Bill Reid (musician)
Bill Reid (born June 17, 1926 in Lexington , Virginia , † August 10, 2009 ) was an American bluegrass musician and radio host. Reid gained fame on the radio between 1951 and 1959 with his band Bill & Mary Reid and the Melody Mountaineers .
Life
Childhood and youth
Bill Reid was born in Rockbridge County in 1926 and came from a musical family as his father, brother and sister were also musically active. On December 5, 1945, at the age of 19, Reid married his friend Mary of Keezletown, Virginia. At the same time he began to perform professionally as a musician.
Career
Reid's wife was also in the music business; she was heard with her sister on a local radio station and won the title "Queen of Virginia Country Music Singers" at the Virginia Folk Music Festival three times in a row . In 1951, Reid and his wife founded the Melody Mountaineers , which in addition to the two (guitar / vocals / bass ) consists of Curly Gardner (vocals / electric guitar), Swanson Walker ( banjo ), Joe Meadows ( fiddle ) and Curly Lambert ( mandolin / guitar / Bass) passed.
Reid and the Melody Mountaineers played primarily in Virginia, but also traveled to more distant cities such as St. Louis , Little Rock and Knoxville . In 1953, Reid and his band played in the Farmville area , where they performed in addition to a show on WFLO with AP Carter , a former member of the original Carter Family . Around the same time, Reid and the Melody Mountaineers made their first records for Columbia Records . Reid wrote some of the songs that were recorded himself, including Blue Ridge Waltz , In the Valley , You're Stepping Out on Me, and Sweet Lovin 'Man . At the end of the 1950s, several singles were recorded for Starday Records .
In 1959, Reid and his wife separated, so that the Melody Mountaineers came to an end. Reid moved to Salem, Virginia, and embarked on a radio DJ career specializing in bluegrass. However, he no longer performed professionally. He remarried and appeared on stations in Farmville, Salem and Clifton Forge.
In 2001, Reid's band Bill and Mary Reid and the Melody Mountaineers , along with 230 other bluegrass groups from 1940 to 1954, was honored as " the first creators and practitioners of bluegrass music " and received a memorial in International Bluegrass Music Museum. Bill Reid died in Salem in 2009 at the age of 88.
Discography
| year | title | # | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Bell Records | |||
| The Bloom Has Left the Roses / The Honeymoon Waltz | 101 | ||
| Columbia Records | |||
| In My Heart I Love You Yet / Blue Ridge Waltz | 21497 | ||
| Get Down On Your Knees and Pray / I'll Never Be Lonesome | 21529 | ||
| 1956 | I Love Him Too / Your Sweet Lovin 'Man | 21557 | |
| Who Knows Right from Wrong / You're Stepping Out On Me | 40837 | ||
| Starday Records | |||
| 1957 | In the Valley / She Can't Stand the Light of Day | 45-325 | |
| 1958 | I Want to Be Wanted / Beautie Cutie | 45-343 | |
Individual evidence
Web links
- Bill Reid on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Reid, Bill |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American bluegrass musician and radio host |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 17, 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lexington , Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 10, 2009 |