Grateful Dead Family Discography: Bluegrass Breakdown

Bluegrass Breakdown

Composer: Bill Monroe

Bluegrass Breakdown was one of the tunes played by Jerry Garcia during a banjo lesson / demonstration on April 14, 1964. It was also played by Old & In The Way. Bruce Hornsby performed the piece with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.

Bluegrass Breakdown was first recorded by Bill Monroe in October 1947. This recording was made by the first classic line-up of the Blue Grass Boys: Bill Monroe (mandolin), Lester Flatt (guitar), Earl Scruggs (banjo), Chubby Wise (fiddle), and Howard Watts (bass).

The original title of the tune was Blue Grass Breakdown but this became Bluegrass Breakdown as the name for the genre changed from Blue Grass to Bluegrass.

Bill Monroe

no info Single (Toy Heart / Blue Grass Breakdown), Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys, 1949
The Great Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys, 1961
16 All Time Greatest Hits, Bill Monroe, 1970
Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys, Bill Monroe, 1970
no info The Original Bluegrass Band, Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys, 1978
no info Bill Monroe at His Best, Bill Monroe, 1989
Bluegrass Breakdown, Various Artists (Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys), 1992
no info Essential Bill Monroe, 1945-1949), Bill Monroe, 1992
Live Recordings 1956-1969, Bill Monroe, 1993
The Music Of Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe, 1994
no info 16 Gems, Bill Monroe, 1996
no info The Early Years, Bill Monroe, 1998
Generations of Bluegrass, Vol. 1: Pickers & Fiddlers, Various Artists, 1998
no info The Father of Bluegrass: Early Years 1940-1947, Bill Monroe, 1999
Live, Vol. 1, Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys, 2001
no info Orange Blossom Special, Bill Monroe, 2001
no info Bluegrass Beginnings, Various Artists, 2001
Newport Folk Festival: Best of Bluegrass 1959-1966, Various Artists, 2001
Bluegrass Bonanza, Various Artists, 2001
Blue Moon of Kentucky 1936-1949, Bill Monroe, 2002
no info Kentucky Bluegrass Classics, Various Artists, 2002
Lonesome Valley, Various Artists, 2002
no info First Generation Blue Grass, Various Artists, 2002
no info Greatest Hits, Bill Monroe, 2003
All the Classic Releases 1937-1949, Bill Monroe, 2003
no info Going Back to Old Kentucky: A Bluegrass Anthology, Various Artists, 2003
Far Across the Blue Water, Bill Monroe, 2004
Can't You Hear Me Callin': Bluegrass: 80 Years of American Music, Various Artists, 2004
Blazing Bluegrass, Various Artists, 2004
no info Great American Bluegrass Collection, Various Artists, 2004
no info Legends Of Bluegrass, Various Artists, 2004
no info Bluegrass from Roots to Branches, Various Artists, 2005
no info Vintage Bluegrass Masters, Various Artists, 2006
no info Pure, Bill Monroe, 2007
The Essential Guide To Bluegrass, Various Artists, 2007
no info Bluegrass & Banjo, Various Artists, 2009
no info Banjo : an American five-string history, 1901-1956, Various Artists, 2009

Other recordings

no info Folk & Bluegrass Favorites, Mac Martin & the Dixie Travelers, 1962
Bluegrass Breakdown, Lilly Brothers, 1964
no info Country Favorites, Jimmy Dean & the Stoneman Family, 1964
Strictly Bluegrass, The Valley Ramblers, 1967
no info Country's Come To Town, The Bluegrass Hoppers, 1967
no info Bluegrass Fiddle & Banjo, Pat Menard & Pete Scwimmur, 1970
Blue Grass Breakdown, Living Guitars, 1971
no info 419 W. Main, Red Cravens and the Bray Brothers, 1972
no info Bluegrass Banjo Instrumentals, Jimmy Henley, 1974
no info Right Hand Man, Tom Adams, 1975
no info Hot n' Grassy, Wendy Miller & Mike Lilly, 1976
Radio Shows, Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys, 1978
no info Banjo Bandits, Roy Clark & Buck Trent, 1978
no info Banjo Nashville, Vic Jordan, 1978
no info Bounce Away, Herschel Sizemore, 1979
no info Fifth Child, Butch Robins, 1980
Coyote Night, Hickory Hill, 1982
Bluegrass, David and Billie Ray Johnson, 1983
no info On Stage, The Kentucky Colonels, 1984
no info On Tour : Recorded Live at Granite Hill Park, Gettysburg, PA., Dry Branch Fire Squad, 1984
Frank Wakefield & Good Old Boys, Frank Wakefield & Good Old Boys, 1992
no info Banjo Bandits, Roy Clark and Buck Trent, 1994
The Kitchen Tapes, Frank Wakefield and Red Allen, 1994
no info My Old Kentucky Home, Kevin Williams, 1994
no info Banjos That Destroyed The World, Various Artists (Wynn Osborne), 1994
no info On WCYB Bristol, Sauceman Brothers, 1995
no info Live at Last, Dry Branch Fire Squad, 1996
no info Great American Banjo Collection, Various Artists (Wynn Osborne), 1998
Bluegrass Breakdown, 14 Instrumentals, Various Artists (Tom Adams), 1998
Prestige/Folklore Years, Vol. 5: Have a Feast Here Tonight, The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover, 1999
Bluegrass Mandolin and Other Trouble, Red Henry, 2000
no info Live at the Laurel, The Dismembered Tennesseans, 2001
no info Banjo Hall of Fame, Various Artists (Wynn Osborne), 2001
no info Dressed for Success, The Cherryholmes Family Band, 2002
no info Uncluttered, Peter Hall, 2002
no info World's Hottest Bluegrass, Various Artists (Wynn Osborne), 2002
no info Live in Stereo, The Kentucky Colonels, 2003
no info Gospel Bluegrass Home Coming, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs and Del McCoury), 2003
no info Blazin' Bluegrass Banjo, Todd Taylor, 2004
no info Live at the Dominion, Foggy Hogtown Boys, 2004
no info Appalachian Rain, Steve Lewis, 2004
no info Bluegrass: It's About Time, It's About Me, Roy Clark, 2005
Classic Bluegrass From Smithsonian Folkways, Vol. 2, Various Artists (David Johnson), 2005
no info Knee Deep in Grass, The Wes Miller Band, 2007
no info Hardly a Town at All, Rural Delivery, 2007
no info Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 & 1947, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, 2008
no info European World of Bluegrass 2000, Various Artists (Bluegrass Stuff), 2008
no info Lets Kick Some Ass, Ross Nickerson, 2009
Cluck Ol' Hen, Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, 2013
July 11, 2014, Syracuse, NY, Railroad Earth, 2014
Early Dawg: Deluxe Edition, David Grisman, 2022