I thought I knew a bit about this genre. I mean I listen to it a bit and I spent some long hours researching my post from July of 2020. This by far does not qualify me as an expert. And here comes the ‘but’. I ran across an article recently, now most people would not notice or wouldn’t care that much. But cover songs is what I do so if I see something amiss I feel it’s fair game to call it out.

My inbox contained the headline 🎶 5 Great Bluegrass Covers 🎶coming from a publication I subscribe to, that shall for now, remain nameless. I clicked on the link in the email and it took me to an article called The Top 6 Covers of Bluegrass Songs. Five, six, ok a typo there, no big deal, myself and typos are good friends. My interpretation led me to expect the “Top” songs of Bluegrass Origin with covers by Bluegrass artists. At the very least, Bluegrass songs covered by non-Bluegrass singers.

The title aside, and I make mistakes periodically so I never criticize based on that, but a glaring error, omission or being factually incorrect is another thing. I may be off base (probably) but my familiarity with the songs on the list made me think of the old kids show type riddles of “one of these things is not like the other”.

Of the six songs on the list, I don’t think two of the songs belong at all. This is not one of those lists where one might say, oh you forgot to add this song, or even why the heck is this or that song not on the list. The writer refers to the songs as Bluegrass Standards, yet two of the songs do not have a Bluegrass origin, though they have been covered by some artists of that genre at some point and time.

The first song was ‘Wayfaring Stranger” and I can understand why the writer may have selected this traditional tune (with the writer unknown) as it’s origins are believed to be from the Appalachian Mountain region, which is the home of Bluegrass. But there are more styles of music from this region such as Country, Folk and Gospel. A connection to Bluegrass for sure, but it does not have the elements of the genre. Most of these ‘traditional’ songs have been traced back to British, Irish or of other European origins.

Not all Gospel songs from the Appalachian region are Bluegrass, nor are all Bluegrass songs Gospel.

‘Wayfaring Stranger” was first recorded by a Tennessee native and a man known as The Father of Southern Gospel, James Vaughn with his group Vaughn’s Texas Quartet, released in 1936, and you can listen to the clip below. It was first covered in 1944 by Burl Ives who was a noted Folk Singer from Illinois. The first version by a Bluegrass artist was by the Father of Bluegrass himself, Bill Monroe in 1958. There are several other covers in the Bluegrass style but it has not become a Bluegrass song because of that, nor is it a ‘standard’ of the genre. The balance of the 320 plus covers are typically in a gospel, folk or country style. The article however provided a lovely cover by Emmylou Harris, so not a Bluegrass song, not a cover by a Bluegrass artist, but in this case sort of sung in a Bluegrass style.

Have a listen to the first recording.

A bit of Background

Bluegrass, loosely described for the vocal part as having that “high lonesome” sound and instrumentally, it is a string based music. The banjo and mandolin playing a prominent role of course and traditionally in the group or band they maybe have a stand up (double) bass or reasonable facsimile and most certainly a guitar. No drums (god no) but maybe a washboard, very rarely a harmonica but I think Flatt and Scruggs used one in their band. As Bluegrass went into the recording studio the pedal steel guitar and steel body (Dobro has become the generic name) electric guitar were added and are a mainstay of the genre still today. Jerry Douglas for example is the man for the Dobro and he’s on thousands of recordings.

Back to the list of Songs

Some on the list are sort of ‘no brainers’ like Elvis’s cover of Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. Written and first recorded by a Bluegrass artist. Also on the list “Mountain Dew” and the version provided is by Willie Nelson. No mention of the original or who wrote it. Maybe that got edited out, btw it was Bascom Lamar Lunsford who wrote and recorded it in 1928.

The Bill Monroe and Pete Rowan penned song “Walls of Time” released in 1973 is a great pick, with the cover provided by The Johnson Mountain Boys from 2011. The last of the four actual Bluegrass songs is “Nine Pound Hammer” which is a traditional Appalachian song first recorded by Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters aka (The Hill Billies) in 1927, again this origin is not cited in the article. The only version mentioned is the great cover by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Merle Travis. So, it is a cover of a Bluegrass song, not by artists from that genre however.

But then I see at #5 “Long Black Veil” and the cover by Johnny Cash. As in Johnny is doing a cover of a Bluegrass song? First I think, as I know the original, “Long Black Veil” is not a Bluegrass song. I will provide a clip below for each of these songs so you can have a listen.

Country Singer Songwriter Lefty Frizzell first recorded the song in 1959 and it has become a standard of the Country genre. It was written by Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill and it has been recorded more than 155 times. None of the people involved in the creation or recording have any Bluegrass connections. Lefty’s version of the song has been selected by The Library of Congress for preservation.

Lefty himself is certainly one of the most significant artists in Country Music. If Hank is #1 for shaping the sound of Country Music, in the eyes of many, Lefty was #2. Starting from his first single in 1950 that he co-wrote and was a #1 hit “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time” through to his songs in the mid 1960’s. While more well know within the community he influenced the direction of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and George Jones just to name a few of the iconic singers.

As for the version presented, it was Cash’s 1965 cover that appeared on his Orange Blossom Special album (not released as a single). It had been done a dozen times already when Cash recorded it, however it has become one of the better known versions of the song. A live version (first released on video in 2007) in the article is from the premier episode of The Johnny Cash Show in 1969. He is accompanied by Joni Mitchell. I had watched this clip long before and frankly though I love both of these artists dearly, I would call it a ‘nice’ version of the song. Again, you can listen and decide for yourselves. I’m still not getting the Bluegrass connection.

The last point that was made is “the song “Long Black Veil” has become a bluegrass standard…” No it is not. First a “standard” as most know is a song that has gained such a level of popularity that is recorded by many singers and generally recognizable to the audience to be of a particular genre. While no one is Louis Armstrong, you know what you are starting with when you hear a cover of “What a Wonderful World” for example.

Of the 150 or so versions I reviewed of “Long Black Veil” I would say after the sixth cover version, we see the first Bluegrass rendition by The Blue Grass Gentlemen in 1962. After that there maybe another 35 or so true Bluegrass recordings. So let’s say about 25% of the 150 plus versions, not exactly standard material.

Sure Bill Monroe and The Stanley Brothers did some great covers of it in their own Bluegrass style. It is a Country music Standard yes, for certain and also done by Folk icon Joan Baez, Rock and Rollers Johnny Rivers, Ronnie Hawkins and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. So not a Folk Standard nor a Rock Standard.

Here is the original sung by Lefty Frizzell

Below is the Johnny Cash /Joni Mitchell cover as noted above

So we have four Bluegrass Standards and two that are not. Maybe we ran out of ideas for Bluegrass Standards? I think some obvious choices for standards of the genre might have been “(Bury Me Beneath the) Weeping Willow Tree”, “Man of Constant Sorrow” or “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and a dozen others you can dig up within ten seconds on a Google search. Such a search does not yield the songs “Long Black Veil” or “Wayfaring Stranger”

Well, now that I have that out of system you can let me know if I am being too picky or if the author just does not know their stuff. Then again, only one of us got paid for writing an article.

Here is a link to the article I have been referencing.