https://www.pbs.org/video/big-family-the-story-of-bluegrass-music-oaoeko/

Thanks again for another great find Mike. I've got it bookmarked and will definitely watch it before its expiration date of 09/26/2019.

I found it very disappointing. FWIW I’ve been involved in bluegrass for decades and used to write/photograph for several bluegrass publications and played in several bands. PBS seemed to use very little footage during the last hour other than from PBS produced shows. They gave scant attention to some of the pioneers from throughout the years. Several times commentators contradicted the story in back to back appearances. Rarely were artists identified when on screen. The editing was abysmal.

Yeah, we did not like it. YMMV

J&B

J&B,

I haven't watched it yet but if all of your assertions are true, (and I don't have any reason to believe they aren't), then it's a deal breaker for me too.

The things that happened revolving around a handful of musicians in a small region of southern Appalachia set in motion something that will span decades of decades of musical history is undeniable.

It sounds like PBS missed an excellent opportunity to document something of great historical musical significance.

It wouldn't be the first time PBS has "screwed the pooch".

Bob, please don’t let us keep you from watching it. It just seemed thrown together to us. A lot of the footage was from the KET Bluegrass shows that had IMO really bad mixing. Bluegrass is so much more nuanced then most folks would ever realize and the subtleties of bands really working together was not often shown. The early years were covered OK but it mostly a rehash of what has been often written about. Bill Monroe, The Stanley Bros, Jim and Jessie, the Osborne Brothers got their due but it just didn’t seem cohesive. But I’ve read so much about Bluegrass and seen so many documentaries that I am likely biased. Neil Rosenberg was the highlight of the show for us. He was thoughtful, insightful and very well spoken.

J&B,

I may still watch it, but if a documentary on bluegrass doesn't spend a healthy amount of time on people like JD Crowe, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Mark O'Conner, Ricky Skaggs, Doc Watson, Vassar Clements, David Grisman, (I'm sure you get my drift), ... then it's not doing justice to the genre.

Anyone can pull names like Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe or Ralph Stanley out of a cursory google search on bluegrass. Unless they not only include those people, but go a bit deeper they're not really informed enough to even be working on a project like this.

Just an old curmudgeon's opinion.

if my memory is correct JD Crowe, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Mark O'Conner, Ricky Skaggs, are represented by appearance and themselves providing commentary
i was pleasantly surprised by the coverage of women in bluegrass

for a person like myself who has little familiarity with bluegrass it served as an introduction

i appreciate the comments of those more knowledgeable than i on bluegrass as they provide more folks to research

Clarence White and Tony Rice were ignored. These guys along with Doc Watson essentially added solo flat picking to the bluegrass world and they influenced every following generation in a huge manner. Chubby Wise who played in Monroe’s early group introduced a bluesy jazzy swing to bluegrass fiddle and he was ignored. He was a game changer for country fiddle. Bill Keith who introduced chromatic (more melodic) style banjo to bluegrass in one of Monroe’s groups was ignored. All the bass players were ignored. I think a history doc should be some what linear - covering all the phases over the years. This doc focused on the founders and the current generation while offering much less coverage to the middle years that produced some of the genres best music. Having babbled all that I would not argue that it doesn’t provide a decent intro to folks new to the genre.

I though Ralph Stanley was a passing comment with no mention of his brother.

Other than that, it was pretty good.

...Deb

Have to agree somewhat with Janice & Bud on this. Definitely some oversights. Certainly leaving out Keith for the banjo and Watson, White, Rice, etc. was a big one. The guitar does seem to get short changed in these type of documentaries (see Ken Burn's Jazz.

Plus one of my pet peeves; voice over narration while the instrumentalists are soloing??? I remember once watching a program about Jimi Hendrix. No talking while he is singing, and then the narration starts when he takes a solo!

I just finished watching it and I did enjoy it a lot. There were lots of things they could have done better but I still highly recommend watching it.

The biggest area they neglected was the acoustic guitar and it's role. Bluegrass is responsible the acoustic guitar moving from simply being a support instrument to a fixture as a lead instrument. As a result, guitar pioneers like Clarence White got no mention at all and even Tony Rice is barely mentioned, and then only as a member of some bands.

Tony is easily responsible for more Martin D28's being sold than anyone on the planet, (pure speculation on my part. LOL).

Still a must see if you're interested in the genre or want to learn more.