Bluegrass Music -- John Duffey

John Duffey may be a name that some bluegrass music fans don't recognize. Duffey was a Washington, DC based bluegrass music innovator. John Duffey founded two very influential bluegrass bands. The Country Gentleman and The Seldom Scene. Duffey was the son of a singer at the Metropolitan Opera. He possessed the ability of shifting his singing voice from a tenor to falsetto unnoticeably. His voice coupled with the baritone of The Country Gentlemen's Charlie Waller created a sound like no other in bluegrass music. Duffey was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1996.

Bluegrass Music - The Osborne Brothers

Nobody can talk about BLUEGRASS music without mentioning the Osborne Brothers. They were a very popular act in the 1960's and 1970's. They were best known for their 1968 song, "Rocky Top", named after a mountain in Tennessee and written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant.

Although the Osborne Brothers were born in Hyden, Kentucky, they spent their childhood near Dayton, Ohio where they first began experiencing entertainment. Sonny Osborne went to work for Bill Monroe after Bobby was drafted into the military in 1952. When Bobby Osborne returned from service in 1953, they brothers teamed up with Jimmy Martin and performed at radio stations WJR in Detroit, Michigan and WROL in Knoxville, Tennesee. In their only recording session together with Jimmy Martin, they recorded six songs for RCA Victor. This occurred on Nov. 16, 1954. In late 1955, the Osbornes left Jimmy Martin and performed with Charlie Baily until Christmas of the same year. They returned to Dayton in 1956 and played with guitarist Enos Johnson. Johnson left and then the Osbornes hired fiddler Art Stamper and guitarist Red Allen to form their new group, the Osborne Brothers and Red Allen.

This newly formed group recorded for Gateway Records in February and March of 1956. In the spring of '56, Tommy Sutton, a local disc jockey helped the Osborne Brothers get a contract with MGM. The new group consisted of Red Allen on guitar, Tommy Jackson and Art Stamper on fiddles, and Ernie Newton on bass. Their first released single for MGM was "Ruby Are You Mad", marked the first time that twin banjos were used on a bluegrass music recording. Red Allen left the group in the spring of 1958.

The Osborne Brothers became known in bluegrass music with their tight vocal harmonies and virtuostic instrumentation. Their "high lead' vocals became their signature sound and during the '60's, they started a controversy among the bluegrass music purists for using electronic and percussion instruments in their music.

In 1960, the Osborne Brothers became the first bluegrass music group to perform at a college campus when they performed at Antioch College. In 1963, they switched to Decca Records and their hit "Rocky Top" sold 85,000 copies within two weeks. On August 8, 1964, they were inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry and in 1973, became the first bluegrass music band to perform at the White House.

Bluegrass Music - Mac Wiseman

Mac Wiseman was sometimes known as the Voice with a Heart. This bearded, Virginia born bluegrass singer is a major legend in the bluegrass music ranks. He began his musical career and a guitarist for the country singer Molly O'Day. After Flatt and Scruggs left the Bluegrass Boys, he became a guitarist for the Foggy Mountain Boys and later played with Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys. He later became popular as a solo artist after a performance at the Louisiana Hayride.

During the folk revival in the 1960s, Mac Wiseman had successful concerts at the Carnegie Hall and Hollywood Bowl.

He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night (TV Series) cast CD “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” performing "Christmas Time's A Comin'" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.

In 1993 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. His substantial girth and light tenor voice gave rise to the quip that "Mac Wiseman sings like Gene Vincent looks, and looks like Ernest Tubb sings."

The King of Bluegrass Music

In 1949, a man by the name of Jimmy Martin knew of Mac Wiseman's departure from Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys. Martin, also known as the "King of Bluegrass", sneaked backstage at the Grand Ole Opry and began picking his guitar. He was overheard by banjo player Rudy Lyle who brought Martin foward and introduced him to Bill Monroe. Martin proceeded to sing two songs with the Bluegrass Boys and was hiared on the spot as guitarist and lead vocalist.

When Jimmy Martin and Bill Monroe's voices met, it became known as the "High Lonesome Sound". But Martin's high-strung personality inevitably clashed with Bill Monroe's stubborn temperament. He left the Bluegrass Boys and went to work for the Osborne Brothers until he formed his own band, "The Sunny Mountain Boys", in 1955. The lineup in his band consisted of the likes of J.D. Crowe and "Big" Paul Williams. The Sunny Mountain Boys became known as "Good 'n Country" among the bluegrass crowd with their simple harmonies, catchy melodies and strong rythm guitar playing by Jimmy Martin. Martin had credited himself with developing the "G" Run, and widely used guitar lick in bluegrass music. However, other evidence clearly showed Lester Flatt doing this run on his guitar when he performed with the Bluegrass Boys years earlier.

Martin was famous as a dangerously unpredictable but highly entertaining stage presence. He freely acknowledged his problems with drinking and volatile mood swings, which kept him from realizing his life-long dream of joining the Grand Ole Opry.