Jimmy Martin
James H. "Jimmy" Martin (born August 10, 1927 in Sneedville , Tennessee , † May 14, 2005 in Nashville , Tennessee) was an American bluegrass musician and singer. He was guitarist in Bill Monroe's backing band, the Bluegrass Boys , and thus played an essential role in the development of bluegrass.
Life
Childhood and youth
Jimmy Martin grew up in the Cumberland Mountains in eastern Tennessee . He became interested in the music of Monroe from an early age, because in the 1930s he was extremely successful with his brother Charlie Monroe . With Monroe as a role model, Martin made the decision to also become a musician. As a teenager, he began working on radio stations in the Morristown , Tennessee area.
Career
When he was 22, he auditioned for Bill Monroe in Nashville , Tennessee, to replace Mac Wiseman , who had left before . Martin impressed Monroe and he accepted him as a guitarist in the Bluegrass Boys. For the next four years he played with Monroe and recorded with him a total of 46 records on Decca Records . As a guitarist, he played a key role in the development of the Lonesome High sound, which produced a slower rhythm and even higher vocals. In 1951 he then took on various records with Sonny Osborne at King Records and also worked in Bill Monroe's Shanadoah Valley Trio , whose recordings were released by Columbia Records . In 1954, however, the collaboration with Monroe was finally over.
After recording a few records with the Osborne Brothers at RCA Records , he founded the Sunny Mountain Boys in 1955 . In addition to appearances in the Grand Ole Opry , he also played in the Louisiana Hayride and the WWVA Jamboree . In early 1956 he signed with Decca Records, where he was able to achieve several top 40 chart positions over the next two years. During the 1960s he even had several hits and became a sought-after musician at various bluegrass events. Some of his biggest hits are hit Parade Of Love , Sophronie , Tennessee and Widow Maker . Martin was the first musician who also established bluegrass in the "mainstream" because he did not concentrate on the instruments, like other musicians, but on the vocals. In 1971 he worked with the modern day Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ; he contributed the pieces I Saw The Light and Sunny Side Of The Mountain to their album Will The Circle Be Unbroken .
After Martin left Decca in 1974, he got a record deal first with Starday Records , then with Gusto Records . He stayed with Gusto for almost a decade and released a total of six albums there. In the 1980s, he founded his own label because Gusto had to close. In 1999 his biography True Adventures With The King Of Bluegrass was published, in 2003 the documentary King Of Bluegrass: The Life & Times of Jimmy Martin . Martin performed in public until his death.
Jimmy Martin died on May 14, 2005 at the age of 78 of complications from cancer in Nashville. Martin was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Madison , Tennessee. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1995.
Discography
Singles
| year | title | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| King Records with Sonny Osborne | |||
| 1951 | She's Just A Cute Thing / My Lovely Home | ||
| 1953 | Blue Eyed Darlin ' / You'll Never Be The Same | ||
| 1978 | Blue Eyed Darlin ' / She's Just A Cute Thing | Republication | |
| RCA Victor with the Osborne Brothers | |||
| 1954 | Save It Save It / 20-20 Vision | ||
| 1955 | Chalk Uo Another One / I Pulled A Boo Boo | ||
| 1955 | They Didn't Know The Difference / That's How I Can Count On You | ||
| Decca Records | |||
| 191956 | On And On / I Believed In You Darling | with Bill Monroe | |
| 1956 | You'll Be A Lost Ball / Hit Parade Of Love | ||
| 1957 | I'm The Boss (Of This Here House) / God Bite Your Hide | ||
| 1957 | Skip Hop and Wobble / I'll Drink No More Wine | ||
| 1958 | Ocean Of Diamonds / Sophrony | ||
| 1958 | Rock Hearts / I'll Never Take No For An Answer | ||
| 1959 | I Like To Hear 'Em Preach It / Voice Of My Savior | ||
| 1959 | Night / It's Not My Home | ||
