Bobby Osborne, 7 Dec. 1931-27 June 2023

Following closely upon the death of Jesse McReynolds (see the BIB for 24 June), the bluegrass world has now lost another member of the founding generation of the music with the death yesterday (27 June) of Bobby Osborne at the age of 91. A photo of the two great singer/ mandolinists together is on Bobby's Facebook.

Bobby and his younger brother Sonny were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1994, a year after Jim & Jesse. Like them, the Osbornes were original and innovative, and often controversial in using 'non-bluegrass' instruments on recordings, and playing amplified mandolin and banjo on live shows. Like Jesse, Bobby Osborne remained vigorously active in recording and performing after Sonny retired in 2005. John Lawless's obituary/ biography of Bobby on Bluegrass Today includes a video of the Osbornes playing 'Rocky Top' in 1967, and one of Bobby's recording - fifty years later - of 'I've got to get a message to you'.

John Lawless remarks on the Osbornes' 'ill-fated association' with Red Allen (1956-8), which however was also the time when their trademark trio-harmony-singing style evolved, with Bobby's phenomenal voice taking a high lead. They went on to win successive vocal group awards on the country music scene. John Lawless's obituary concludes: '[Bobby's] death leaves a gaping hole in the hearts of every bluegrass fan, and we aren’t likely to see his kind again.'

© Richard Hawkins

Brian Crawford

The BIB editor writes:

Carol and I learn with great regret that Brian Crawford - singer, guitar player, trucker, central figure in innumerable music sessions, and a man with whom conversation was always a pleasure - died during the night of 25/26 June. Thanks to Sharon Loughrin of the Red Room, Cookstown, for the sad news. A moving tribute to Brian is on the Red Room's Facebook, with a video of him singing 'The rose of Allendale'. The video can also be seen in a further tribute to Brian on the Bluestack Mountain Boys Facebook. Our deepest condolences go to Brian's widow Kate and their family. Everyone who knew Brian will feel the same.

*

Thanks to Uri Kohen for the photo of Brian at the head of this post, and for this link to a video of Brian at the ninth Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival (June 2015), singing the John Scott Sherrill song 'Wild and blue' and backing up 'Whiskey before breakfast'.

© Richard Hawkins

Jesse McReynolds, 9 July 1929-23 June 2023 (update)

Jesse McReynolds, one of the last of the founding generation of bluegrass music, died yesterday (23 June) of natural causes, at home in Nashville, just over two weeks short of his 94th birthday. He and his elder brother Jim had been the most successful and long-lasting exponents of the 'brother duet' harmony tradition. They were also innovative, both in Jesse's personal mandolin style and in recordings such as their 1965 album of rock songs, Berry pickin' in the country. They were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and were made National Heritage Fellows by the US's National Foundation for the Arts in 1997.

After Jim's death in 2002, Jesse remained a keen and active musician and performer, and recently completed seventy years in the music profession. John Lawless's obituary and biography on Bluegrass Today includes videos from YouTube of three of the most popular recordings by Jim & Jesse.

Update 3 July: Jesse's funeral was held on Wednesday 28 June in Hermitage, TN. His family have asked that in lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Opry Trust Fund, One Gaylord Drive, Nashville, TN 37214.

© Richard Hawkins

Detached notes

The BIB learns with regret of the death of Margie Louise Brewster Sullivan (22 Jan. 1933-31 May 2023) of the Sullivan Family bluegrass gospel group. The group at various times employed the young Carl Jackson and Marty Stuart, and the veteran Blue Grass Boy Joe Stuart. The extended family included Jerry and Tammy Sullivan, who took part in the 2008 Omagh bluegrass festival. A comprehensive obituary and biography of Margie Sullivan by Richard Thompson appears on Bluegrass Today, with twenty-two videos from YouTube and a discography comprising twenty-two items.

