dmiller - Posted - 12/25/2010:  19:39:21

So what say ye? Is Jerusalem Ridge a mando, or a fiddle tune?

Monroe wrote it, and he picked mandolin. There was a dispute: between Kenny and Bill.
Kenny made it popular with his fiddling/ Bob Black did the same with his banjo work.

I was at a fiddle workshop with Kenny back in 1985 (1986- thereabouts), and he told the story.
Someone there at the workshop (in Mnpls, Mn) asked why he left Monroe, or if he was fired.
Kenny said something to the effect of "How much time have ya got"?

The upshot of it is - - - here's the short story from Kenny (from 25 or so years ago).

Kenny had quit the Bluegrass Boys several times, but was always asked back. He had a track record of doing the Bill Monroe tunes the way the audience liked to hear them, so there were no problems with him returning after having NOT being a "Bluegrass Boy". He seemed to be the "perfect complement" to Monroe's mandolin, and even after an absence he was always welcome there on stage.

Then (as Kenny told it), the last time he picked for Monroe,
he and Bill got into a fight about Jerusalem Ridge,
at some performance they were doing.

Bill wanted Kenny to do all the breaks on it. Kenny said "No way, you have to do a break too".
Bill asked "Why? - - it's a fiddle tune!". Kenny said "No it's not, it's a mandolin tune!".

Kenny insisted that Bill take a break in the tune (wherever the venue was), and Bill said:
"If I have to take a break in this tune, it'll be the LAST one you play as a Bluegrass Boy"!
Kenny said "That's fine with me!" Bill never did play a mando break that night.
Kenny walked off stage/ packed up his fiddle and left Bill Monroe forever, and didn't look back.

So - - I'm curious. Do you all think Jerusalem Ridge is a fiddle, or a mando tune?
I'm thinking Bill was wrong (according to Kenny). It's a Mando tune!

Edited by - dmiller on 12/25/2010 19:53:24

mandogryl - Posted - 12/26/2010:  03:20:36

I think it is a fiddle tune, and I also believe that Kenny wrote it.
Bill had all the Bluegrass Boys sign a contract of which part stated that anything they wrote
while under Bill's employment was considered Bill's composition. I don't claim to be an
expert on the subject, as I am not a huge Monroe fan, but I do like Kenny Baker.
Here is a Youtube of Kenny and Bill playing JR, with Aly Bain looking on, and if you notice, Mr. Monroe
does not take a 'break'.
youtube.com/watch?v=bpzoLAwZ-gs

mandolinman31639 - Posted - 12/26/2010:  08:03:27

I am a huge Bill Monroe fan and think that his best stuff was when Kenny Baker was with him Jerusalem Ridge sounds better on the fiddle.

H20 - Posted - 12/26/2010:  15:22:10

Monroe told me it was a fiddle tune way back

bsandefur - Posted - 12/27/2010:  05:18:09

Nothing to do with the song but I heard or read a few years ago that when they weren't on the road the Bluegrass Boys had to work on his farm..

RobertJ711 - Posted - 12/27/2010:  06:59:04

Seems what Monroe does on the mandolin for that tune is just a basic structure of the song and its only the first and second part,sometimes I think thats all he had and Kenny Baker added the rest,but there were posts I read that suggested Monroe wrote it after being overseas and visiting Jerusalem (or was that Cheyenne?).

Pickin Pete - Posted - 12/27/2010:  10:50:20

Old subject, I havent changed my opinion. Monroe said he wrote it, Baker said Monroe wrote it, It sounds like Monroe, Ive never heard anything Baker wrote that sounded anything like it. I do believe bakers arrangement is what people think of and thats why people insist he wrote it. But more than a decade after Bills death, Baker still hasnt changed his position that bill wrote it.

olfarmer - Posted - 12/28/2010:  04:02:30

Dont know if it's a fiddle or mandolin tune but I love Bakers way of playing it on the fiddle,love Monroes playing not so much his singing!

mrbook - Posted - 12/29/2010:  10:00:20

I think it is a fiddle tune; when I play it on mandolin, I usually play only the first three parts, as Monroe did on the Kenny Baker album "Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe" (County). I would bet that Monroe sketched the tune out to Baker, who made it into a real tune. I think Byron Berline did something similar with "Gold Rush."

As to Baker leaving Monroe, the story I've heard and always liked best was that Baker tired of playing the tune all the time, and one night when a request came in, Monroe said, "Kenny will be glad to do it." Baker replied, "Play it yourself, old man," and walked off the stage and out the door. Maybe it's not exactly true, but I couldn't stop laughing the first time I heard it. People who make powerful music have powerful personalities.

Edited by - mrbook on 01/05/2011 06:41:23

gDGBD - Posted - 01/04/2011:  08:17:21

Another story has someone asking Kenny why he left Monroe and Kenny replying, "How'd you like to play in B for 25 years?"

m - Posted - 01/04/2011:  19:07:16

quote:

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Originally posted by RobertJ711

Seems what Monroe does on the mandolin for that tune is just a basic structure of the song and its only the first and second part,sometimes I think thats all he had and Kenny Baker added the rest,but there were posts I read that suggested Monroe wrote it after being overseas and visiting Jerusalem (or was that Cheyenne?).

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