BLACK MOUNTAIN BLUEGRASS BOYS: Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys 1968-1973

Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys

Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys 1968-1973

© 2000 Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys

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These boys embrace bluegrass tunes that connect with the upland South, like "Lonesome Ruben" and "Midnight Storm" by the Stanley Brothers.

tracks

1 Gold Rush
2 Last Old Dollar
3 East Virginia Blues
4 Midnight Storm
5 Mother's Not Dead
6 Forked Deer
7 Lonesome Reuben
8 A Million Lonely Days
9 Lonesome River
10 Sittin' On Top Of The World
11 Muddy Road
12 Along The Way
13 These Old Blues
14 Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine
15 Thinking About You
16 The Memory Of Your Smile
17 I Believe In You Darlin'
18 Mill Point
19 A Million Lonely Days
20 Blue And Lonely
21 Send Me Angels
22 Working on A Building
23 You're Not Easy To Forget
24 Say Old Man Can You Play The Fiddle

notes

By the 1990's, bluegrass had become a national, if not international, music with practitioners from Boston to San Francisco and even from Japan to Czechoslovakia.

Residents of the American Southeast, the fertile soil from which bluegrass music sprang, can take considerable pride in the broad appeal of their region's music.

But it is no accident that many southern musicians have stayed close to home where the precious sources for bluegrass may be found.

The region's traditional culture nurtures bluegrass by contributing to it's continual reinvention even as-paradoxically-it enforces stylistic conservatism.

The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys of Pocahontas County in southern West Virginia are sons of their soil, part of an extended community that includes old-time fiddlers, singers of unaccompanied British ballads dating to the eighteenth century, parlor pianists, congregations who favor a cappella hymnody, congregations who do not, and country and rock bands.

The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys embrace bluegrass tunes that connect with the upland South, like "Lonesome Ruben" and "Midnight Storm" by the Stanley Brothers, who come from a coal mining part of Virginia that lies "west of West Virginia". The tune "Muddy Road" nicely exemplifies the connection between local and national. The tune has been encounter in a number of places in West Virginia, usually under the title "Salt River". But the title "Muddy Road" (or "Muddy Roads") is favored in Pocahontas where a clawhammer banjo version was recorded by the late Sherman Hammons, a neighbor and friend of the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys. The tune became popular in bluegrass in the 1960's when the Massachusetts banjo player Bill Keith recorded it as "Salt Creek" while a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. But even this version connects back to the mountain state; Keith learned it from the banjo player Don Stover, once a resident in Boston, who had brought it with him from his native Raleigh County WV.

Band Members:

Bill Hefner-lead guitar, baritone vocal
Richard Hefner-banjo, tenor vocal
Harley Carpenter-rhythm guitar, lead vocal
Dwight Diller-bass, clawhammer banjo
Glen "Dude" Irvine-mandolin ("Pure Old Bluegrass" Only)
Woody Simmons-fiddle ("Pure Old Bluegrass" Only)
Guest Artist: Ralph "Joe" Meadows-fiddle ("A Million Lonely Days" Only)

Reissue of the album "Pure Old Bluegrass" is done in the memory of Glen "Dude" Irvine (1920-1973) who was an inspiration to all who met him. Although seriously disabled from infancy by polio, he became an accomplished musician and helped his brothers and nephews learn to play music.

"My grandmother was a banjo player!!" How many times I have said that, before kicking off "Little Maggie"? In fact seven out of nine kids on my mother's side of the family played music. Since Uncle "Dude" (Glen Irvine) who was crippled with polio at the age of five, lived mostly with us, we had live music at the house real often. Pickers would come visit and picked with "Dude" when they would come back in Pocahontas County seeing relatives. These were my earliest influences. We listened to music from Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, Elvis, and the McGuire Sisters, and played music with locals like James Hammons, Sherman, Burl, and Maggie Hammons, Hamp Carpenter, and some great black blues guitar pickers and singers. I had known Harley Carpenter all my life, but when he and Uncle "Dude" and brother Bill talked me into trying the banjo, we became best friends. The four of us started playing with some of the finest musicians around anywhere. To these great musicians, family, and friends, I dedicate this album. But especially to Uncle "Dude" Irvine and Harley Carpenter. I hope some day we can pick again.

---Richard Hefner

reviews

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  • Fine Old Mountain Music.
    author: paul garger

    The proud tradition of mountain music. You get a sense of the hollows and the hills, and the folks gathering round to hear the string band play the old time tunes.

  • Watch Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys in Lewisburg, WV
    author: Jason Specht

    The Black Mounatin Bluegrass Boys play just about every other Friday night at the Sweet Shoppe in Lewisburg WV. Very high energy bluegrass! They're awesome. Email me if you'd like to be put in contac with them. jkspecht@ntelos.net They're playing a show for me at my house in Sweet Springs Valley April 16th 2005. The show will be the 2nd Annual Rally in the Valley.

  • Bluegrass at it's finest
    author: Daryl Fields

    The entire CD was fantastic. This went beyond my expectations. Usually there's one or two songs that sell a CD but this has an entire collection of really good songs.

  • harley carpenter is the greatest singer ever
    author: bill burdette

    My dad took us to see the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys when i was about 12 years old.Harley,s been like a god to me ever since. These are the best bluegrass recordings ever made.These guys are excellent!

  • I love the sound of these guys. I would like to sing with them.
    author: Judy Ann Compton

    Please write to me when you guys have a show up in those hills. I love to sing and I too write my own songs. My next CD will be my style of Bluegrass. Sincerely, Judy Compton, 830 East Main St., Easley, S.C., 29642

  • This album gets my vote for "Sleeper of the Year" award.
    author: Bluegrass Unlimited

    One of the constant joys of reviewing records is the discovery of truly fine groups which are completely unknown outside their immediate local area. Such was the feeling I experience when I first heard this record..The strength of these songs is derived mainly from the vocal quality of the members of the group (especially Harley Carpenter and Richard Hefner) and the instrumental arrangements. Ralph "Joe" Meadows who recorded with Stanleys is guest artist here, and with Dwight Diller offers us a beautiful "Say Old Man Can You Play The Fiddle?". This album gets my vote for "Sleeper of the Year Award".

  • You'll delight in this CD-it don't come any better.
    author: Joe Meadows

    I had the pleasure of playing fiddle on the second album the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys did in January 1973 ("A Million Lonely Days"). I enjoyed working with these musicians while doing the recording, show dates, just getting together and having a good time. These were the best musicians to work with. They work right from the heart. You just can't find any better singer than the late Harley Carpenter who did most of the lead singing and the rhythm guitar playing on both these albums. In my mind Harley was one of the best lead singers in the business... We all miss him very much. Richard Hefner is carrying on the tradition with some fine musicians. Richard did a great job playing the five-string banjo and the tenor singing on all the duets and trios, while his brother Bill blends in on baritone. Woody Simmons fiddled on the first album they did ("Pure Old Bluegrass"). Woody is a great old time fiddle player and Dwight Diller is one of the best old time clawhammer banjo players you'll see anywhere. You'll delight in their playing on this CD. You'll enjoy getting to know these musicians-they don't come any better.

  • The music on this disc displays the exemplary talents of the band.
    author: Carl Fleischhauer

    I met the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys in the early 1970's, when I began visiting music and tradition rich southeastern West Virginia. The band's skill, energy, and dedication were impressive and it is great to see and hear these 1971 and 1973 recordings again. The music on this disc reflects their values and traditions as well as displays the exemplary talents of the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys.

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