Trivia by Dick Bowden
The winners are Bobbi Bowden and Andy Bing
Simple True or False answer this time! Read the description and decide whether there’s even a grain of truth in it, or instead, Dick had a dream and took notes to present this fiction.
SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 TRIVIA QUESTION
True or False?
Back in 2010-2011 some bluegrass fans were quietly abuzz with leaks of news about a commercial Hollywood biopic movie about the love life of Bill Monroe and Bessie Lee Mauldin, titled “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. Peter Sarsgaard was to portray Monroe, and his real wife Maggie Gyllenhaal was to play Bessie Lee. A lot of big-time Hollywood people were to be in the cast; including Olivia Wilde, John C. Reilly, Ashley Judd and Sam Shepard among others. A number of BLUEGRASS people were involved too. Del McCoury’s voice provided all of Peter Sarsgaard’s/Bill Monroe’s singing (shades of Danny Tyminski singing for George Clooney!) Ronnie McCoury and T-Bone Burnett (of “O Brother” fame) were in charge of the music. Ronnie played all of Monroe’s mandolin parts. Mike Compton’s hands were filmed playing all of Monroe’s mandolin parts. Young Earl Scruggs was to be played by Ed Helms (Andy of “The Office” fame – he’s a good banjo picker!). Lester Flatt was to be played by Tim Blake Nelson who played the dim Delbert in “O Brother” (he actually sang “In the Jailhouse Now” – he’s a Broadway actor/singer). Other bluegrass people involved in some way were said to include Pete Rowan, Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless. The movie is based on the Bill Monroe biography “Can’t You Hear Me Calling?” by Richard Smith. The script was written by Callie Khouri (writer of “Thelma and Louise”).
Sadly the movie died a-borning due to undisclosed reasons.
TRUE (and I want to SEE IT!)
or
FALSE (and Dick needs to lay off the tequila, and doing ‘shrooms before bed)
Additional Bowden Comments
Well done to our two winners, but I certainly understand how our other two contestants found it unbelievable. I still think it’s unbelievable!
When I first heard about this project (years ago) I thought it was the poorest idea for a movie ever. I mean, really, Bill Monroe and Bessie Lee Mauldin? Nearly two decades of off and on love/agony. A very poor “story arc” as they say — it ended poorly. A friend in Nashville offered to take me to county court to see the records. Bessie Lee won the first “palimony” suit EVER!!! Not that it amounted to much, probably.
Lots of fascinating stories have come out over the years about Bill and Bessie. From people who “were there” at the time. Earl Scruggs was quoted as saying when he was a Blue Grass Boy, everybody in the car was PETRIFIED that Bessie’s real husband, a Tennessee Highway Patrolman, would encounter them and shoot them all! According to Earl it was VERY stressful. Jimmy Martin told on tape about riding in the car with Bill and Bessie with their daughter the “Little Georgia Rose” riding with them AS HE AND BILL WROTE THE SONG ABOUT HER, AND BESSIE LEE TOOK DICTATION!!!! Jimmy said “she favored her mother, not Bill”. Del McCoury said on the radio that riding in the car with Bessie in 1963 she always carried two little dogs with her, and they would bite. If you listen to enough old live tapes, you get to hear Bessie Lee sing with Monroe’s show, she was a featured vocalist in fact.
Of course, for years just about every Monroe love song was written about Bessie Lee, so I guess she was also his Muse.
Every now then, as Andy mentioned in his reply, someone in Hollyweird says they’re going to revive this movie. I’d like to see it, but I don’t think it would be very successful.
True, and according to Bluegrass Today the film was still in the works as of 2019.
False.
The answer is TRUE and I still want to see it.
Dick should still probably lay off the Tequila and shrooms before bedtime just the same. Just sayin’.
False