Ewing...writes himself into the narrative at the appropriate times, but in the third person. It’s a little off-putting at first, but it fits with the flow of the book: He’s just another Blue Grass Boy, one of the nearly 150 who played in Monroe’s band ... If you’re looking for an analytical view of Monroe and bluegrass music, you’ll have to provide it yourself. And in the end that’s the real success of this remarkable book. It’s a definitive work, one that’s sure to be an indispensable source for future writers. And one that will enable all of us to create our own personal biographies of Bill Monroe.
Mr. Ewing calls his account a 'chronicle' instead of a conventional biography, and the result is a mosaic-portrait enlivened by eyewitness details from sidemen and others whom Monroe molded and collaborated with. The book presents bluegrass history as it happened, as well as a fresh look at 'this extraordinary individual' ... Mr. Ewing’s biography is at its best in such scenes, where ex-Bluegrass Boys offer glimpses of an inscrutable musical giant—including their auditions, in which they literally shook with fear as Monroe rated their talent as if sizing up horseflesh. At times, though, the chronicle bogs down in accounts of recording sessions and show dates, blitzing the reader with too much minutiae ... a girlfriend said Monroe, then 77, beat her with a Bible. This side of Monroe is, for the most part, left unexplored by Mr. Ewing but rates a disclaimer: 'It should be noted . . . that those relationships helped Bill continue to feel young and vital throughout the years we knew him, and they inspired some great love songs.' If this seems over-generous, consider the songs Monroe got out of his rocky romances, not just 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' and 'Can’t You Hear Me Callin’' but 'My Little Georgia Rose' and 'Walk Softly on My Heart.'
[Ewing] writes very well, indeed, if, as chronicles are wont to encourage, without razzamatazz. He presents information narratively, not via charts, lists, itineraries, and the like, and he preserves the vernacular wording, grammatical gaffes and all, of his informants. Every performance and recording seem accounted for, and any future biographers per se will just have to make this book their number-one resource. Plain bluegrass fans will worship and adore Ewing’s achievement.
In exhaustive detail, Ewing...provides a workmanlike chronicle of Monroe ... Ewing clearly illustrates that Monroe was instrumental in bringing bluegrass to a wider audience in the 1940s and 1950s through radio and, later, TV appearances ... Although Ewing was close with Monroe, he offers a fair, objective, and entertaining chronicle that’s never fawning or hagiographic.
Ewing...serves up a cognoscenti’s deep-dish version of bluegrass history that is not for the uninitiated ... If you don’t know that a Snakehead A-4 was a kind of mandolin made by Gibson in the 1920s, then you’ll be forgiven for being a little lost—but this is the kind of book whose readers will have command over the bluegrass arsenal ... Ewing also offers casual, unlabored portraits of other key players in the bluegrass scene ... Fans of bluegrass and old-school country will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at Monroe’s storied career.
