If anyone cares to enlighten me (off group, if necessary), I am interested in know the real deal about the "players" in the struggle for Mr. Monroe's legacy.
I stopped at JR after mandolin camp two years ago and encountered the person in question. We talked briefly about the place, and plans for it. In short order, we were talking RFD and the Highlanders. I even walked away with a free CD, which I listened to once and put away. Just because you walk in Jerusalem, it doesn't necessarily make you just like John. Thanks, Nelson On Sep 21, 7:30 am, mistertaterbug <[email protected]> wrote: > And Campbell Mercer hasn't made a mockery of Monroe? Maybe he oughta > read up on how he's handled things in his *own* backyard. I really > think that anybody who's looking to this movie to be anything other > than entertainment is just asking to be disappointed. I haven't seen > anything in print that's included the words 'historical' or > 'documentary'. While the movie will probably bring in people who were > not aware of Monroe's music, it doesn't appear that Bill's artistry is > the focal point of the film. Like it or not, infidelities sell tickets > more readily to the masses than hill country music does. > > There's just no point in us all chasing our tails over this. It's > going to be what it's going to be and nothing will change that. > Tbug > > On Sep 17, 11:32 am, Terry Bullin <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Peter Sarsgaard, 39, is cast as Monroe. > > > "I talked to Peter > > on the phone the other day," Woodward said. "He was in New York taking > > mandolin lessons. He plays guitar, but he needs to be able to play > > mandolin for the movie." > > > Yea, I'm sure after a couple of lessons in "NEW YORK", he will have no > > trouble playing rawhide........yea right. What I want to know is who's > > going to teach him to sing like Bill? Good luck with that! > > > --- On Fri, 9/17/10, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > > > From: [email protected] <[email protected]> > > Subject: Movie planned about life of Bill Monroe > > To: [email protected], [email protected], > > [email protected] > > Date: Friday, September 17, 2010, 11:32 AM > > > Saw a link on mandolincafe.com to another article about the Bill Monroe > > movie that's in the works... > > > > > > John > > > > > > > > >http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/yb/149878570 > > > > > > Producer hopes to shoot part of film in Rosine and Owensboro > > > Sept. 16--Bessie Lee Mauldin was 17 when she met Bill Monroe in the fall of > > 1938. > > > He had just turned 27, was already a singing star with his brother, > > Charlie, in the Monroe Brothers -- and was married. > > > But three years later, Monroe, by then a member of the Grand Ole Opry, > > moved Mauldin to Nashville and made her his "road girlfriend," Richard D. > > Smith wrote in "Can't You Hear Me Callin'," his 2000 biography of "the > > father of bluegrass music." > > > Over the next four decades, Monroe and Mauldin had a turbulent romance that > > inspired several major bluegrass songs -- apparently including "Blue Moon > > of Kentucky," Smith wrote. > > > Now, a Hollywood company is gearing up to film a movie based on Smith's > > book. And the producer, Trevor Jolly, hopes to shoot part of it in > > Owensboro and Monroe's hometown of Rosine, he said in an e-mail. > > > "I've read the script," said Owensboro businessman Terry Woodward, who is > > vice chairman of the International Bluegrass Music Museum. "It's a love > > story about Bill and Bessie Lee." > > > And that worries Campbell Mercer, executive director of the Jerusalem Ridge > > Foundation, which owns Monroe's childhood home and farm in Ohio County. > > > "My concern is that the film not make a mockery of Bill," Mercer, a keeper > > of the Monroe flame, said Tuesday. "It's based on a book by Richard D. > > Smith. It was a book that needed to be written, but it was written by the > > wrong guy." > > > Mercer would prefer a movie that focused on Monroe's music, not his > > infidelities. > > > But Mauldin is considered to have been Monroe's muse. > > > Their child, which she gave up for adoption, according to the book, > > inspired the song, "My Little Georgia Rose." > > > And Mauldin, a bass player with Monroe's Blue Grass Boys off and on for two > > decades, played on 99 of Monroe's recordings. > > > Reminded that the soundtrack for "Bonnie and Clyde," the 1967 movie about > > gangsters Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, contained a lot of bluegrass > > music and brought a lot of new fans to the genre, Mercer said, "This time > > I'm afraid Bill is going to be Clyde." > > > Funny stories out there > > > Still, he says, "there are some awful funny stories about Bill and Bessie > > Lee out there," including one about Mauldin wrestling another of Monroe's > > girlfriends to the ground in North Carolina. > > > Maggie Gyllenhaal, 32, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in last > > year's "Crazy Heart," recently told ScreenCrave.com that she will portray > > Mauldin in the movie. Her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, 39, is cast as Monroe. > > > "I talked to Peter on the phone the other day," Woodward said. "He was in > > New York taking mandolin lessons. He plays guitar, but he needs