Live Duet Recordings 1963–1980 collects seventeen live performances by Bill Monroe on mandolin and Doc Watson on guitar. Smithsonian Folkways issued it in 1993 (SF CD 40064) as Off the Record, Volume 2, and the duets had not been released before. Nine of the tracks are sung, with Watson on lead and Monroe on tenor, and eight are instrumentals.
The tracks were recorded in several places. Seven tracks come from the Ash Grove in Los Angeles in April and May 1963: “You Won’t Be Satisfied That Way” and “Memories of You” from 14 April, and “What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul?,” “Where Is My Sailor Boy?,” “Banks of the Ohio,” “Fire on the Mountain” and “Chicken Reel” from 17 May. Four more are from Jordan Hall in Boston in the autumn of 1964, among them “Soldier’s Joy,” “East Tennessee Blues” and “Midnight on the Stormy Deep,” and two, “Kentucky Mandolin” and “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz,” are from Oberlin College on 18 April 1964.
Two instrumentals, “Watson’s Blues” and “Turkey in the Straw,” were recorded on 26 August 1966 at the home of Tex Logan in Madison, New Jersey. The last track, “Paddy on the Turnpike,” was recorded at the White House in Washington on 7 August 1980.
Tracklist
- 1 Foggy Mountain Top alt version 2:46
- 2 What Would You Give in Exchange For Your Soul alt version 4:30
- 3 Watson Blues alt version 3:31
- 4 Soldier’s Joy alt version 1:34
- 5 What Does the Deep Sea Say alt version 3:31
- 6 You Won’t Be Satisfied That Way Source Recording 2:02
- 7 Kentucky Mandolin alt version 3:03
- 8 East Tennessee Blues alt version 3:01
- 9 Midnight on the Stormy Deep alt version 4:04
- 10 Lonesome Moonlight Waltz alt version 3:56
- 11 Banks of the Ohio alt version 3:33
- 12 Fire on the Mountain alt version 2:03
- 13 Chicken Reel - Live 1:50
- 14 Turkey in the Straw alt version 3:09
- 15 Memories of You - Live 3:11
- 16 Rabbit in the Log alt version 2:40
- 17 Paddy on the Turnpike alt version 2:26
