Bill Monroe in Linebaugh’s in 1973, nearly 30 years after being photographed there in 1944. Courtesy of Carl Fleischhauer.
Notes & Queries – January 2026
In the Mail: Bill Monroe Photo Revisited
The 1944 photo of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, George D. Hay, and Uncle Dave Macon (as featured in the November 2025 “Notes & Queries”) elicited several responses. Eddie Page from Florida State University wrote that he had “just received my current issue of Bluegrass Unlimited and was overjoyed to see the picture of Bill Monroe and band together with Uncle Dave Macon, Dorris, and Judge Hay. I first saw the original photo on display at Bill Monroe’s Museum out on Music Valley Drive in Nashville, which I visited shortly after it opened over 40 years ago. At that time, the caption stated it was taken at Linebaugh’s Restaurant on Lower Broadway (in Nashville). Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful old photo!” Clyde Mattocks of Kinston, North Carolina, confirmed that the location for the photo was “Linebaugh’s on East Broad Street. It was open 24 hours and therefore a popular place for entertainers coming in off the
Somewhat surprisingly, L. Mayne Smith played banjo on John Fahey’s 1965 album “The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death”.