to be able > > to play mandolin for the movie." > > > Woodward said: "He's very enthusiastic about the movie. He said his father > > was a big bluegrass fan." > > > The ScreenCrave story said Joseph Henry "T-Bone" Burnett, who produced the > > soundtrack for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," which sold 8 million copies, > > and collaborated on "Crazy Heart" will do the music for "Blue Moon." > > > Callie Khouri, who grew up in Paducah and wrote "Thelma & Louise," wrote > > the script. "She and T-Bone are married," Woodward said. > > > Jolly, whose credits include being sound supervisor on "American Beauty" > > and "The Whole Ten Yards" as well as on episodes of "Lost," "The Shield" > > and "Alias," is producing. > > > Finn Taylor ("The Darwin Awards," "Cherish," "Dream With The Fishes") will > > direct. > > > Taylor has visited Owensboro four times and Jolly, three times so far, > > Woodward said. "One day when they were here, we walked down to the Famous > > Bistro for lunch," he said. "They said they liked some of the buildings > > downtown and might want to film some here. I just listened." > > > "Yes, hoping to shoot scenes at Rosine and Owensboro," Jolly said in an > > e-mail Tuesday. "Too early for specifics though." > > > Woodward says the movie should be filmed in Kentucky. > > > Monroe was born -- and is buried -- in Kentucky. His band and the genre of > > music he created use the state's nickname. And his "Blue Moon of Kentucky" > > is the state's official bluegrass song. > > > But Tennessee also wants the movie shot there. > > > Battle of incentives > > > And a battle of incentives is ensuing. > > > "They didn't understand our incentives," state Rep. Tommy Thompson, who > > represents Ohio County and eastern Daviess County, said Monday. > > > "I had the film office call and explain it to them," said Thompson, who > > pushed a film incentive package through the legislature in 2009. "I think > > we may have a shot now. It's about bluegrass and Bill Monroe. It should be > > filmed in Kentucky." > > > Business Lexington reported this week that the 2009 legislation would make > > filmmakers who spend at least $500,000 in Kentucky eligible to receive "a > > 20 percent refundable tax credit for production and post-production > > expenses." > > > Tennessee, the article said, "offers a 13-17 percent tax rebate, depending > > on the production budget and percentage of in-state production." > > > "Finn and them want to make it in Kentucky," Woodward said, "but the money > > guys will probably have the final say." > > > "Trevor came here 18 months ago," Mercer said. "He videotaped me playing a > > fiddle on the porch. We had some coffee, and I showed him tapes of > > different singers." > > > Jolly wrote on Facebook in June: "Finn and I drove to Rosine to check out > > Bill Monroe's hometown. Happened to be holding a benefit auction for a gal > > who is suffering from cancer and the townsfolk raised $27,000 by selling > > chickens, farm implements and pies etc. Local bluegrass bands were playing. > > I recorded one and Finn shot some pics on his phone." > > > Mercer said: "I'm sure they'll use the homeplace" in the movie. "They know > > it's open to them. I've been putting off getting back in touch with them, > > but I'll e-mail Trevor this week. I've got to get involved and help them > > make it good. We've got a wealth of information here that should be tapped." > > > Movie should help museum > > > A major movie about Monroe, coming during the celebration of the centennial > > of his birth (Sept. 13, 1911), is expected to give the bluegrass museum a > > major boost, Woodward said. > > > "I think it can be tremendous for the museum," he said. > > > He owns the fiddle of Pendleton Vandiver, Monroe's uncle who inspired the > > song, "Uncle Pen." It's now on display in the museum. > > > "It's being used on the soundtrack," Woodward said. "I don't know if it > > will be shown in the movie." > > > He said, "with Bill's 100th birthday next year and this movie, we really > > need to capitalize on it." > > > Mercer said he's heard that Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard may attend Rosine's > > Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Festival, scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 3. "They > > have tickets," he said. > > > But Woodward said Sarsgaard is supposed to be at the Hardly Strictly > > Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco that weekend. "They say they want to > > end the movie with a montage of scenes from bluegrass festivals," he said. > > > Thompson describes Mauldin -- "The Carolina Songbird" -- as "a hefty blond, > > flashy dresser, strong, spirited and quite earthy." > > > Monroe's wife, Carolyn, finally accused him of adultery and divorced him in > > 1960. > > > The divorce decree forbade Monroe from marrying Mauldin as long as Carolyn > > Monroe lived. > > > "I don't know how that was legal," Mercer said. > > > Maudlin died Feb. 8, 1983, after suffering a heart attack at 63. Carolyn > > Monroe outlived her by nearly 18 months, dying on July 31, 1984. > > > Monroe died on Sept. 9, 1996. > > > Keith Lawrence, 691-7301, [email protected] > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Taterbugmando" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
