Written in 1924 by Cliff Hess, a songwriter, pianist, and musical secretary to Irving Berlin, “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues” soon became popular with early country music recording artists including Riley Puckett and Vernon Dalhart. Bill Monroe recorded it on his May 3, 1962, session for Decca. It was released as a single the following January and later that year it was the opening track of Monroe’s Bluegrass Special album. Monroe’s solo primarily consists of arpeggiated lines played with all downstrokes. Although most of the solo can be played below the fifth fret, Bill elects to play the V chord lines out of third position which adds a good “snap” to his notes. For the most part, this rendition is a closed-position effort. The old standby sixteenth–eighth–sixteenth note rhythm pattern dominates here, with a hint of that “south-of-the-border” flavor for the resolution at the end of each half.
