![]() ![]() ![]() He just happened to have the kind of skills, and just enough encouragement from people like his Uncle Pen, that would one day bring him worldwide fame, if not exactly fortune. Monroe grew up ill-treated and ignored by his older siblings, lost his mother in adolescence, and turned to music (and later women) for companionship and solace. ![]() Smith's book works a little better as a historical document of Monroe's life and times than the psychological profile it tries to be at times, but the author is the first to admit that Monroe was nothing if not an enigma. Bluegrass is basically the songs Monroe heard growing up in Kentucky run through his preternatural musical abilities, which rivaled any jazz or classical virtuoso. Monroe was a collateral descendent of another president, James Monroe, and by Smith's reckoning, one of the few men to single-handedly spawn an entire genre of music. Monroe: Now, what did you say your name was? Reagan, prompting the following exchange: Right up there with Frank Sinatra, whom Monroe once met at an arts luncheon hosted by President and Mrs. Smith's Can't You Hear Me Callin' puts Bill Monroe in the front rank. When it comes to musical icons from the past century, Richard D. ![]() Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass by Richard D. ![]()
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