Dr. Rodney F. Moag is a musician, music historian, and author, and until 2004 was
Associate Professor of South Asian languages in the Department of Asian Studies
at the University of Texas at Austin. Rod is the author of "The History of Early
Bluegrass in Texas" which appeared in The Journal of Texas Music History, Vol. 4,
no. 2, Fall 2004, pps. 22-48. Excerpts and photos from this article along with
additional articles and photos are available on www.texasbluegrasshistory.org.
Since his retirement after 36 years of university teaching Rod has been able to
devote more time to his varied musical activities, including his bluegrass band Rod
Moag and Texas Grass. You can read more by, and about, Rod at his personal
website http://rodmoag.home.texas.net.
Associate Professor of South Asian languages in the Department of Asian Studies
at the University of Texas at Austin. Rod is the author of "The History of Early
Bluegrass in Texas" which appeared in The Journal of Texas Music History, Vol. 4,
no. 2, Fall 2004, pps. 22-48. Excerpts and photos from this article along with
additional articles and photos are available on www.texasbluegrasshistory.org.
Since his retirement after 36 years of university teaching Rod has been able to
devote more time to his varied musical activities, including his bluegrass band Rod
Moag and Texas Grass. You can read more by, and about, Rod at his personal
website http://rodmoag.home.texas.net.
| Reprinted from Pick 'N' Bow (Newsletter, Lumberton TX: December 2005) Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 5-6 |
| Monroe’s Mandolin Inducted Into Hall of Fame - By Rod Moag |
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On September 13 of 2005, a unique and very touching ceremony took place at the Country
Music Hall of Fame in Nashville on the occasion of Bill Monroe’s 94th birth anniversary.
Through the good graces of a Nashville friend, this reporter was one of a crowd of some 400
special invitees who witnessed the induction of Bill Monroe’s Gibson F5 mandolin into the
HOF’s permanent collection. Ricky Skaggs played the mandolin as he and Kentucky
Thunder opened the program performing “Mother's Not Dead”.
Speeches by various dignitaries of the Country Music Association followed, including
remarks by current president Vince Gill and 30-year Grand Ole Opry director Bud Wendel.
The mandolin was described by all as “Monroe’s musical partner,” highlighting the role which
the mandolin played in establishing what we know today as the classic bluegrass sound.
James Monroe, from whom the instrument was purchased, also spoke and affirmed that his
father’s wish was for his mandolin to rest in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Part of the arrangement for acquisition specified that terms of the agreement not be made
public. Monroe last played the mandolin on the Opry on March 15, 1996, a few months before
his passing on September 9 of that year.
Acquisition of Monroe’s musical partner was arranged by filanthropist Bob McClain, who had
also earlier arranged for Mother Maybelle Carter’s famous Gibson guitar to be added to the
HOF’s collection. Various speakers recounted bits of the history of the mandolin — serial
number 73987 signed by Lloyd Loar on July 9, 1923 — purchased from a Miami Florida
barber shop in 1945, the year that Monroe put together his classic band comprised of Lester
Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Howard Watts. They recounted how Monroe had
become upset with the Gibson company and scratched the Gibson name off the peghead,
how the mandolin had been smashed to bits with a fireplace poker by an irate woman then
meticulously reassembled by a master luthier, how Gibson had later restored the mandolin
following Monroe’s reconciliation with the company. Skaggs, still playing Monroe’s mandolin,
provided several further classic numbers, with the Grasscals invited to join them to close the
show with Uncle Pen. Immediately following the ceremony the mandolin was placed on
permanent exhibit in a sealed glass case on the third floor of the HOF.
Also in the Hall of Fame for the next year is a “spotlight exhibit” on Earl Scruggs, sole survivor
of the classic Monroe band of 1945- 48, who was also in attendance at the ceremony. The
exhibit features Earl’s first banjo, costumes, other instruments and memorabilia. It’s
wonderful to see that the Country Music Association is giving such prominent recognition to
some of our bluegrass stars.
This reporter had the Monroe mandolin in his own hands in 1955 when he met Monroe for
the first time. A short four years later, the mandolin was hung around the neck of then six-
year-old Ricky Skaggs during a Monroe performance at a school in Eastern Kentucky. Who
knows how many hands have touched this fabled mandolin through the five decades that it
was Monroe’s musical partner.
Music Hall of Fame in Nashville on the occasion of Bill Monroe’s 94th birth anniversary.
Through the good graces of a Nashville friend, this reporter was one of a crowd of some 400
special invitees who witnessed the induction of Bill Monroe’s Gibson F5 mandolin into the
HOF’s permanent collection. Ricky Skaggs played the mandolin as he and Kentucky
Thunder opened the program performing “Mother's Not Dead”.
Speeches by various dignitaries of the Country Music Association followed, including
remarks by current president Vince Gill and 30-year Grand Ole Opry director Bud Wendel.
The mandolin was described by all as “Monroe’s musical partner,” highlighting the role which
the mandolin played in establishing what we know today as the classic bluegrass sound.
James Monroe, from whom the instrument was purchased, also spoke and affirmed that his
father’s wish was for his mandolin to rest in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Part of the arrangement for acquisition specified that terms of the agreement not be made
public. Monroe last played the mandolin on the Opry on March 15, 1996, a few months before
his passing on September 9 of that year.
Acquisition of Monroe’s musical partner was arranged by filanthropist Bob McClain, who had
also earlier arranged for Mother Maybelle Carter’s famous Gibson guitar to be added to the
HOF’s collection. Various speakers recounted bits of the history of the mandolin — serial
number 73987 signed by Lloyd Loar on July 9, 1923 — purchased from a Miami Florida
barber shop in 1945, the year that Monroe put together his classic band comprised of Lester
Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Howard Watts. They recounted how Monroe had
become upset with the Gibson company and scratched the Gibson name off the peghead,
how the mandolin had been smashed to bits with a fireplace poker by an irate woman then
meticulously reassembled by a master luthier, how Gibson had later restored the mandolin
following Monroe’s reconciliation with the company. Skaggs, still playing Monroe’s mandolin,
provided several further classic numbers, with the Grasscals invited to join them to close the
show with Uncle Pen. Immediately following the ceremony the mandolin was placed on
permanent exhibit in a sealed glass case on the third floor of the HOF.
Also in the Hall of Fame for the next year is a “spotlight exhibit” on Earl Scruggs, sole survivor
of the classic Monroe band of 1945- 48, who was also in attendance at the ceremony. The
exhibit features Earl’s first banjo, costumes, other instruments and memorabilia. It’s
wonderful to see that the Country Music Association is giving such prominent recognition to
some of our bluegrass stars.
This reporter had the Monroe mandolin in his own hands in 1955 when he met Monroe for
the first time. A short four years later, the mandolin was hung around the neck of then six-
year-old Ricky Skaggs during a Monroe performance at a school in Eastern Kentucky. Who
knows how many hands have touched this fabled mandolin through the five decades that it
was Monroe’s musical partner.
| Sabine Bluegrass |