ABSTRACT
They were cheap records, designed for a Depression-wracked South, meant to be sold for 35 cents apiece. They were heavy, breakable, 10inch 78s with about three minutes of music on each side, and sound that was surprisingly good. The labels had their own tawdry beauty: against a pale yellow background, the picture of a brightly colored bluebird in flight, with the logo proclaiming them as Bluebird Records, and asserting that they were “electrically recorded.” Below the hole was the title in big capital letters-WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE IN EXCHANGE?—and under that the name of the group, MONROE BROTHERS (CHARLES AND BILL). There were no liner notes, no pictures as on a modern album, nothing about the group except that they played mandolin and guitar. There was no hint that Bill would become the founder of bluegrass music and a member of the Hall of Fame, and no indication that Charlie would become a major radio star whose songs would become standards for several generations. Yet they would become some of the most influential discs in country music history, the start of two important careers, the high point of a duet singing tradition, the lightning rod for two volatile tempers that would change the nature of the music. Years later, Bob Dylan would tell Rolling Stone magazine. “I’d still rather listen to Bill and Charlie Monroe than any current record. That’s what America’s all about to me.”
