ABSTRACT

Bill Monroe never forgot about Tommy Magness. “Tommy Magness worked for me in 1940, and was on my first records,” he recalled. “He had that fine old-time touch, rich and pure, but he was able to put a touch of blues to it. He was the first man I heard play ‘Orange Blossom Special,’ and he could put a lot more in it than they do today. He taught me the song ‘The Hills of Roane County,’ and I taught him to play ‘Katy Hill’ in the bluegrass way.”