| 1959 | She Left Me Again / Old Whatcha Got | ||
| 1960 | In Foggy Old London / Joke's On You | ||
| 1960 | Bear Tracks / You Don't Know My Mind | ||
| 1960 | Old Fashioned Christmas / Hold To God's Unchanging Hand | ||
| 1960 | Deep River / What Was I Supposed To Do | Pseudonym as Paul Williams | |
| 1961 | Hi-De Diddle / My Walking Shoes | ||
| 1961 | I Can, I Will, I Do Believe / There Was A Love | ||
| 1962 | God Is Always The Same / God Guides Our Leader's Hand | ||
| 1962 | Don't Cry To Me / Poor Little Bull Frog | ||
| 1962 | Prayer Bell Of Heaven / Shut-In's Prayer | ||
| 1963 | Old Man's Drunk Again / Hey Lonesome | ||
| 1963 | Widow Maker / Red River Valley | Red River Valley by Riley Puckett and Hugh Cross | |
| 1964 | Leavin 'Town / I'd Rather Have America | ||
| 1964 | Guitar Pickin 'President / It Takes To Know One | ||
| 1965 | 20-20 Vision / Sunny Side Of The Mountain | ||
| 1965 | Last Song / Sweet Dixie | ||
| 1966 | I Can't Quiet Cigarettes / Run Boy Run | ||
| 1966 | Who'll Sing For Me / Goodbye | ||
| 1966 | Home Run Man / You're Gonna Change | ||
| 1967 | Pray The Clouds Away / Give Me The Roses Now | ||
| 1967 | Big Country / Living Like A Fool | ||
| 1967 | Wild Indian / Goin 'Ape (Over You) | ||
| 1968 | Tennessee / Steal Away Somewhere And Die | ||
| 1968 | Free Born Man / Losing You | ||
| 1969 | Moonshine Hollow / Red Rooster | ||
| 1969 | Give Me Your Hand / Little White Church | ||
| 1969 | Shackles And Chains / Milwaukee Here I Come | ||
| 1970 | Arab Bounce / I've Got My Future On Ice | ||
| 1970 | Singing All Day And Dinner On The Ground / Help Thy Brother | ||
| 1970 | Midnight Rambler / Between Fire And Water | ||
| 1971 | I Cried Again / Chattanooga Dog | ||
| 1972 | I'd Like To Be Sixteen Again / Lonesome Prison Blues | ||
| 1972 | Truck Driver's Queen / Homesick | ||
| 1973 | Sunny Side Of The Mountain / You Don't Know My Mind | Republication | |
| 1973 | Mary Ann / Just Plain Yellow | ||
| 1974 | Theme Time / Fly Me To Frisco | ||
| 1974 | Lost To A Stranger / You Are My Sunshine | ||
| 1975 | There's Better Times A Comin / I Burried My Future | ||
| Ranwood Records | |||
| 1974 | Deck Of Cards / Lord's Prayer | with wink Martindale | |
| Gusto Records | |||
| 1978 | Bluegrass Singing Man / Run Pete Run | ||
| 1978 | Sunny Side Of The Mountain / Goodbye Old Pal | Goodbye Old Pal in the original by Cliff Carlisle | |
| 1979 | One Woman Man / I Can't Give My Heart Again | ||
| 1980 | Water The Flowers / Please Play The Jukebox | ||
| 1982 | Free Born Man / Water The Flowers | ||
| 1982 | Widow Maker / Truck Driving Man | ||
| 1982 | Sunny Side Of The Mountain / Ocean Of Diamonds | ||
| 1982 | 20-20 Vision / Will The Circle Be Unbroken | ||
| Universal Records | |||
| 1989 | I'm Sitting On Top Of The World / ? | B-side from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band | |
Albums
- 1960: Good'n Country
- 1962: Country Music Time
- 1963: This World Is Not My Home
- 1964: Widow Maker
- 1965: Sunny Side Of The Mountain
- 1966: Good'n Country Music
- 1967: Big and Country Instrumentals
- 1968: Tennessee
- 1969: Freeborn Man
- 1970: Singing All Day
- 1972: I'd Like To Be Sixteen
- 1973: Moonshine Hollow
- 1974: Fly Me To Frisco
- 1978: Greatest Bluegrass Hits
- 1980: Will he Circle Be Unbroken
- 1980: Me'n Old Pete
- 1980: To Mother At Christmas
- 1980: First Time Together (with Ralph Stanley )
- 1982: One Woman Man
- 1983: With The Osborne Brothers
- 1984: You Don't Know My Mind
- 1994: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys (5 CD box, work edition)
Web links
- Jimmy Martin in the All Music Guide
- Jimmy Martin on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Martin, Jimmy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Martin, James H. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American bluegrass musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 10, 1927 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sneedville , Tennessee |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 14, 2005 |
| Place of death | Nashville , Tennessee |