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Jimmy Martin, 'King of Bluegrass,' dies
By PETER COOPER – The TENNESSEAN, Saturday May 14/2005
Jimmy Martin, the brash fireball whose electrifying stage presence and soaring vocals made him one of bluegrass music's most consequential and colorful artists, died this morning at a Nashville hospice from complications of bladder cancer. He was 77.
Known as ''The King of Bluegrass'' and ''Mr. Good'n Country,'' Mr. Martin became known as a master of American roots music. In 1949, Mr. Martin successfully auditioned for Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and his vocal contributions ushered in what is now known in bluegrass as the ''high, lonesome sound.'' ''Jimmy's strong, high vocal range pushed Monroe's tenor up into the
sky, helping shape what has become known as the ''high lonesome sound,'' wrote George Goehl in the liner notes to Don't Cry To Me, a compilation that accompanied Goehl's King of Bluegrass documentary.
Mr. Martin's contributions went beyond the bluegrass field. His was the
first voice heard on the first Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will The Circle
Be
Unbroken album, and he sang on the subsequent two volumes as well,
appearances that brought his voice and feisty spirit to audiences that
would
never have thought to attend a bluegrass festival.
''Jimmy's temperature is higher than the rest of ours,'' said Dirt Band
member Jeff Hanna, in a 2002 interview. ''He's a wild man in the best
sense
of the term, and he's the only one who brought the fire of rockabilly
music
to bluegrass.''
On those three Circle albums, Mr. Martin provided a bridge between
old-time
bluegrass and new-world country music, something that came to him fairly
naturally.
He'd always been one of bluegrass music's most commercially viable
exports,
and recordings such as (I've Got My) Future On Ice and Widow Maker could
frequently be found on country jukeboxes and on country radio playlists.
Mr.
Martin's mercurial personality also interested audiences outside of
bluegrass, and he was the subject of a book called True Adventures With
The
King of Bluegrass and a DVD called King of Bluegrass: The Life and Times
of
Jimmy Martin.
With Monroe, Mr. Martin recorded songs including My Little Georgia Rose,
Uncle Pen, In The Pines, Memories Of Mother and Dad and The Little Girl
and
the Dreadful Snake. His rock-solid rhythm guitar was heard to great
effect
on the instrumental, Raw Hide. He later claimed to have assisted Monroe
in
the writing of Uncle Pen, Memories of Mother and Dad and others.
Mr. Martin left Monroe in 1951 and returned for another stint beginning
in
1952. Two years later he began his solo career in ernest, recording
first
for RCA Victor then Decca. Among his recordings were the now-classics
Ocean
of Diamonds, Saphronie, Hold Whatcha Got, My Walking Shoes, Hit Parade
of
Love, Sunny Side of the Mountain, Widow Maker, (I've Got My) Future On
Ice
and Milwaukee, Here I Come. His outlandish, energetic performing style
made
him a star on radio shows including the Louisiana Hayride and the WWVA
Jamboree in Wheeling, W. Va.
''In his heyday, he could take an audience of any size and have them
eating
out of his hand,'' said Sunny Mountain Boy Emerson. ''He'd just smoke
those
people, and they'd be waiting in line for him when he got offstage.''
In 1995, Mr. Martin was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music
Association's Hall of Honor, and he borrowed the text of the Hall of
Honor
plaque for use on his own gravestone. The stone has been on display for
more
than five years at Spring Hill Cemetery in Madison. Mr. Martin was
thrilled
to find a plot directly across from Country Music Hall of Famer Roy
Acuff,
and delighted in the notion that the ''King of Country'' and the ''King
of
Bluegrass'' would rest in eternal proximity.
Despite the acclaim, he never became a member of the Grand Ole Opry — a
fact
that pained Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin sometimes cried when he spoke of
being
left off the Opry roster, which he equated with the loneliness he felt
after
his father died.
''Ever since I was a little boy, I've felt left out of things,'' he told
the
Tennessean several years ago.
Mr. Martin was born in Sneedville, a farming community in the state's
eastern hills. His father died when he was 4, and Mr. Martin spent much
of
his childhood plowing corn.
He died just before 9 a.m. today at Alive Hospice, said his longtime
manager
Lance LeRoy.
Survivors include three sons, Timmy Martin of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Ray
Martin of Mt. Juliet and Buddy Lee Martin of Miami; a daughter Lisa
Arnold
of Hendersonville; and three grandchildren.
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May your grass always be blue.
Eddie Duguay AKA "The Whistler"
http://www.silverfoxbluegrass.com