Spanning over 1,000 separate performances, The Music of Bill Monroe presents a complete chronological list of all of Bill Monroe's commercially released sound and visual recordings. Each chapter begins with a narrative describing Monroe's life and career at that point, bringing in producers, sidemen, and others as they become part of the story. The narratives read like a "who's who" of bluegrass, connecting Monroe to the music's larger history and containing many fascinating stories.

The second part of each chapter presents the discography. Information here includes the session's place, date, time, and producer; master/matrix numbers, song/tune titles, composer credits, personnel, instruments, and vocals; and catalog/release numbers and reissue data.

The only complete bio-discography of this American musical icon, The Music of Bill Monroe is the starting point for any study of Monroe's contributions as a composer, interpreter, and performer.

| Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments "Walls of Time": Assembling the Bill Monroe Discography Neil V. Rosenberg "I Live in the Past": A Rationale for Methodology Charles K. Wolfe Format of the Discographies 1. "What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul?": 1936–38 DISCOGRAPHY, 1936–38 2. "Mule Skinner Blues": 1939–41 DISCOGRAPHY, 1939-41 3. "True Life Blues": 1942–45 DISCOGRAPHY, 1942–45 4. "Heavy Traffic Ahead": 1946–49 DISCOGRAPHY, 1946–49 5. "Uncle Pen": 1950–56 DISCOGRAPHY, 1950–56 6. "Gotta Travel On": 1957–62 DISCOGRAPHY, 1957–62 7. "Devil's Dream": 1963–72 DISCOGRAPHY, 1963–72 8. "Jerusalem Ridge": 1973–80 DISCOGRAPHY, 1973–80 9. "My Last Days on Earth": 1981–96 DISCOGRAPHY, 1981–96 Numerical Listing of Releases Appendix A: Performers' Names in the Discographies Appendix B: Producers' Names in the Discographies Appendix C: Titles in the Discographies General Index Song Title Index Back cover |"It is an impressive body of work, both the music and the research. Monroe's career is separated into discrete periods, each introduced by a learned and lucid essay. Discographical information (including both audio and video recordings) is impressively detailed."—No Depression
"It is not surprising that the combination of Rosenberg, the premier bluegrass historian, and Wolfe, one of the pioneering country music historians, would yield a book that examines every detail of the recording career of the Father of Bluegrass. . . . Each chapter ends with a very detailed discography complete with master numbers, alternate takes and unreleased sections. . . . If you are serious about your bluegrass and want to know every detail of the recordings of Monroe, this is the book for you."—Country Standard Time
"The book exceeds the high expectations we should have of such a collaboration between two of the best writers on the subject. Rosenberg writes so well that the reader is swept up in the introductory story of how the book was written and who contributed what; the chapters that examine the various periods in Monroe's career are unadulterated reading pleasure. . . . Absolutely essential for bluegrass fans."—Dirty Linen
|Grammy Award–winner Neil V. Rosenberg is the professor emeritus of folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is the author of Bluegrass: A History and Bluegrass Generation: A Memoir. Charles K. Wolfe (1943-2006) was a professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University. He was the author of the award-winning A Good-Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry and other books on Southern music.