Bill Monroe's Best


Bill Monroe's Best is the fifth compilation album by American bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and his band, the Blue Grass Boys. Released by Harmony Records on June 6, 1964, it features ten songs recorded between 1945 and 1947, all of which were originally released as singles or B-sides. Bill Monroe's Best is the second Monroe compilation issued by Harmony to cover the late-1940s Columbia Records period, following the 1961 release The Great Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys.

Background

Harmony Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records, issued Bill Monroe's Best as its second compilation for the musician on June 6, 1964. The album features ten tracks recorded by Monroe and his band during their time on Columbia between 1945 and 1949, including seven by the "classic bluegrass band" featuring Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Howard Watts. The other three tracks feature the 1944–1945 lineup of guitarists Jimmy "Tex" Willis and Elliot "Curly" Bradshaw, banjo player David "Stringbean" Akeman, Wise, Watts and accordion player Wilene "Sally Ann" Forrester.

Personnel