As we went to town, to the shopping center, that place could never have been no fuller than it was that night. It was packed. We pulled up there, and I got out of the truck, and I fell to my hands and knees right there, and said, “God, if you’ll help me, I’ll quit alcohol and drugs.” I didn’t know how to pray ’cause I was lost, but I was asking God for help. I knew what I had heard was real; I wasn’t hallucinating; I wasn’t tripping on no drugs, just alcohol; this was real. Everybody looked at me, and there was so many that laughed at me and, of course, there was some that was concerned, but I told them, “If you experienced what I just experienced, you would be right here, too. If not, you would be crazy.” That night I realized I could be in hell that quick.
Echoes
Delbert McCall
I’ve been singing for my Savior,
I’ve been singing for my friends,
Soon I’ll sing with all the angels,
When my earthly life shall end.
I hear echoes over Jordan,
I hear praises round the throne,
I hear singing over yonder,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
We’ve made it home.
Let me sing through all my valleys,
Until the mountaintop I see,
Let the music bring me laughter,
Let my burdens from me flee.
Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises
unto our King, sing praises.
—Psalms 47:6
Bill Monroe once defined bluegrass music in the following terms: “It’s Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It’s blues and jazz, and it has a high-lonesome sound. It’s plain music that tells a good story. It’s played from my heart to your heart, and it will touch you. Bluegrass is music that matters.”
Before electricity, there were no electrified instruments or deafening drums rattling the walls and shaking the whatnots from the mantels. The music of our elders was as pure as the maple wood from which the instrument had been precisely shaped and molded. You could hear the banjo ringing loud and clear as mountain music filled the air. When the bar was slid across the strings, the Dobro would almost speak to you as the music resonated from under the steel cone embedded into the wooden top. From the “convicting” power of the traditional gospel hymns to the sad and happy stories the music told, bluegrass serves its purpose well.
The song “Echoes” was written by Rev. Delbert McCall, who has preached the Gospel and entertained thousands throughout the years with just his voice and a single guitar. Whether it be in a church, nursing home, hospital, or the home of a shut-in, or just singing the final song for a friend who has departed, Reverend McCall provides music and laughter to untold thousands. To the preacher and the groups featured in this section, music is a passion. It’s not performed for money but echoes to lift the spirits of those who travel from far and near to listen, clap their hands, pat their feet, and often join in. The stories of the groups featured in this section will allow you to briefly pull back the curtain and peep into the lives of individual members of several, mostly bluegrass, groups with some southern gospel interspersed. A CD with musical selections from all the musicians featured in this section may be ordered from Foxfire at www.foxfire.org or by calling 706-746-5828. Listening to the CD will define for you what the high-lonesome sound really is.
—Joyce Green
“We went to the Grand Ole Opry in 1960.”
~Curtis Blackwell~
I decided to write my third Foxfire article on a type of music that is very popular in the mountains but that I had not often been around: bluegrass. I learned about Curtis Blackwell from his son Shane. Mr. Blackwell was born just over the state line in South Carolina and is now living in North Carolina. He has six children; three sons are following his footsteps and playing music.
Shane and I made the trip to his house in neighboring Otto, North Carolina, and the interview began. Mr. Blackwell’s humor was apparent as he went and changed for pictures and came out in a “Curtis Blackwell and the Dixie Bluegrass Boys” shirt.
Mr. Blackwell immediately made me feel right at home as he began to tell me stories of his past in bluegrass music. He began playing at family reunions and then started his own high school band. Later he played on the Grand Ole Opry and was a member of Bill Monroe’s band. As I began working on my article, another student, Erik Lunsford, who was also doing his article on a bluegrass musician, asked me if we could combine articles. I said yes, and the following is the finished product.
—Amy York
My name is Curtis Leland Blackwell. I was named after my daddy. My birthday is September 13, 1942; it’s the same as Bill Monroe’s, but different years, of course. When I was real young, probably six or seven years old, we used to go to my uncle Ben Burton’s house for family reunions, and my brother and a couple or three of my first cousins all played. One of them played the guitar, one played the fiddle, and one played the mandolin. They used to play a lot when we were done eating dinner. I just got to listening to that and liked it. I guess that is really what got me interested in bluegrass music.