*

Dailey & Vincent, Omagh headliners in 2011, will be holding their American Made Music Fest at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds on 14-16 Sept. 2023. The lineup includes the Malpass Brothers, Rhonda Vincent, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

*

The Steep Canyon Rangers, Omagh headliners in 2007 and the very last American band to play in Ireland before the pandemic lockdowns, announce that their new album Morning shift is scheduled for release on 23 Sept. this year and can be pre-ordered. A video of a single from the album, 'Hominy Valley', can be seen and heard on YouTube, and was premiered two days ago on the Folk Alley website. The song tells a story from the time of the American war of independence, which has a resonance for present times. More details are on the band's latest e-newsletter.

*

Brittany Haas, who with her sister Natalie gave your editor his peak musical experience of 2018, is to take the fiddle position in Punch Brothers vacated by Gabe Witcher. For the past few years she has been a member of the fine progressive string band Hawktail. John Lawless reports on Bluegrass Today that she is currently touring with her sister and will join Punch Brothers later in the summer.

*

The BIB mentioned earlier this week that the Henhouse Prowlers, who headed the bill at the Saturday night concert of last year's Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival, have a new single, the title track from their album Lead and iron. The video of it (on which Ben Wright plays a deep-toned cello banjo) can be seen on Bluegrass Today and on YouTube.

*

For bluegrass people in Ireland who are contemplating a trip to Barcelona, the specially good news is that the Barcelona Bluegrass Jam now meets on the second and fourth Sunday of every month at the Blacklab Brewhouse Kitchen (on the front, near the Museum of Catalan History). Michael Luchtan, who sent a very positive review of the 2022 Dunmore East festival to Bluegrass Today, reports that in addition the Barcelona Bluegrass Jam have held a successful inaugural slow jam session at Centre Artesa Tradicionarius and plan to continue the slow jams on the third Sunday of every month. Read his full report on Bluegrass Today.

*

The Deering Banjo Company announce a new limited-edition model in their Goodtime range: the Cherry Goodtime 5-string openback, with a 3-ply (cherry/maple/cherry) rim and a cherrywood veneer on the peghead. Only 100 of these will be made, and these will be available at $799 each from forty select dealers.

© Richard Hawkins

Les Leverett, 23 Apr. 1927-2 June 2023

The BIB editor writes:

I learn with great regret of the death last week, at the age of 96, of Les Leverett, the leading photographer of country and bluegrass music. The image (right) shows his work for the cover of Porter Wagoner's album Confessions of a broken man, for which he was awarded a Grammy in 1966 - though it gives only the barest idea of his genius as a photographer. He received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the IBMA in 2001. On the strength of a few minutes of Les Leverett talking to me and Carol on that occasion, I am prepared to corroborate all that is said about what a thoroughly nice man he was, in the full obituary and biographical article by Richard Thompson on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

Gloria Belle, 9 June 1939-5 May 2023

The BIB learns with great regret of the death of Gloria Bernadette Flickinger, 'Gloria Belle', one of the pioneer professional women bluegrass performers, whose long career included performances and recordings with Jimmy Martin.

In 2019 the BIB referred readers to Wikipedia and to a 2013 feature by Richard Thompson on Bluegrass Today. A comprehensive biography/ obituary of Gloria Belle by Richard Thompson is now on Bluegrass Today, including tributes from fellow musicians, eight photos, a discography, and thirteen YouTube recordings of songs from successive stages of her career.

The chapter about her in Murphy Henry's Pretty good for a girl: women in bluegrass (2013) ends with a brief fable - a rough and almost invisible path through the bluegrass woods has a signpost saying 'Groundbreaking women in bluegrass enter here' and underneath, in tiny letters, the words 'Path carved by Gloria Belle'.

Update 5 June: On 31 May the Bluegrass Situation (BGS) published Claire Levine's biographical article 'Gloria Belle: a woman "sideman" who held her own in bluegrass'. The article includes five videos, and a note from the BGS editor states that the IBMA Foundation is establishing a scholarship fund in the name of Gloria Belle.

