first few of these produced cuts for the album Bill & James Monroe: Together Again (MCA 2367). Robins also played on Bean Blossom ’79 (MCA 3209) and back in the studio during three sessions for the Master of Bluegrass LP (MCA 5214).

In addition to working for Bill Monroe, Robins has had a mixture of jobs, including playing guitar with Snuffy Jenkins and Pappy Sherrill, banjo with Charlie Moore and the Dixie Partners, taking on the bass duties for New Grass Revival, a spell with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, and another with Jim & Jesse, before leading the Bluegrass Band and recording a few albums for the Hay Holler label.

He recorded three solo albums for Rounder Records. Another solo album, Grounded Centered Focused, also for Hay Holler Records, features some of Bill Monroe’s last studio recordings.

Robins’ autobiography, What I Know ‘Bout What I Know: The Musical Life of an Itinerant Banjo Player, published in 2003, relates many of his experiences while a Blue Grass Boy.

**  Bean Blossom: Its People and Its Music ISBN: 0-7414-3210-2

This photographic history of tiny Bean Blossom Indiana highlights many of the interesting people, including Bill Monroe, who have contributed to its success as a venue for the performance of music, including bluegrass, since 1940. The oldest continuous annual bluegrass music festival in the world is held here every year in the month of June. Now played all over the world, bluegrass music has become a unifying force between people of very different backgrounds and Bean Blossom is an important center of this unifying force. The author includes a short story about the friendship between his family and Bill Monroe. (Product description)