In the later years, me and some of the boys in school got to playin’ together, and I got real interested. I played in a high school group. It was just a little band. We had electric guitar, mandolin, and a guitar. That was Fred Burton, Junior Lee, my older brother Haskell, and myself.
After I got on up and got to playing music myself, we used to go to a place above Walhalla, South Carolina, called Cuzzins. We used to go up there and play a lot on Saturday nights—before I got into where I had to travel most every Saturday night. We used to do that a lot, and I think that is where I learned a whole lot, really. After that band busted up is whenever me and Haskell and Junior Crowe got together. We called ourselves The Sunshine Melody Boys. We did our first recording, which was done in about 1959, or something about that. Then we won a contest and went to the Grand Ole Opry in 1960.
PLATE 53 “My birthday’s the same as Bill Monroe’s.” Curtis as a young boy
After we come back from the Opry, we played a lot of shows over in Toccoa, Georgia, and in that area for a good long while because it was sponsored by WLET Radio in Toccoa. Gene Bowlenger was the man that took us to the Opry, and we played a lot of shows at high schools for a couple of years; then we eventually broke up. Then I formed Curtis Blackwell and The Dixie Bluegrass Boys. I’ve had that band ever since, and that was probably in 1965, or somewhere in that neighborhood. Then I got my brother-in-law, Sam Cobb, who plays bass, and me and Al Olsteen, who picked banjo, and Larry Jefferson, who played the mandolin. To begin with, it was just a four-piece band: mandolin, banjer [banjo], guitar, and bass; then Randall Collins joined us later on.
One of the most memorable people that I have played with, of course, is Bill Monroe. He was one of the biggest stars I’ve ever played with. We have played with quite a few other people, too. I played in Bill Monroe’s band, so I would have to remember him better than anybody. We have backed up people like Chubby Wise and Mac Wiseman; some of those fellows was a real pleasure to play with because they was real entertainers. I played with Bill Monroe for just a little while. We had the Dixie Bluegrass Boys band, of course, and we played around where he was at a lot. A fellow by the name of Lewis Olsteen, which is Al Olsteen’s (who used to be my banjo player) brother, mentioned to me about why didn’t I take the job when somebody quit. I said, “Well, you know I would like to try,” so he called Bill and set me up a thing backstage at the Opry. I went and tried out with him. I didn’t even get to come home. I had to take my clothes and go on.
PLATE 54 Junior Crowe, Haskell Blackwell, Curtis Blackwell, and the Opry announcer. Junior Crowe is the father of the Crowe brothers, who are featured in the next story.
Bill was real easy for me to work with. A lot of people kinda had a different opinion of him. He was real good to me. He treated me like a son. Of course, I never will forget that powerful voice he had and the great mandolin playin’ he did.
&
nbsp; Some of the most memorable places we have played has been the World’s Fair in 1982, and, of course, I have played at the Grand Ole Opry. That was a big thing. Those are probably the two most memorable places that I have played.
I play the guitar in the band. I do play the banjo, the fiddle a little bit, the mandolin, the bass, and I play about all the bluegrass instruments. I’m not real good on all of them, but I can play them enough to consider myself being able to play them. I like the fiddle better than any of the other instruments. We have produced three albums. We have two CDs, and we’ve got six tapes. I’m on three forty-fives, from back in the older days. We recorded the first one in New York in 1969 at Columbia University. Then we did a square dance album down in Aiken, South Carolina. I was on one album with Oliver Rice.
The latest two things we have done have been on CDs. We’ve got six albums in all, and four of them are on CDs. Walking on a Highway is the latest gospel album we got, and it is named after a song I wrote. We did Our Traditions to You, She’s a Rose in the Master’s Bouquet, On My Way Back to the Old Home, Where Did the Good Times Go?, and On and On.
