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I was in the parlor with Mrs. Sunrise, singing an old-times tune about a beautiful harvest moon, when it all ended - It ended too soon
"Kentucky Waltz" is a 1946 song written and performed by Bill Monroe. The song was Bill Monroe's most successful release on the Country & Western charts peaking at number three. In 1951 Eddy Arnold recorded his version of the song which reached number one on the Country & Western Best Seller charts.
The Kentucky Waltz is a true love song for me to sing to and with my lovely bride, but who was it about for the one who made it?
William “Bill” Smith Monroe, the youngest of eight children was born on September 13, 1911 in Rosine, Kentucky to James Buchanan “Buck” Monroe, a prosperous farmer who also ran timber and mining operations, and Malissa Monroe, who kept house and helped pass along dance steps and British-American folksongs to her children.
There’s more than a few women that come up in the story of Bill Monroe’s later life. Notably, Carolyn Brown, Bill’s first wife who inspired the song “Along About Daybreak” after stabbing Bill in the leg with an ice pick. Or the infamous mistress Bessie Lee Mauldin. As a long standing Bluegrass Boy bassist, her relationship with Bill allegedly bore an “illegitimate” child, if there can be such - I think not. You may know their daughter as “Little Georgia Rose”. Another story is that Wanda Huff once accused Bill Monroe of cheating and asked him to swear on a Bible that he hadn’t, Bill allegedly beat her silly with that same Bible. However, the case was dismissed after it came to light Wanda had threatened Bill’s life and a gun was found in her truck.
So maybe Bill didn’t have the best love life, if only he could go back to a simpler time. Spoiler Warning. Oh wait, you’re supposed to put that before you say the spoiler.
See before Bill met Carolyn, Bessie, or Wanda there was another love. A woman he met right in his hometown of Rosine, Kentucky. A woman that he shared some special moments with. Maybe he was playing a dance with Uncle Pen and he set out on a tune so he could dance with her:
“We were waltzing that night in Kentucky
Beneath the beautiful harvest moon
And I was the boy that was lucky
But it all ended too soon...”
Just like Bill says in that last line, it didn’t work out between them. Which sent him down a path of failed relationships as far as the eye can see. If only he had some kind of time travelling mandolin.
Oh wait, he did have a time travelling mandolin. Yup, Bill Monroe’s prized 1923 Gibson F-5 Lloyd Loar serial number 73987 was a time machine. Bill Monroe purchased the famed mandolin in October of 1943 from a barbershop in Florida. From that moment forward you can think of Bill Monroe as Marty McFly and Llyod Loar as Doc Brown.
Monroe's last performance occurred on March 15, 1996. He ended his touring and playing career in April, following a stroke. Monroe died on September 9, 1996, in Springfield, Tennessee, four days before his 85th birthday.
The above is cut ‘n paste internet folklore about the father of American bluegrass, but one thing I know is true is that I botched this sweet little recording of Mrs. Sunrise and me during editing and somehow deleted most of the song. But maybe that’s just how it was meant to be. It most certainly all ends too soon. JT
- Genre
- Folk & Singer-Songwriter