Personnel includes: Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin); Doc Watson (vocals, guitar).

Personnel: Doc Watson (vocals, guitar); Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin).

Liner Note Author: Ralph Rinzler.

Recording information: Ash Grove, LA, CA (1956-1969); Jordan Hall, Boston, MA (1956-1969); New London (1956-1969); Oberlin College, OH (1956-1969); The White House, WA (1956-1969).

Photographer: Doc Watson.

Any time two greats who admire each other and are musically compatible team together, the results are usually mutually beneficial. That was true for Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, whose spirited union on this 17-song disc is a sampler of American musical styles. They ripped through bluegrass, folk, blues, spirituals, mountain tunes, work songs, reels and breakdowns. Monroe's mandolin and Watson's guitar playing were masterful, wondrous and performed without any trace of self-indulgence. Their vocals were also delivered with ease, fluidity and conviction, the product of two performers completely at ease with themselves and only interested in spotlighting the material. ~ Ron Wynn

From the '60s through the '80s, both Bill Monroe and Doc Watson were mainstays of the outdoor festival circuit. On more than a few occasions the two crossed paths on the road, and when they did they often played a few numbers together on stage. LIVE DUET RECORDINGS presents 17 performances that pair these two acknowledged masters of bluegrass.

The impromptu nature of Watson and Monroe's performances often required the two to choose familiar bluegrass standards such as "Foggy Mountain Top," "Midnight on the Stormy Deep," and "Banks of the Ohio." Many of these songs were drawn from Monroe's repertoire, while others demonstrate the pair's shared musical roots in the work of old-time legends the Delmore Brothers and Gid Tanner. Perhaps the most breathtaking moment here, in fact, comes on Tanner's "Soldier's Joy," which Watson and Monroe assault with a mind boggling virtuosity. The quality of these performances remains stellar throughout the disc, one of two live Monroe albums that Smithsonian Folkways records has liberated from the vaults. The excellent Volume 1 of LIVE RECORDINGS features Monroe with his band the Blue Grass Boys.