© Richard Hawkins

For guitarists (and others)

The latest e-newsletter from the Fretboard Journal (FJ) is entitled 'Ten things we love right now'. The list includes:

• A video (also on YouTube) of the 1936 Martin D-18 shown on the cover (right) of Norman Blake's album Whiskey before breakfast, being played by Chris Eldridge, Bob Minner, Kenny Smith, and Bryan Sutton. The FJ says of the video: 'This is basically a 45-minute-long love letter to a guitar and it's full of insights on Blake.'
• A raffle ($25 a ticket) for a new Jackson Cunningham slope-shoulder jumbo guitar, which is fully described here;
• The news that Rhiannon Giddens has won a Pulitzer Prize for her opera Omar, and has just announced her next album, You're the one, due for release on 18 Aug. 2023 and available for pre-order.
• The life of Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records, who died last Friday (5 May) at the age of 91.

The FJ includes a link to David Katznelson's 'The down home music man', a fine obituary of Chris Strachwitz, concentrating on the many blues and zydeco artists he recorded, but also mentioning the first album by Del McCoury (left) as a bandleader. For a much fuller account of the debt bluegrass and related music owes to Arhoolie recordings, see Richard Thompson's major obituary of him on Bluegrass Today, with no fewer than twenty-three embedded videos from YouTube.

Update 12 May: Daniel Sheehy, director and curator emeritus of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, which took over the Arhoolie catalogue, has a major article celebrating Chris Strachwitz on the Smithsonian website.

© Richard Hawkins

Gordon Lightfoot (17 Nov. 1938–1 May 2023)

The BIB learns with regret of the death of Canadian singer/ songwriter Gordon Lightfoot on Monday 1 May, of natural causes, at the age of 84. Many of his songs have passed into the repertoire of bluegrass musicians; an important factor was the enthusiasm of Tony Rice as a member of J.D. Crowe & the New South, whose highly influential 1975 album J.D. Crowe & the New South (Rounder 0044) included two Lightfoot songs, 'Ten degrees and getting colder' and 'You are what I am'.

Update 7 May: A major obituary by Richard Thompson of Gordon Lightfoot, with many videos of his songs as performed by bluegrass musicians, can now be seen on Bluegrass Today.

© Richard Hawkins

Ivan M. Tribe, 1 May 1940-4 Apr. 2023

The BIB learns with regret of the death last Tuesday (4 Apr.) of Ivan M. Tribe, one of the premier scholars of old-time, 'hillbilly', and bluegrass music, and the culture that produced them. He was an indefatigable writer on these subjects. Richard Thompson has contributed an obituary on Bluegrass Today indicating the scope of Dr Tribe's achievements, and including a tribute from Matteo Ringressi, who will be playing at Bluegrass Omagh 2023 as a member of the Truffle Valley Boys (I). A further obituary is on the funeral home website. The image above is from the cover of Dr Tribe's Folk music in overdrive: a primer on traditional country and bluegrass artists, published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2018.

© Richard Hawkins

Ron Spears

Thanks to Richard Thompson for the sad news of the death of Ron Spears (right) yesterday morning, from cancer. Ron came to Ireland in January 2007 as mandolin player with the Special Consensus (see picture below and the BIB for 10 Dec. 2006), but he was then already a man of many talents - singer, songwriter, leader of his own band Within Tradition, multi-instrumentalist, and (as the Facebook page for one of his side ventures put it) 'comedian, ventriloquist, and yo-yo man'. Ron's CV is outlined in Bluegrass Bios. His friends and colleagues in Fast Track have posted a moving tribute on their Facebook:

With our saddened hearts, we want to let everyone know that Ron Spears, a founding member, bass player and songwriter for Fast Track has finished his earthly journey this morning. Ron battled cancer and all of the complications which came after this surgery in 2022 like a true superhero. He is by far the toughest person we have ever known and his absence will forever leave an impact on each of us. Thank you for the years of shotgun riding, laughing, arguing, Taco Bell eating, pickin, singing and thank you most of all for being our brother. We love you Ron Spears.

The BIB's deepest sympathies go out to Ron's wife Brenda.

Update 25 Mar.: See Richard Thompson's full obituary of Ron on Bluegrass Today.