I do have three sons that also make music. Terry, my oldest son, played with the band for about thirteen years, then he quit to go into the ministry. He plays a mandolin and sings high tenor. My second son, Victor, has never really been a member of the band, but he has done a lot of fill-ins for me through the years when somebody couldn’t go. He plays mandolin or guitar, whatever is needed, and he sings high tenor and lead. Shane, my youngest son, played with me for a couple of years, and he plays flattop guitar and sings lead and tenor. Then Terry, Victor, Shane, and Randy Crowe formed their own band called The Blackwell Tradition. All of my boys are really good musicians, and Shane performed on the Grand Ole Opry in 2004.
I do write some of our songs. Some of the other boys write some. It is hard to say what my inspirations for songs are. When they come to ya, ya just have to write them. I don’t write music. I put the tune to it and everything like that. The reason I chose bluegrass is because I liked the acoustical sound that bluegrass has. Another thing that interested me in it is Daddy used to listen to Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt every morning at, I believe, five forty-five. I liked the sound of the banjo; that kinda got me interested in the bluegrass part of it. I just always liked that sound. I was probably influenced a lot by Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs back in the fifties.
The main difference in bluegrass and country music is bluegrass is all acoustical instruments. Country, of course, is electric music with drums. Of course, bluegrass has always been associated with a high-lonesome sound, which country is not.
I think probably the most influential person in bluegrass would have to be Bill Monroe—of course, Flatt and Scruggs and Wiseman, also. They all influenced it, but I think Bill would have to be the biggest influence of them all. Bill influenced the music in the early years. In the later years, though, you have got people like Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs and those people that have been on the Opry, and they will play a little bluegrass along with the country that they are famous for. It’s probably boosted it a whole lot. Alison and Ricky and those people are making them play it a little more on the market than it has normally been played. Ralph Stanley, Reno and Smiley, and all the older groups that have been around a long time have also had an influence on bluegrass music.
When I was real young and gettin’ started, I had some first cousins that had a group called the Burton Trio. There was a gentleman that came through Westminster, South Carolina, that had been transferred in to manage one of the department stores over there, and his name was J. W. Hardwick. He was a real good singer and a real good musician, and he taught me to play bass. I played bass with him and the Burton Trio. That kindly influenced me, a little bit—their type of music, too.
PLATE 55 Curtis and The Dixie Bluegrass Boys: Sam Cobb (bass), Chuck Nation (fiddle), Curtis (guitar), Charles Wood (banjo), Vic Blackwell (mandolin)
Bluegrass music seems to be growing all the time. The festivals get bigger and more of them. They’re everywhere now. I can remember when they was only three or four festivals in the United States: Bean Blossom; Berryville; one in Fincastle, Virginia; and the one over at Shoal Creek in Lavonia, Georgia, used to be all they was. Now they’s at least two or three in every state. I think that the future of bluegrass music is pretty good. It keeps gaining every year. The crowds get bigger at the festivals and whatnot, so we hope it will continue on.
The Dixie Bluegrass Boys are a very talented group of musicians. Band member Sam Cobb has been a member of The Dixie Bluegrass Boys since our inception in 1965, but we were musical partners even before then. His musical roots are deep, and he and I have played every major bluegrass music venue throughout the eastern U.S. Sam brings his own unique blend of warmth and humor to the band. You just have to hear him sing “The Rooster Song” and tell his latest favorite joke. He blends his great baritone harmony, singing with a precision seasoned over many years, and provides rock-solid bass picking that draws from a lifetime of music experience.
Vic Blackwell grew up in our musical family as the second born of my three sons, and he has been a member of The Dixie Bluegrass Boys since 2003. He is a talented songwriter and musician and exemplifies that famous high-lonesome bluegrass sound with his crystal-clear lead and tenor vocals. Vic is personality-plus onstage and communicates to the audience with a warmth and sincerity that delights and entertains fans of all ages.
