From the Nation's Station to Herzog Studios

They are honoring a famous recording studio where Lester and Earl recorded:

Herzog was Cincinnati’s first commercial recording studio. Powers thinks its ultimate significance for the local music scene is “it turned Cincinnati into a recording town instead of a radio town.”

Groundbreaking tunes in Country, Bluegrass and R&B were cut at Herzog — songs that would become templates for their genres. Just to list a few of the seminal sessions:

• Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs recorded “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” one of the most recognizable Bluegrass tunes, in December 1949. • The Delmore Brothers cut “Freight Train Boogie,” bringing the boogie woogie Blues sound to the hillbilly market in what some call the first Rockabilly song.

• “The Honeydripper,” a song cited by musicologists as laying the foundation for R&B, was recorded in 1945 by Bullmoose Jackson.

• Other artists who recorded at the studio include Homer and Jethro, Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, Judy Perkins, Grandpa Jones, Red Foley and Moon Mulligan.

The Herzog story — its rise and fall — can’t be told without telling the WLW Country & Western story. By the late ’30s the “nation’s station” was booming out a signal of 500,000 watts, but owner Powel Crosley was under government pressure to justify why he deserved that much wattage.

“His argument was, ‘We are in the center of the population area of the country and there are so many rural areas that don’t have radio service. We are providing that for them,’ ” says Mike Martini of Media Heritage Inc. “Crosley realized he needed to beef up his rural programming to justify that argument.”

WLW began to hire the finest Country & Western singers and musicians in the land. At one point it produced two weekly barn-dance shows, Midwestern Hayride and Boone County Jamboree. One of the great session bands in Country music history, the Pleasant Valley Boys, moved here from Nashville in 1948, lured by the offer to be the house band for the TV version of Midwestern Hayride.

In 1945, WLW engineer E.T. “Bucky” Herzog started a little side project, opening a recording studio just around the corner from the station, which back then was at Ninth and Elm. He realized the cream of the Country music crop was coming through WLW every week to perform and thought maybe they’d want to record.

It was the same thinking that sparked Syd Nathan to found King Records in 1943. But Nathan wouldn’t have a recording studio at his Evanston complex until 1947, so he sent many artists down to Race Street and Bucky Herzog.

Hank Williams came here in 1948 specifically to record with the renowned Pleasant Valley Boys. He’d worked with them previously when they were in Nashville, producing a couple minor hits. He was still looking for the big breakthrough.

They cut three songs in a session booked for three hours. When Williams found he had extra time, he said he wanted to record “Lovesick Blues,” which he’d been performing in concert and on radio shows. His manager, Fred Rose, hated the song. When he learned Williams wanted to cut it, he fumed out of the studio saying, “You got 30 minutes left in the session. Don’t go over the time.”

One take was enough. In Williams’ yearning, pleading voice, it became a signature song.

Released in spring of 1949, “Lovesick Blues” was No. 1 for 16 weeks, earning Williams a performance at the Grand Ole Opry in June that received an unprecedented six encores. The song became the quintessential ballad of lost love, covered by dozens of singers across all genres, ranging from Little Richard and Arlo Guthrie to Linda Ronstadt and LeAnn Rhimes.

Williams would return to Herzog to recapture the magic with the Pleasant Valley Boys in August 1949, recording four more songs.

Meanwhile, Herzog continued to crank out recordings. Record labels like Columbia, RCA and Mercury would send their artists to town. Along with King — which was becoming the country’s most successful independent label — Cincinnati indeed had become Music City.


Herzog outlasted Hank ... barely


By the early ’50s, Herzog’s glory days were ending (although King’s were just beginning with its incredible R&B lineup). Studios had opened in Nashville and the emerging Country stars didn’t need to travel to record. And Nathan had built his own studio.

Most significantly, WLW began firing its live musicians, many heading to Nashville, removing the talent pool that fueled Herzog. Crosley sold his station to Avco in 1953, and the new owners started making cuts (in what seems to be a familiar story in corporate broadcasting).

“They looked at other DJs in town spinning discs and making all that money,” Martini says. “Here WLW was with this huge staff of something like 100 musicians. I’m sure they said, ‘Why are we spending all this money when one guy can spin discs?’ ”

Bucky Herzog sold the studio, and the new owner moved it to Mount Adams, mainly doing commercial production. It was gone by 1955.

Yet the studio survived Hank Williams, who would die at age 29 on New Year’s Day 1953, officially of heart failure, likely brought on by alcohol abuse and injections of vitamin and morphine shots. He passed away in the back seat of his chauffeured Cadillac on his way to a concert in Canton.





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The Hank Williams Sessions at the E.T. Herzog Recording Company
Dec. 22, 1948
“Lost on the River”
“There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight”
“I Heard My Mother Praying for Me”
“Lovesick Blues”

Aug. 30, 1949
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
“I Just Don’t Like This Kind of Livin’ ”
“A House Without Love”
“My Bucket’s Got a Whole in It”


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The historical marker recognizing Herzog’s studio and Hank Williams’ sessions will be unveiled at 1 p.m. Sunday in front of 811 Race St., Downtown. A reception will follow in the former studio space on the second floor. The 13th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards start at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Madison Theater, Covington.