The Special Consensus, 2006-7: (l-r) Ron, Greg Cahill, David Thomas, Justin Carbone

© Richard Hawkins

Dwight Diller, 17 Aug. 1946-14 Feb. 2023

The BIB editor writes:

With great regret, I learn from Banjo Hangout of the death last week, from brain haemorrhage after a fall, of Dwight Diller, one of the most influential players of old-time music of the past fifty years. His influence derived from the strength of his respect and love for the old music and the generations who had made it. His friend and biographer Lew Stern concluded his Dwight Diller: West Virginia mountain musician (2016) with the words:

The central message he sought to communicate was this: a person will only be able to play music that emerged from and resonated with their own character and life experiences, and that ought to be sufficient.

The image above right, showing Dwight aged 27, is from the cover of Lew Stern's book (the most informative biography of a musician that I have so far read). The tributes by friends and fellow musicians on Banjo Hangout and on a commemorative web page should also be read. The Banjo Hangout notice of his death gives four videos of his playing and a link to his YouTube channel.

His website announces that his body will be cremated, and the ashes received by family on 4 March from 2.00 to 4.00 p.m. at Lantz Funeral Home, Marlinton, West Virginia. No extended memorial gathering is planned at this time, but friends are welcome.

© Richard Hawkins

Eve Morris of FOAOTMAD

We learn with regret of the death shortly before Christmas of Eve Morris, membership secretary for many years of FOAOTMAD, the UK's association for old-time music and dance, who was also the association's only life member. The FOAOTMAD news blog of today's date gives full details, received from her family, of the arrangements for her funeral and a 'wake'/ celebration of life, to be held in Somerset on 13 January 2023.

© Richard Hawkins

Gift parcel from Bluegrass Today

Chris Coole (banjo) and John Showman (fiddle) of the Lonesome Ace Stringband have a new album, Much further out than inevitable, comprising a dozen songs by the late John Hartford, due for release this coming Friday and now available for pre-ordering. A video of them playing the Hartford song 'Back in the goodle days' can be seen in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today, and also on YouTube.

*

The Petersens, who have (thanks to John Nyhan) toured Ireland several times, released earlier this month a new album, My Ozark Mountain home. Lee Zimmerman reviews the album on Bluegrass Today, with a playlist of samples of all thirteen songs.

*

The Appalachian Road Show (see the BIB for 19 Nov.) made their first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN, last Friday (25 Nov.), and it seems to have been a powerful experience for everyone there, whether on stage or in the seats. Three videos and several photos from the occasion are given in John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today.

*

The living legend Paul Williams has been inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame twice: as a member of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (2009), and in his own right (2018). A major part of his career was his time as tenor singer, mandolinist, and songwriter in Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys. Sandy Hatley's recent conversation with him about his life is recorded on Bluegrass Today. One of his compositions, the gospel duet 'Stormy waters' can be heard here, with Williams's soaring tenor above Martin's lead. Of the versions available by different artists on YouTube, this one best embodies the blend of voices that Jimmy Martin strove for.

Update 2 Dec.: More of Paul Williams's memories and life story, recounted by Joe Mullins, can now be read on Bluegrass Today.

*

Finally, Richard Thompson posts on Bluegrass Today the sad news of the death of guitarist and singer Dudley Murphy (16 Apr. 1940-19 Nov. 2022). Like many contemporaries, Murphy grew up listening to rock and folk rather than traditional music, but became a masterful flat-picker and lead singer in two highly regarded bands, County Line and Radio Flyer, as well as taking part in what may have been the first twin flat-picking album ever recorded. Thompson's obituary includes tributes by those who knew Murphy, a discography, four videos (two of them are recordings of full LPs), and five photos. Dudley Murphy's funeral took place yesterday, 28 Nov. 2022.

