I’m Going Back To Old Kentucky #308

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.

  • August 4, 1924 Benny Sims was born.  *
  • August 4, 1962 LP released – The Father of Bluegrass (Camden CAL 719) **
  • August 4, 1979 Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, along with James Monroe and his band and Jimmy Skinner, made a personal appearance at the Honda Hills First Bluegrass Festival, Honda Hills Road, Linville, Ohio, for what was advertised as “The Midwest’s Finest.”

* Benny Sims had filled in for the fiddle player in the Blue Grass Boys.

He was one of the pioneers of bluegrass fiddling, working with Flatt and Scruggs in 1949 and 1950, and playing fiddle on the original recording of Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

** The Father of Bluegrass, 12 tracks

Track listing – Six White Horses, Doghouse Blues, Tennessee Blues, No Letter In The Mail, Anniversary (Blue Yodel No 7), Orange Blossom Special, Mule Skinner Blues, Katy Hill, I Wonder If You Feel The Way I Do, Honky Tonk Swing, In The Pines and Back Up And Push.

(re-issued in 1977 on Pickwick/Camden ACL-7059, with three songs omitted)

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About the Author

Richard Thompson

Richard F. Thompson is a long-standing free-lance writer specialising in bluegrass music topics. A two-time Editor of British Bluegrass News, he has been seriously interested in bluegrass music since about 1970. As well as contributing to that magazine, he has, in the past 30 plus years, had articles published by Country Music World, International Country Music News, Country Music People, Bluegrass Unlimited, MoonShiner (the Japanese bluegrass music journal) and Bluegrass Europe. He wrote the annotated series I'm On My Way Back To Old Kentucky, a daily memorial to Bill Monroe that culminated with an acknowledgement of what would have been his 100th birthday, on September 13, 2011.