Flatt and Scruggs Memorabilia Collection to be at White’s Mountain Chimney Corner Celebration October 31, 2009!

I will be displaying my Flatt and Scruggs memorabilia collection, probably the largest one in existence on October 31st. Here is a link to the location:

LINK

Presentation to Jim Shumate - First fiddler with Flatt and Scruggs

Several years ago I got to introduce Jim Shumate at a festival in Raleigh NC. I had framed a collage of the photos from Flatt and Scruggs first songbook which featured Jim as the fiddle player. He was deeply moved and was very appreciative. Jim is a great person and still can wear a fiddle out and entertain a crowd with his playing and singing!

Framed photo I did for Earl Scruggs

This is a framed collage I did and presented to Earl at the Country Music Hall of Fame. It is a very large picture.

It shows all the groups Earl ever played with. The one square without a photo was for the Carolina Wildcats but no photos of Earl with that group have surfaced.

He really liked it and said he was going to hang it in his home. It was great getting to meet him and Louise.

Earl Scruggs Video Interviews from Gibson

Here are links to some great interviews with Earl:

Earls banjos

Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys

The Flatt and Scruggs Era

The Beverly Hillbillies

Earl's influences and styles

Earl Scruggs Review

Hylo Brown Bluegrass Festival is this Saturday in Mechanicsburg

The annual Hylo Brown Bluegrass Festival is slated for Saturday, Sept. 19 at Goshen Memorial Park in Mechanicsburg, PA.

Honoring the legacy of Frank "Hylo" Brown and his impact on the bluegrass music industry, the event will showcase bands from several states including Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Brown earned his nickname because of a wide vocal range that became his trademark. Born in 1922 in River, Ky., Brown started performing in radio in Ashland, Ky., when he was just 17. After moving with his family to Springfield, Ohio, in 1949, Brown began an association with country singer Bradley Kincaid, which included working at Kincaid's radio station and playing in his band. Brown's songwriting credits include "Lost to a Stranger" (Capitol Records), his signature song that made it to the pop radio charts in 1954, and "Grand Ole Opry," which Jimmy Martin made a hit.

Brown went to work as a featured artist for Flatt & Scruggs in 1958, later forming a second band called The Timberliners. With Brown as front man, the band included Red Rector, Jim Smoak, Clarence "Tater" Tate and Joe Phillips. The band toured extensively throughout the South.

After the advent of video and television syndication, The Timberliners disbanded and Brown re-joined Flatt & Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys. He signed with Starday in 1971 and performed as a solo artist through the 1970s, continuing to record. He retired to Mechanicsburg and died Jan. 17, 2003.

Brown will be honored posthumously with a Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association during a special awards luncheon on Oct. 1. It will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. during the IBMA Business Conference. Others to receive awards include Pati Crooker, Jody Rainwater, Dick Spottswood and Joe Wilson.

Brown's accomplishments and legacy are survived through his family and the annual festival in Mechanicsburg.

Featured at this year's festival is the only surviving member of the original Timberliners: Jim Smoak. Smoak will appear for the first time at the festival, along with his band, the Louisiana Honeydrippers. The evening lineup will include Mike Daniels, who was the last banjo player to tour with Brown. As a friend and colleague, Daniels actively promotes the music and legacy of Brown. Also featured at the festival are bluegrass legend Vince Combs with his band, Shadetree Bluegrass, as well as teenage bluegrass sensation McCoy Grass.

"We're really excited about this year's lineup, especially since we are able to have some of those who shared in Hylo Brown's career," said Matthew Smith, festival manager. "We work hard all year long to see that this event will be successful."

Smith explained that booking these individuals for the festival had to occur over nine months ago to ensure that they would be available.

"Also, we have the support of Brown's family, so we want to make sure that the day properly honors his legacy," added Smith.

On display throughout the day will be Hylo Brown memorabilia, including his performance suit, guitar, original albums and awards. Brown's recordings will be available for purchase, as well as recordings of the bands throughout the day.

The event will include food and retail vendors throughout the day, allowing an opportunity for lunch, gifts or a snack. Those attending are invited to bring a lawn chair or blanket to fully enjoy the surroundings of the park's natural amphitheater. Disabled parking and restroom facilities are available at the event. Although the event is free to the public, donations are requested to offset the expense of the bands' fees.

Banjo legend, Earl Scruggs, makes stop in Oklahoma City for opening of the American Banjo Museum

Bricktown Thursday became known for more than a hot spot for clubs and hip restaurants as Banjo legend Earl Scruggs led a who’s-who of musicians in celebrating the opening of the American Banjo Museum. The $5 million, 21,000-square-foot museum completes the attraction’s move from Guthrie where it was started by Midwest City attorney Brady Hunt and Indiana industrialist Jack Canine.

Buddy Wachter, a renowned four-string banjo player, noted that for years the history of banjos was stored away in collectors’ closets, leaving the art form hidden from later generations.

