List of Blue Grass Boys members
[3] The final lineup of the band featured guitarist Tom Ewing, banjoist Dana Cupp, fiddlers Robert Bowlin and Clarence "Tater" Tate, and bassist Ernie Sykes.
[6] The first musician he hired was fiddler Bob "Handy" Jamieson in early July,[7] who was soon followed by guitarist Bill Wesbrooks and bassist Chuck Haire, the two of whom shared lead vocal duties.
[9] After several unsuccessful auditions at local radio stations in the run-up to Christmas, the pair relocated to Asheville, North Carolina at the beginning of 1939, where they started a show on WWNC and adopted the name of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys (BGB).
[2] After playing for a few months as a duo, Monroe and Davis added Art Wooten on fiddle and Tommy "Snowball" Millard on jug, bones and spoons, with the pair debuting on WFBC in Greenville, North Carolina on May 8, 1939 — three days after the final date for WWNC.
[37] Shumate remained for around a week as part of a three-fiddle lineup before leaving;[36] his last day with the group was December 1, 1945, when he arranged an audition for Earl Scruggs to take over Akeman's vacated position.
[45][46] These would be the final sessions for this lineup, and the last to feature Flatt and Scruggs, as the American Federation of Musicians started a second strike on January 1, 1948, which prevented bands from recording for the rest of the year (an agreement was reached that December).
Just before they left, the group added Claude "Jackie" Phelps on steel guitar (to cover for the missing banjo) and brought in Joel Price as a temporary stand-in bassist, with both made full-time members upon Flatt and Watts' departures.
[48] Unhappy with Phelps' performance on lead vocals, Monroe hired Homer "Jim" Eanes in April,[48] who had just spent a few weeks in the first lineup of Flatt and Scruggs' new band the Foggy Mountain Boys (for which Watts had also been enlisted).
[54] In mid-December, Monroe informed Wiseman that he was replacing him with Jimmy Martin, who had joined the related Shenandoah Valley Trio a few months earlier and featured onstage with the BGB a handful of times.
[63] On March 17, 1951, Monroe recorded the singles "Kentucky Waltz" and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" with a lineup of session musicians assembled by producer Paul Cohen: guitarists Grady Martin and Jimmie Selph, fiddler Tommy Jackson, bassist Ernie Newton, pianist Owen Bradley, and drummer Ferris Coursey.
[63] Another session with Martin, Newton and Coursey — plus guitarist Loren "Jack" Shook — took place on April 23, spawning the single "Highway of Sorrow" and the B-side to "When the Cactus Is in Bloom", "Sailor's Plea".
[66] Price left shortly thereafter to work with Little Jimmy Dickens, at which point Monroe asked his girlfriend Bessie Lee Mauldin — who had been travelling with the group on and off for several years — to pick up bass.
[77] Monroe was released from the hospital in mid-April 1953, three months after his accident; the band's lineup when they resumed touring included Martin, new fiddler Luther "L. E." White, Cline on banjo, and stand-in member Guy Stevenson on bass.
[88] At the end of a tour in August, Smoak left the band again, with Monroe and the remaining BGB members recording a new version of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" at the beginning of September without a banjoist.
[90] Around late-February 1955, the BGB underwent several lineup changes ahead of the year's performances, adding guitarist and vocalist Carlos Brock, switching Phelps to banjo and Cline to fiddle, and reinstating Mauldin on bass.
[111] The band recorded their second album I Saw the Light during February and March, with session contributors Culley Holt, Gordon Terry (both bass vocals) and Owen Bradley (organ) performing on several tracks.
For the band's final session of the year on November 25, Joe Drumright played banjo and former member Benny Martin featured on fiddle for the A-side of the single "Lonesome Wind Blues" — his only recording with the BGB.
The band's first tour of the year started in late-January supporting Johnny Cash, for which the lineup featured existing members Dale Potter and Bessie Lee Mauldin, alongside new banjo player Tony Ellis and stand-in guitarist Jimmy Byrd.
[120] The band continued working through the summer, with Potter playing Grand Ole Opry shows and various stand-ins (including Billy Baker and Joe Stuart) taking over on the road.
[122] In mid-August, the band played the inaugural Blue Grass Day festival with a lineup including Church on guitar, Rudy Lyle on banjo, Stuart on fiddle and Danny Cline on bass.
[123] Returning to touring at the beginning of 1961, the lineup of Monroe, Smith, Ellis and Mauldin was accompanied by various stand-in players on fiddle, including during the summer by former bassist Shorty Shehan and previous substitute Billy Baker.
[127] At the end of November, the BGB played a show at Carnegie Hall with new fiddlers Norman "Buddy" Spicher and Benny Williams, who had replaced Clements after the last sessions (at which they both contributed).
[128] Monroe had originally asked Tony Ellis and Bobby Joe Lester to play banjo and fiddle at the show, but they had arrived too late, so they remained with the group and contributed to their next recording sessions on November 30 and December 4, 1961, instead.
[142] McCoury and Baker failed to show up for the first of two recording sessions at the end of the month, so Stuart covered guitar, Joe Drumright was brought in to play banjo, and Williams was the sole fiddler.
[171] James Monroe subsequently switched to guitar, with Doug Green returning to take over on bass, while banjo was covered for one show by stand-in Howard Aldridge, before Rual Yarbrough joined on March 24.
[189] The lineup of Joe Stuart, Jack Hicks, Kenny Baker and Fields remained stable for the rest of the year and throughout 1972, during which time they recorded the single "My Old Kentucky and You", as well as the bulk of Bill and James Monroe's first collaboration not credited to the BGB, Father & Son, released on March 1, 1973.
In February 1981, they recorded Monroe's next album Master of Bluegrass, his first studio effort in four years; guitarist Norman Blake and mandolinists Jesse McReynolds and Larry Sledge performed at the third session.
[215] That fall, Kenny Baker left the band after a tenure lasting more than 14 years, quitting in the middle of a show on October 12, 1984, after Monroe repeatedly refused to provide the fiddler with an itinerary for an upcoming Japanese tour.
[219] During May and June, the band recorded the album Bill Monroe and Stars of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame with a range of guests, including former BGB members Sonny Osborne, Carl Story, Mac Wiseman and Del McCoury.
[220] After a string of robberies and instances of criminal damage aimed at Monroe later in the year, Lewis briefly stepped back from the band in mid-January, arranging for Joe Stuart to cover a couple of shows.
