Charlie Monroe (July 4, 1903 – September 27, 1975) was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

guitarist. Charlie performed with his brother, Bill, as part of the Monroe Brothers. He later formed his own group, Charlie Monroe & the Kentucky Pardners.

Biography

Charlie Monroe was born on his family's farm in

Rosine, Kentucky Rosine () is an unincorporated community in Ohio County, Kentucky, United States. Bill Monroe, ''The Father of Bluegrass'', is buried in the community and memorialized with a bronze cast disk affixed to the barn where his music remains alive. Th ...

; he was the older brother of the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

player

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

. His sister Bertha also played guitar, and brother

Birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

, fiddle. Charlie,

, and Bill played together as a band in the middle of the 1920s, and played on radio starting in 1927. Soon after this, however, their parents died and Charlie and

moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and then

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

to find work, eventually taking jobs in

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

near

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

. Bill followed them into the oil business in 1929, and the three continued performing in small-time and private venues.

The Monroe Brothers

Tom Owen, a musician on the WLS Barn Dance radio program, heard them play at a dance club in 1932 and asked them to join his group as dancers. They accepted, and toured with Owen for the next two years. In 1934, they once again got offers to play music, this time for Indiana radio stations WAE and WJKS. Not long after this, Texas Crystals, a

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

company, offered to sponsor the Monroes for a radio program of their own. When Birch refused the offer, Bill and Charlie took the bill as The Monroe Brothers. The resulting program was so successful that it eventually became a daily broadcast on

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

station WBT. Texas Crystals dropped the sponsorship in 1936, but Crazy Water Crystal Company picked it up, and the brothers continued with the show. That same year, the brothers first recorded together for

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

. Bill and Charlie recorded together for the next two years, but Bill chafed under Charlie's role as the usual lead singer. Both brothers were hot-headed and hard-working and felt they could succeed on their own. Charlie was comfortable leading a band, more so than his brother Bill as a result of his outgoing personality, and they split in 1938.

Solo career

Each then formed his own band, with Bill starting The Kentuckians (later the Blue Grass Boys) and Charlie, The Kentucky Pardners. Charlie brought members of the Monroe Brothers act with him to Knoxville and then to Roanoke playing on radio stations. By this time he had hired Bill Calhoun and Zeke Morris, and he was attempting a re-creation of the Monroe Brothers duet sound.Parsons, Penny; Stubbs, Eddie (2016). "The Adventures of Smilin' Bill: 1939–1944.". ''Foggy Mountain Troubadour: The Life and Music of Curly Seckler''. University of Illinois Press. pp. 16–42. He spent most of his time during the early 1940s in Greensboro, North Carolina at radio station WBIG, where he was featured on a show called the Noonday Jamboree every day. He also spent some time in '44 and '45 at WSJS in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A number of noted bluegrass musicians played with Charlie's band, including

Lester Flatt Lester Raymond Flatt (June 19, 1914 – May 11, 1979) was an American bluegrass guitarist and mandolinist, best known for his collaboration with banjo picker Earl Scruggs in the duo Flatt and Scruggs. Flatt's career spanned multiple decades, ...

, Red Rector,

Curly Seckler John Ray Sechler, known as Curly Seckler, (December 25, 1919 – December 27, 2017) was an American bluegrass musician. He played with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in their band the Foggy Mountain Boys from 1949 to 1962, among other bluegrass ac ...

, Fiddlin' Dale Cole and

Ira Louvin Ira Lonnie Loudermilk (April 21, 1924 – June 20, 1965), known professionally as Ira Louvin, was an American country music singer, mandolinist and songwriter. He was a cousin of songwriter John D. Loudermilk. Biography Ira Louvin was born in ...

. The Kentucky Pardners enjoyed considerable success as a touring outfit in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

throughout the 1940s. Charlie signed with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

in 1946 and with

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in 1950; he wrote and recorded a large body of material and continued to tour relentlessly until he announced his retirement in 1957. He moved back to his farm and, after the death of his first wife, worked in manual labor in

again. He remarried in 1969. On July 3 of the same year, he performed with Bill and Birch at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife. Monroe was asked by

Jimmy Martin James Henry Martin (August 10, 1927 – May 14, 2005) was an American bluegrass musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass". Early years Martin was born in Sneedville, Tennessee, United States, and was raised in the hard farming life of rural ...

to play at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival in 1972. His performance was a great success.

Death

He continued to play festivals until diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in 1974; he died at his farm in

Reidsville, North Carolina Reidsville is a city in Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 14,580. Reidsville is included in the Greensboro–High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont T ...

in 1975 and was buried in his family's plot.

References

Charlie Monroe Charlie Monroe (July 4, 1903 – September 27, 1975) was an American country and bluegrass music guitarist. Charlie performed with his brother, Bill, as part of the Monroe Brothers. He later formed his own group, Charlie Monroe & the Kentucky P ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monroe, Charlie 1903 births 1975 deaths Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky Country musicians from Kentucky People from Ohio County, Kentucky RCA Victor artists Singers from Kentucky 20th-century American singers