"Now we’ve got this place, which is filled already — and we’ve got far more than you can see, just like the Smithsonian, which has far more than you can see,” Wachter said.

The museum showcases more than 300 instruments, the largest collection on public display in the world. Examples include replicas of primitive banjos developed by African slaves in the Old South, Minstrel Age instruments from 19th century, post WWII instruments used in bluegrass, folk and world music, and museum’s core collection of ornately decorated banjos made in America during the Jazz Age of the 1920’s and 30s.

Once the ribbon was cut by Canine, whose own banjo collection started the museum and whose donations made the new museum possible, visitors made their way inside where they saw a display of the sort of slave shack where banjo music got its start. Other displays included a recreation of a vintage Shakey’s Pizza, which celebrated banjo performances and ragtime music.

"When you hear a banjo, you can’t help but smile,” said Johnny Baier, American Banjo Museum executive director. "Museum guests will be transported to a whole new world of sound and history as they walk through the doors of the magnificently renovated Bricktown warehouse. The banjo truly is America’s instrument.”

The dedication ceremonies had just ended when a full tour bus pulled up to the curb with travelers set to dine at the adjoining Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant. Jim Cowan, director of the Bricktown Association, was happy to inform the tour guide the museum was open and ready for his passengers to add an unscheduled visit.

"With additions like the American Banjo Museum and the recent opening of the Academy of Contemporary Music, we’re showing that Bricktown is about more than just restaurants and nightclubs,” Cowan said. "I believe even more is possible, and I’d like to see us add even more attractions like the Toy and Action Figure Museum (which is currently in Pauls Valley).

Lt. Gov. Jari Askins agreed the museum is a great addition to Bricktown.

"The music and instruments on display at the American Banjo Museum are unique treasures, and Oklahoma is honored to add a collection of this caliber to our state,” Askins said. "Fans of all music will be drawn to the museum. It is a major win for Bricktown and Oklahoma.”

Earl Scruggs Interview Audio

Here is a ten minute interview with Earl Scruggs on how he got started playing and his musical history!
Link

Jody Rainwater to be awarded Distinguished Achievement Award @ IBMA

Jody Rainwater will be awarded a certificate for "Special Achievement" at this year's afternoon awards program in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jody is best known for his years spent with Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys. A lot has been made of the, so called, first Bluegrass band comprised of, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Cedric Rainwater, but it is my firm belief that Jody Rainwater, during his years with Flatt & Scruggs, created and defined the true art of Bluegrass Bass playing. Just listen to those old Flatt & Scruggs records and you'll hear Jody smoothly moving between 2-4 time and 4-4 time in the same song, either to accentuate a vocal or a special instrumental break. Yes, Jody Rainwater truly is a living legend in Bluegrass and will be long remembered for his humor and creative Bass playing.

Join me in congratulating Jody Rainwater in this wonderful recognition by the trade organization of our music, the IBMA.

2009 International Bluegrass Music Award Nominees Announced

The 20th International Bluegrass Music Awards will be handed out in Nashville on the 1st of October. The nomination list this year is dominated by former sidemen-turned-bandleaders.
The Dan Tyminski Band, nominated for 9 International Bluegrass Music Awards, including "Entertainer of the Year."
Dan Tyminski is best known for singing and playing the guitar with Alison Krauss and Union Station. But when Alison opted to tour with singer Robert Plant and leave the bluegrass boys at home this year, the longtime sideman decided to put together his own band and went into the studio and recorded Wheels.

Smart move on his part, as the CD earned Dan and his band nine IBMA nominations including Entertainer, Instrumental Group, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year.


But Dan isn't the only one to score big with a side project.

Steve Martin could take home 6 trophies when the 2009 International Bluegrass Music Awards are handed out on 1 October.Academy Award and Grammy winning actor, author, comedian and banjo player Steve Martin received six nominations for his first ever CD made up of solely banjo music.

The title track to The Crow earned Steve and his sidemen (including banjo legend Earl Scruggs!) nominations for Instrumental Recorded Performance and Recorded Event of the Year. That last award goes to a project that isn't your ordinary album and Steve's CD -- produced by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founder John McCuen and including appearances by world famous banjo players including Earl Scruggs, Tony Trischka, and Bela Fleck -- is just that!

The other nominees are Rob Ickes and Andy Leftwich for Angeline the Baker, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeepers Jerusalem Ridge, Struttin' to Ferrum by the Lonesome River Band, and Don't Tread on Me by Kristin Scott Benson.


If you're only familiar with Steve Martin from his movies, you may not know that he has been playing the banjo for many years. He learned to play as a teenager, but put put it aside while concentrating on his comedy, acting and writing careers.

Steve Martin's return to bluegrass didn't surprise fellow nominee (and banjo player) Eric Gibson of The Gibson Brothers. "You see artists all the time that have played bluegrass when they were young, and then go off and play other kinds of music," Gibson said. "They always come back to it. Once you start liking bluegrass and playing bluegrass I think it gets hold of you and it never lets go."