Bill Monroe

A rare look at the inventiveness of the human spirit through reimagining the history of Bluegrass Music from Bill Monroe to today's musicians.

Longtime fans of bluegrass music and those only recently discovering it will appreciate this documentary on the genre, which was born of a combination of African and Celtic sounds and is the base of American country music. This film traces the musical form from its Appalachian roots to the present. The rise, fall, and consistent revival of bluegrass chronicled through oral history and visual record, resulting in a priceless film that even casual fans are sure to enjoy.

No single figure in American music so dominated a genre as did Bill Monroe with bluegrass. BILL MONROE: FATHER OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC features performances by Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys, Lester Flatt, Emmylou Harris, Paul McCartney, the Osborne Brothers, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, John Hartford and a once-in-a-lifetime Blue Grass Boys reunion featuring Del McCoury, Chubby Wise and Bill Keith. The film features archival footage and rare 1990s performances from Monroe's final years including many of the greatest songs from his six decades of recording.

Musical documentary records Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Scruggs' son Randy, Doc Watson and his son Merle playing and singing together in informal settings. Also includes performances by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Byrds and others

The Carter Family, Roy Acuff and the Sons of the Pioneers belong to a select group of the earliest and most successful country recording artists. Pioneers spotlights them all doing such signature songs as Keep On the Sunny Side, Wabash Cannonball and Tumbling Tumbleweeds, alongside the influential blue-grass bands of Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. And when Grandpa Jones stomps through Good Old Mountain Dew, you won't be able to sit down.

Examine the history of bluegrass music, from its origins to its eventual worldwide popularity, and hear from dozens of musicians who explain the ways bluegrass music transcends generational, cultural and geographic boundaries.

The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No. 17 in the Nielsen ratings in 1970. Cash opened each show, and its regulars included members of his touring troupe, June Carter Cash and the Carter Family, The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, and The Tennessee Three, with Australian-born musical director-arranger-conductor Bill Walker. The Statler Brothers performed brief comic interludes. It featured many folk-country musicians, such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Merle Haggard, James Taylor and Tammy Wynette. It also featured other musicians such as jazz great Louis Armstrong, who died eight months after appearing on the show.

A retrospective program dealing with country music's past, using old film clips, recent interviews and live performances.