![[Western Music] Bluegrass masterpieces: recommended popular and signature songs](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yQIJuu3N5EY/hqdefault.jpg)
Bluegrass music is an acoustic genre that developed in the United States based on the traditional music of Scotland and Ireland.
Because the pioneering figure Bill Monroe was from Kentucky, the term “bluegrass,” which is both the name of a pasture grass and the state’s nickname, came into use.
It features ensembles centered on acoustic instruments, with the bright, lively sounds of banjo and fiddle being especially characteristic.
In this article, we present a lineup focused on classic songs in the traditional bluegrass style.
It’s a recommended selection even for beginners, so please take this opportunity to check it out.
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[Western Music] Bluegrass Masterpieces: Recommended Popular and Iconic Songs (1–10)
Foggy Mountain BreakdownEarl Scruggs & Friends
Foggy Mountain Breakdown, composed in 1949 by Earl Scruggs.
Scruggs also played with Bill Monroe’s band, the Blue Grass Boys, and is known for establishing the three-finger banjo picking technique known as the Scruggs style.
This bluegrass standard has been used in various films and TV shows, including the car chase scenes in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.
I Am A Man Of Constant SorrowSoggy Bottom Boys
“I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” is widely believed to have been first sung around 1913 by a blind musician named Dick Burnett.
It is also famous for having been covered—with changes to lyrics and melody—by a variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary.
The song was also used in the 2000 comedy film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” starring George Clooney, whose soundtrack became a major hit and won Album of the Year at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002.
Blue Moon of KentuckyBill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys
Blue Moon of Kentucky was composed by Bill Monroe in 1946 and recorded by his band, the Blue Grass Boys.
Designated as the official bluegrass song of the state of Kentucky, it has become a beloved classic across genres, covered by artists such as Elvis Presley and Paul McCartney.
Incidentally, Bill Monroe, who wrote the song, was a key figure in bluegrass, and the name of his band, the Blue Grass Boys, became the name of the musical genre itself.
Rocky TopOsborne Brothers
Rocky Top, composed by the Bryants in 1967 and recorded by the Osborne Brothers.
A bluegrass classic whose fast tempo and bright melody stand in stark contrast to lyrics lamenting the loss of freedom, it is also one of Tennessee’s ten state songs.
Covered by country singers such as Buck Owens and Lynn Anderson, and performed many times live by the jam band Phish, it has long been loved beyond the boundaries of bluegrass.
Church Street BluesTony Rice
Guitarist Norman Blake, known for his participation in Bob Dylan’s 1969 album Nashville Skyline.
Church Street Blues is included on his 1976 album Whiskey Before Breakfast.
It’s a moving masterpiece where gently quiet guitar tones color somewhat somber lyrics.
It has also been covered on Tony Rice’s 1983 album Church Street Blues and Punch Brothers’ 2022 album Hell on Church Street.
Black Mountain RagDoc Watson
Doc Watson, known as a blind guitarist and singer, profoundly influenced later artists with his rapid flatpicking technique called cross-picking.
Let’s introduce the traditional classic “Black Mountain Rag,” a piece Doc performed across a range of genres—not only bluegrass but also blues, country, and folk.
Originally popular in the late 1930s under the title “Black Mountain Blues,” it became a hit in the 1940s when fiddler Curly Fox recorded it as “Black Mountain Rag.” In 2006, Doc released a compilation bearing the same title, featuring recordings from the 1980s, with “Black Mountain Rag” as the opening track.
The astonishingly fast picking in the latter half—quintessential Doc—is not to be missed!
Appalachian Mountain GirlAlan Jackson
Since releasing his second album, Here in the Real World, in 1990, Alan Jackson has remained at the forefront of American country music.
Armed with a musical style that expertly blends a rootsy honky-tonk sound with contemporary country elements, he has also released works in genres like bluegrass and gospel.
Boasting record-breaking sales and numerous prestigious awards, Jackson released an album in 2013 aptly titled The Bluegrass Album—his first-ever bluegrass record—on which he wrote and composed half of the tracks himself.
From those original songs, let’s highlight Appalachian Mountain Girl, a quintessential bluegrass number.
With its cheerful fiddle, smooth guitar and banjo, and the resonant tones of mandolin, it stands as a modern bluegrass classic.