© Richard Hawkins

Art Rosenbaum, 6 Dec. 1938-4 Sept. 2022

The BIB learns with great regret of the recent death, just over three months short of his 84th birthday, of Art Rosenbaum. As the obituary in this month's Bluegrass Unlimited states, he 'was a musician, a collector, a producer, an educator and historian, and an author' - and, as shown later in the obituary, a radio presenter and a visual artist. The image on the right is his 2004 self-portrait, and his artwork illustrated his own publications, of which the first was Old-time mountain banjo (1968). Like Pete Seeger's earlier How to play the 5-string banjo, this comprehensively knocks on the head the idea that 'before Scruggs, there was only clawhammer'. His field recordings amply reflected the diversity of old-time music.

© Richard Hawkins

John Caulfield, RIP

Niall Toner sends the sad news that John Caulfield (above), fiddler in Dublin's Sackville String Band in 1976-77 and since then resident in the USA, died yesterday (31 Oct.) in California.

The poster (left) shows the Sackville in its 1977 configuration: front, Imor Byrne (fiddle), Colin Beggan (guitar); back, John (fiddle), Niall (mandolin), Richard Hawkins (banjo). This lineup came to an end with Imor's tragic death late in 1977. John subsequently left Ireland for the USA, where he made many devoted friends. The website 'Celtic musicians in the S.F. & Monterey Bay areas' showed him as a member of the Gasmen band and quoted this 1998 information:

John Caulfield (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) has been in many bands and has played gigs with Johnny Moynihan in Amsterdam, Dublin, and New York, where he moved to with his family from County Louth. Since moving to the Bay Area, John has played with The Mild Colonial Boys, 42, and The Core.

The picture of him above headed a GoFundMe scheme which was set up for him in 2018 after he had suffered a stroke and needed prolonged convalescence and continued treatment. The initial target sum of $10,000 was raised inside three weeks.

© Richard Hawkins

Tony Friel remembers Joe Bussard (1936-2022)

Jolly Joe's Jug Band

BIB editor's note: Two weeks ago Richard Thompson posted on Bluegrass Today an obituary of the 'king of record collectors', Joe Bussard. The sad news inevitably brought to mind Ireland's own world-class collector of country music records, books, and memorabilia, the late Rodney McElrea of Omagh, Co. Tyrone, who died five years ago. At that time Tony Friel - record collector, radio presenter, and friend of Rodney for forty-seven years - recalled his memories of Rodney for the BIB. We asked Tony whether he or Rodney knew Joe, and he replied:

I never met Joe but we were Facebook friends and we used to have the wee odd FB chat. He told me some interesting stories about record collecting. He said he would in his younger day go on record-collecting tours across the country, asking everywhere he went if people had records for sale.

He told me one time that he went to this old farmhouse in the hills of Virginia to look at records. He said that there were so many he was walking on them, scattered across the floor, to get to a shelf where the unbroken records were. He often went collecting with David Freeman of County Records fame. He also knew Rodney, as he recalled Rodney was on one record-collecting trip with him and Dave Freeman.

I have known over this past two years that Joe's health was fading, and he cut back from letting people visit his home for record sessions. I often wished I had made that trip. I have some of the old Fonotone 78rpm records that he sent me. He had a cutting lathe in his den and he would cut 78s for sale. Joe also had his own band called 'Jolly Joe's Jug Band' [photo above] and I have some recordings of them somewhere which I must dig out. Also for your information, which you might already know about: Joe put out a 5-CD box set of rare music and featuring the Jug Band. The box set is packed with postcards, record labels, a bottle-opener, and a 164-page booklet telling us a brief history of the music enclosed.

© Richard Hawkins

Tommy Cordell, 2 Mar. 1957-30 Sept. 2022

The BIB editor writes:

Tommy Cordell, an outstanding bluegrass fiddler, died at the end of last week. Both his own music and the music of the bands in which he played exemplify the combination of toughness, power, and sensitivity that mark bluegrass at its best. Richard Thompson has posted an obituary-cum-discography on Bluegrass Today, with ample contributions from close friends and fellow musicians.

The images above are from the covers of his 1987 solo album and the 1981 Dave Evans album Goin round this world. It was on the latter that I first heard Tommy Cordell's fiddling, and Kevin Williamson's words, as quoted by Richard Thompson, sum up the album perfectly:

Nowadays when I listen to it, I’m struck by the raw energy and emotion of the project. We were all playing as though our lives depended on it, and in some ways they did. Tommy found such joy in playing music and it rubbed off on the rest of us.

