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Molly And Tenbrooks

Composer: Bill Monroe / Traditional

Recordings

Molly And Tenbrooks, and related titles
no info Single, Stanley Brothers, 1948
no info Single, Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, 1949
no info Single, Sonny Osborne, 1953
no info Single, Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, 1957
info Knee Deep in Blue Grass, Bill Monroe, 1958
info Folk Songs From The Blue Grass, Earl Taylor & the Stoney Mountain Boys, 1959
no info EP (Molly And Ten Brook / Uncle Pen / Rose Of Old Kentucky / Cabin Home On The Hill / We'll Meet Again Sweetheart / Mule Skinner Blues), Sonny Osborne, 1960
info Rose Maddox Sings Bluegrass, Rose Maddox, 1962
info Original Bluegrass Sound, Bill Monroe, 1965
info Play One More, Ian & Sylvia, 1966
info Don Reno and Bill Harrell with the Tennesse Cutups, Don Reno and Bill Harrell with the Tennesse Cutups, 1967
info Bill Monroe's Greatest Hits, Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1968
no info New Lost City Ramblers with Cousin Emmy, New Lost City Ramblers with Cousin Emmy, 1968
info 16 All Time Greatest Hits, Bill Monroe, 1970
info Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, Ian & Sylvia, 1971
info The Bluegrass Touch, Earl Taylor & the Stoney Mountain Boys, 1973
info Holiday In Japan, J.D. Crowe & The New South, 1976?
info Live at McCabes, Byron Berline & Sundance, 1977
no info 30 Fiddler's Greatest Hits, Various Artists (Jerry Rivers), 1978
no info Folk Music in America, Vol.12, Songs of Local History and Events, Various Artists (John Byrd), 1978
no info Yesterday and Today, Osborne Brothers, 197?
info Bean Blossom '79, Bill Monroe, 1980
info The Bluegrass Album, The Bluegrass Album Band, 1981
no info America's Bluegrass Band, Country Gazette, 1982
info Cloud Valley: A Bluegrass Ensemble, 1982
info Stanley Series, Vol. 2 #1, Stanley Brothers, 1984
info The Bluegrass Compact Disc, Volume 2, The Bluegrass Album Band, 1987
no info 16 Fiddlers' Greatest Hits, Various Artists (Jerry Rivers), 1987
info Stanley Series, Vol. 2 #4, Stanley Brothers, 1987
info Stanley Series, Vol. 3 #1, Stanley Brothers, 1987
info Fresh Oldtime String Band, Fresh Oldtime String Band, 1988
info Live at the Opry: Celebrating 50 Years on the Grand Ole Opry, Bill Monroe, 1989
no info Texas Worried Blues, Henry Thomas, 1989
info Ralph Stanley And Raymond Fairchild, Ralph Stanley And Raymond Fairchild, 1989
no info Gambler's Lament, Carver Boys, 198?
info Bluegrass 1950-1958, Bill Monroe, 1990
info Columbia Country Classics, Vol. 1: Golden Age, Various Artists (Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys), 1990
no info Hello Operator...This Is Country Gazette, Country Gazette, 1991
no info Essential 1945-1949, Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, 1992
info The One Rose: The Capitol Years, Rose Maddox, 1993
info The Music Of Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe, 1994
no info Fiddle Tunes, Various Artists (Jerry Rivers), 1995
info Bluegrass 1970-1979, Bill Monroe, 1995
no info Storyteller Poet, Tom T. Hall, 1995
no info Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Bill Monroe, 1995
info 1968-1974, The Osborne Brothers, 1995
no info Fifty Years Of Bluegrass - Vol. 4, Various Artists (Joe Maphis and Rose Lee), 1995
no info That High Lonesome Sound, Various Artists (JD Crowe, Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks and Todd Phillips), 1995
no info Live in Holland, Joe Val, 1996
info Bluegrass Masters, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 1996
info The Songs of Bill Monroe, The Bluegrass Album Band, 1996
info Hats Off! A Tribute to Bill Monroe, Various Artists (Joe Maphis), 1996
info True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe, Various Artists (lan O'Bryant, Craig Smith, Stuart Duncan, Mike Compton, David Grier, Todd Phillips), 1996
info Vanguard Folk Sampler, Various Artists (Steve Gillette), 1996
