Les Woodie, 20 Sept. 1931-23 Mar. 2018

The Stanley Brothers c.1950 with Pee Wee Lambert (mandolin) and Les Woodie (fiddle)

Bluegrass Today announces the sad news of the death of Lester Gene 'Les' Woodie, fiddler with the Stanley Brothers during 1949-51, having played country and western music before joining them. He took part in their second and third Columbia recording sessions, contributing his widely admired fiddle work to their first recording of 'I'm a man of constant sorrow'. On their live shows, he took part in comedy sketches and assisted Leslie Keith, an older fiddler for the Stanleys, who gave displays of mastery with a bull-whip.

More details of his career are on Bluegrass Today, together with a video of him playing with Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys in more recent years. His memories make up a chapter of John Wright's Traveling the high way home: Ralph Stanley and the world of traditional bluegrass music (1993).

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PS: Among the bands Les Woodie played with was Bill and Mary Reid & the Melody Mountaineers - well worth hearing on YouTube.