Goin round the world was chosen by Daniel Mullins as Album of the Week #36 on Bluegrass Today in 2014. The 1985 album by Big Timber Bluegrass, Bluegrass on my mind, can be heard in full on the BT obituary and on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

Loretta Lynn, 1932-2022

Thanks to Des Butler for this sad news:

We have lost another legend of country music, namely Loretta Lynn who died today (4 Oct. 2022). A family statement published in US media today said the beloved songwriter died of natural causes.

Loretta Lynn was an American singer-songwriter. In a career which spanned six decades in country music, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had hits such as 'You ain't woman enough', 'Don't come home a-drinkin'', 'One's on the way', 'Fist City', and 'Coal miner's daughter'.

Lynn saw a number of her edgy tracks banned by country music stations, but over the course of more than six decades in the business, she became a standard-bearer of the genre and its most decorated female artist ever.

Born Loretta Webb on 14 April 1932 in smalltown Kentucky, Lynn was the eldest daughter in an impoverished family of eight kids, a childhood she immortalised in her iconic track 'Coal miner's daughter' - a staple on lists of all-time best songs. She won virtually every arts honour available, including the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, given to her by Barack Obama in 2013.

Quote: 'When they lay me down six feet under, they can say, "Loretta's quit singing".'

'R.I.P.

Des. Butler

BIB editor's note: BIB readers who have a copy of Pressing on: the Roni Stoneman story will recall Roni's story of her friend 'Retta' and the boots (pp 186-9).

Buddy Spurlock, 1941-2022

The Bluegrass Alliance c.1969: (l-r) Buddy Spurlock, Ebo Walker, Dan Crary, Danny Jones, Lonnie Peerce

The BIB learns with regret of the death last Wednesday (21 Sept.) of Buddy Spurlock of eastern Kentucky at the age of 81. The Bluegrass Alliance was a band that made a powerful impact on the US scene in the late '60s and '70s and provided a launch pad for the careers of Sam Bush, Tony Rice, and Vince Gill; and Buddy Spurlock was the banjo-player in the Alliance's lineup that recorded their influential 1969 LP (cover image above). His individual touch, tone, and licks were among the features that made the band influential. John Lawless's obituary on Bluegrass Today includes tributes from Doyle Lawson and Scott Napier, plus a recording of Buddy's composition 'Naugahyde', played by the Alliance. Scott Napier's memories - well worth reading in full - include these words:

Although he was not active on the music scene [after leaving the Alliance], he was very passionate about playing, and playing well. He influenced me in the fact that he was so good, but had a burning desire to improve, even though he had no interest in being heard.

© Richard Hawkins

Herschel Sizemore, 6 Aug. 1935-9 Sept. 2022

Herschel Sizemore playing 'Rebecca' in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel, Nashville, TN, during IBMA's World of Bluegrass 2006 (photo: Carol Hawkins)

The BIB learns with regret of the death yesterday morning of master mandolinist Herschel Sizemore at the age of 87. Another veteran of the generation who played bluegrass music before it was given that name, he was inspired as a child by the playing of Bill Monroe, and as a professional served his time in many leading bands - Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys, Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass, Del McCoury & the Dixie Pals, among others. His compositions included the classic 'Rebecca'. (In 2011 Chris Stuart discussed on Bluegrass Today the processes that lead to the creation of such classics.) Richard Thompson's exemplary obituary on Bluegrass Today includes a discography and eight videos, with bluegrass music of a very high quality.

Update 12 Sept.: The funeral service for Herschel Sizemore will be held on Thursday afternoon (15 Sept.) in Roanoke, VA. Other details are in Richard Thompson's post of 11 Sept. on Bluegrass Today.

Update 16 Sept.: A 1993 Bluegrass Unlimited article on Herschel, written by Don Rigsby, can be read online.

© Richard Hawkins