Fiddler’s contest from the stage of Buck Lake Ranch in Angola, Indiana, on September 11, 1949. From left to right, park owner Harry Smythe, guitarist Connie Smith, and fiddler Francis Geels. Photo courtesy of John Schwab.
Notes & Queries – May 2022
Queries
Q: Can you tell me who wrote and recorded “You Live in a World All Your Own”? I know that Bill Monroe recorded it but I assume it was a country song first. Thanks. Jerry Steinberg, Salem, Virginia.
Early 1960s extended-play 45 rpm disc with the song “You Live in a World All Your Own.”
A: Bill Monroe recorded the song on November 30, 1960, and released it on the 1961 album Mr. Blue Grass. Composer credits on the record show that the song was “arranged and adapted” by Bill Monroe. As you suggested, the song does have a much older history. It was first recorded in July 1945 by country singer Cowboy Copas at his very first recording session. His King Records release (a 78-rpm disc with the catalog number 511) listed Lloyd Copas as the composer. The lyrics between the Monroe and Copas versions are virtually identical. But, it appears that neither Monroe or Copas were the actual writers of the song. In the book The Music of Bill Monroe by Neil V. Rosenberg and C
