こんにちは、次女の由美です。皆さんいかがお過ごしでしょうか？ 私が１１月下旬に帰国した為この「from ナッシュビル」もしばらくはお休みになるかなと思っていましたが、ナッシュビルに関する情報など何かあればお伝えしていこうと思っています。今回はナッシュビル在住の友人からビル・モンローのマンドリンに関する記事を送ってもらったので興味のある方は読んでみて下さい！
Monroe mandolin flap may be over
By JOHN GEROME
Associated Press and Tennessean Staff ReportsA settlement was reached yesterday in a contract dispute over bluegrass legend Bill Monroe's prized mandolin, an attorney for Monroe's son said. Terms of the settlement were not immediately available, but Gerard Stranch, attorney for James Monroe, said, ''Both parties are pleased. I think this is a good resolution for all parties.''
Stranch said the settlement will be given to Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman on Monday, the same day a trial was scheduled to begin. He said he could not comment on the settlement until it was approved by Bonnyman. ''Having a trial staring you down always seems to focus you on the issues at hand,'' said Stranch, who says negotiations had been under way for the past three or four days.
The case between James Monroe and the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Foundation of Kentucky involved ownership of Monroe's 1923 Gibson F-5 mandolin, which has sat in a locked vault pending resolution of the dispute. Monroe, widely acknowledged as the father of bluegrass music, bought the instrument from a Miami barbershop for $150 in 1943. Monroe played it for more than 50 years, the last time on March 15, 1996, at the Grand Ole Opry. He suffered a stroke the next day and died later that year.
Monroe's F-5 Master model, serial number 73987, is particularly important because he played it almost exclusively and because it was a particularly fine instrument. Similar models in good shape fetch about $65,000, according to Nashville guitar expert George Gruhn.
In October 2002, James Monroe agreed to sell the mandolin to the foundation in Rosine, Ky., for $1.1 million. The group, headed by Campbell Mercer, paid Monroe $162,500 before a financing deal collapsed. Stranch said his client then tried to void the contract to seek other buyers.
The case began when Mercer got the federal and local governments interested in providing money for a museum to spur development in Monroe's native Ohio County in Kentucky, where more than 17% of the 23,000 residents live in poverty. A lawyer for the Ohio County Industrial Foundation said the group helped underwrite the establishment of the Bill Monroe Foundation, purchased 84 museum items and put up the $162,500 initial payment for the mandolin. Relations between the industrial foundation and Mercer turned sour, and he sued the group separately alleging breach of contract.
James Monroe told The Associated Press in July that he wants nothing more than to sell the mandolin, preferably to a museum where it can go on display to honor the musician's legacy. He said he wanted out of that deal so he can put the mandolin back on the market and pay the inheritance taxes on his father's estate.
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