July
2007 Issue
Bluegrass Now Charlie
to Randy:
The 50-year evolution of The Country Gentleman
Read
the Full Article in the print issue of Bluegrass Now
or call for back issue. Visit
the Memorial Country Gentlemen Website | Things
were about to get rougher. Following the Bayou Boys’ gig on July 3, 1957,
Buzz, Eddie (who was filling in on guitar that night) and a couple of others decided
to go to North Beach, Maryland, as Bill Emerson puts it, “to drink and have
some . . . revelry. They asked me to go and I thought, ‘You know, it’s
a long drive and I’m not in the mood, so I’ll just go home.’ I’m
glad I did.” On
the way back from North Beach, in the early morning hours of July 4, the driver
of the vehicle fell asleep and crashed into a large utility pole, seriously injuring
all the occupants. Determined to hold on to the Admiral Grill job until Buzz and
the others recovered, Bill launched into one of his greatest improvisations. He
hurriedly enlisted the aid of mandolinist John Duffey, guitarist Charlie Waller
and bassist Larry Leahy to perform that evening’s show. “John lived
about a mile from me—he’s the guy that really got me started playing
the banjo,” Bill explains. “I also knew Charlie. We all hung out at
the same places. We had performed informally with each other before, but never
as a band.” That
night, however, the quartet made the crowd temporarily forget all about Wthe Bayou
Boys. “We played the traditional standards. Songs like ‘Love and Wealth,’
Stanley Brothers material and Bill Monroe songs,” Bill recalls, admitting
none of them had any inkling of the greatness to come.
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