[2] Bessie Lee Maudlin was a prolific contributor, as a member of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys.
He is known to have demanded the best and must have found her playing to be rhythmically and stylistically solid for his hard driving and up-tempo bluegrass music.
Unfortunate but understandable, little is known of Bessie Lee’s private life as she lived in the shadows as both a bass player, and Bill Monroe’s first “other women”.
Bessie Lee would have apparently met Bill Monroe in early 1936 at the high school in Norwood, North Carolina (though it is not known for certain).
Bessie Lee Maudlin moved back to her hometown of Norwood, North Carolina, and was cared for by family members.
[1] Bessie Lee Mauldin died on February 8, 1983, at Stanley Memorial Hospital in Albemarle near her hometown of Norwood, North Carolina from “acute myocardial infarction” exacerbated by diabetes.