J.D. Crowe & The New South Biography
|
|
James Dee Crowe, 27 August 1937, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. A very talented banjoist, Crowe gained his fascination for the instrument when Flatt And Scruggs were resident on a Lexington station. He attended their daily shows and watched Scruggs intently. He did building work by day and played locally in the evenings until, in 1955, he toured with Mac Wiseman. Also touring with them were Don Reno And Red Smiley, and Crowe’s playing benefited further from this association with Reno. Between 1956 and 1962, he played and recorded with Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys. In the mid-60s, he formed his Kentucky Mountain Boys, which included Red Allen and Doyle Lawson and recorded for Lemco. In 1971, he decided to adopt an electrified sound and formed his New South, which included Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas. They first recorded for Starday but it was their 1975 album from Rounder Records that was later described as the most influential bluegrass record of the decade. They included traditional bluegrass numbers together with modern material but presented it in a style different to that expected of bluegrass bands. The result was that it attracted many new young musicians to the genre, although Crowe was always careful to include enough of the expected sound to maintain the traditionalists’ interest. Obviously, there were changes in line-up and when, in 1979, they recorded their notedLive In Japan, in Tokyo, the members were Keith Whitley, Bobby Stone, Jimmy Gaudreau and Steve Bryant. In 1981, Crowe recorded the first of a series of albums listed as the Bluegrass Album Band, with Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks and Todd Phillips. (On Volume V, Vassar Clements and Mark Schatz replaced Hicks and Phillips.) The New South won a Grammy award for their instrumental ‘Fireball’ in 1983. In 1988 Crowe decided that he was tired of the travelling and until 1991, he played only occasional shows with other bands. He continued to perform into the early 90s, but resisted any attempts to lure him back to full-time touring, opting to work in the studio instead. Crowe, with his perfect timing and fine leadership, is acknowledged by experts of the genre as one of the most influential of bluegrass musicians and many of the genre’s top artists benefited from the experience gained earlier in their career with his band. Surprisingly, for some unknown reason, he has never quite achieved the international acclaim that some of those artists have enjoyed. J.D. Crowe also loves blues music, which he has sometimes adapted to his style of banjo playing.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
|