info Vanguard Collector's Edition, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 1997
no info Earliest Recordings: Complete Rich-R-Tone Recordings, Stanley Brothers, 1997
no info Live Again! WCYB Farm and Fun Time, Various Artists, 1997
info 20 Bluegrass Favorites, Don Reno and Bill Harrell, 1997
info 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Bill Monroe, 1999
info The Best Of Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys, 1999
info The Early Recordings Of Sonny Osborne, 1952-1953, Vol. 1, Sonny Osborne, 1999
info Appalachian Stomp: More Bluegrass Classics, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 1999
no info 16 All-Time Greatest Hits, Bill Monroe, 19??
no info Ghost Country, Marley's Ghost, 19??
info 24 Bluegrass Favorites: Vintage 60's, Various Artists (Don Reno), 2000
info Newport Folk Festival: Best of Bluegrass 1959-1966, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 2001
info The Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings, Ian & Sylvia, 2001
info Too Late to Cry, The Stanley Brothers, 2001
info Bluegrass Bonanza, Various Artists (Stanley Brothers), 2001
info Folk Music, Various Artists (Steve Gillette), 2001
info Blue Moon of Kentucky 1936-1949, Bill Monroe, 2002
info The Very Best of Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, 2002
info Lonesome Moonlight: Songs of Bill Monroe, The Bluegrass Album Band, 2002
info Anthology, Bill Monroe, 2003
info All the Classic Releases 1937-1949, Bill Monroe, 2003
info July 1963: Two Days at Newport, Bill Monroe, 2003
info Can't You Hear Me Callin': Bluegrass: 80 Years of American Music, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 2004
info Far Across the Blue Water, Bill Monroe, 2004
info The Essential Earl Scruggs, Earl Scruggs, 2004
info Blazing Bluegrass, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 2004
info The Definitive Collection, Bill Monroe, 2005
info Telluride Bluegrass Festival: 30 Years, Various Artists (Sam Bush and Friends), 2005
info 36 Bluegrass Hits, Various Artists (Joe Maphis), 2006
info Bluegrass 1981-1994: My Last Days on Earth, Bill Monroe, 2007
info The Definitive Collection 1947-1966, The Stanley Brothers, 2007
info Classic Bluegrass Collection, Vols. 1-4, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 2007
info Bluegrass in the Smokies, Various Artists (Don Reno/Bill Harrell), 2007
info The Essential Guide To Bluegrass, Various Artists (Stanley Brothers), 2007
info Territory, Tony Trischka, 2008
info 1950-1958 (JSP box set), Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys, 2009
info The Bill Monroe Collection, Tony Rice, 2011
Old Tim Brooks
info The New Lost City Ramblers with Cousin Emmy, The New Lost City Ramblers with Cousin Emmy, 1968
info Old Time Music, The New Lost City Ramblers & Friends, 1994

Notes

Monroe's arrangement is based on a Kentucky folk song which is thought to date from 1884. It describes a 4 mile race held at Churchill Downs in 1878 between Molly McCarthy and Ten Broeck.

Monroe first published an arrangement of the song in 1947 with the title Ten Brooks and Molly (The Race Horse Song) but he did not record it at that time. It was however in his concert repertoire and played during radio broadcasts. It was originally arranged as a vehicle for Earl Scruggs banjo.

The Stanley Brothers version of the song was learned from Monroe concert versions by Pee Wee Lambert. It is seen by some as a pivotal record in bluegrass history. Said to be one of the first pieces of recorded evidence of the musical style moving from being that of one group (Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys) to be that of a musical genre.

Versions based on Monroe's arrangement occur as Molly and Tenbrooks or occasionally Tenbrooks and Molly. A more varied group of songs based on the earlier folk song occur with a variety of names such as; Old Tim Brooks, Tim Brooks, Run Molly Run and The Race Horse Song.

The Peter Rowan song, Blue Mule is based on Molly and Tenbrooks.