Charles Wood has won banjo contests from Maine to Colorado and all points between. He is a two-time Winfield National Banjo Champion (1999 and 2006), Colorado Rockygrass Banjo Champion, Renofest South Carolina State Banjo Champion, Merlefest Banjo Champion, Georgia State Banjo Champion, and more. In 2005 he performed with Steve Martin, Earl Scruggs, Pete Wernick, and Tony Ellis in concert in New York City and on the David Letterman show—“Men With Banjos Who Know How to Use Them.” He has performed on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion show and has toured extensively in Europe. Charles is a consummate musician whose playing style encompasses musical genres from traditional bluegrass to classical.
Chuck Nation is a past Louisiana State Fiddle Champion. He can play mandolin, guitar, banjo, and bass equally well and has won numerous awards and contests throughout the South with all instruments. He was a member of Louisville, Kentucky’s, legendary Bluegrass Alliance from 1972 to 1974, whose alumni include Vince Gill and Tony Rice. Chuck has played across the U.S., Alaska, Canada, Japan, throughout eastern and western Europe, and has been on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, New Orleans World’s Fair, TV, and radio. Chuck has worked as a studio musician, traveled extensively with various professional groups, and opened shows for a diverse list of folks from Ernest Tubb to Mother Maybelle Carter to Mac Davis to John Hartford. He has shared the stage and played with the likes of bluegrass luminaries Bill Monroe, Mac Wiseman, Sam Bush, Vassar Clements, the Whites, Dan Crary, Byron Berline, Allen Shelton, and many others.
Editor’s note: Curtis is a member of the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame. Having received numerous awards over the years, he was officially recognized again in July 2010 as a legend of bluegrass at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, while attending the Pioneers of Bluegrass Reunion being held at the museum. While there, he also performed on stage with other former members of Bill Monroe’s band during filming for the museum’s video archives.
Curtis Blackwell and The Dixie Bluegrass Boys’ music is available at www.curtisblackwell.webs.com.
PLATE 56 Curtis in August 2010 with two of his many awards, including his 1960 First Place Award from the Third Annual Grand Ole Opry Talent Contest
“I like the ol’ brother-style duet stuff.”
~Wallace “Josh” Crowe~
Grand Ole Opry performers several times over, worldwide bluegrass travelers, and frequent holders of the number one spot on bluegrass radio stations, the Crowe Brothers are extraordinary musicians. When people hear about them
, they assume the talented brothers, Josh and Wayne, come from a large town and had many music lessons from famous teachers. No one would ever think they come from Warwoman Road in Clayton, Georgia, and were taught by their father, also a wonderful musician. Today they continue to astound the music industry. Joyce Green and I spent the evening with Josh, learning about the band and hearing his stories, and I was pleasantly surprised that Josh has remained a grateful, well-mannered small-town boy who has not let fame go to his head. The Crowe Brothers are a prime example of rising above obstacles, making a good life for yourself, and following your dreams.
While at the concert the evening of the interview, we had the opportunity to meet Harold and Ann Williams from Wingate, North Carolina, longtime fans of the Crowe Brothers. They had driven over three hours to Maggie Valley, North Carolina, that weekend just to be at the Stompin’ Ground for the Friday night concert. Harold said, “They are the best in bluegrass; it just doesn’t get any better than this. If I had a million dollars, I would buy them and have them play for me all the time!”
—Casi Best
My name is Wallace “Josh” Crowe. I was born in Clayton, Georgia. My dad was in the music business and got me and my brother, Wayne, started in it. We didn’t know anything else because we grew up in music and thought that’s what you were supposed to do. As time went on, we played with the more local and regional groups like Oliver Rice and those guys. We started out at home like everybody else, playing and singing in somebody’s living room and going around in the community playing in churches. When we got our first job, it was with our buddy Raymond Fairchild, here in Maggie Valley, in 1975. I had just turned seventeen years old when that happened. That’s where the Crowe Brothers’ career started. We’d sung in other groups before, but we never had called ourselves the Crowe Brothers. Now we’ve been going for the past thirty-five years, traveling and singing and working in the music business.
The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book Page 26