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With a great tenor voice, James Henry Martin mastered his
craft singing lead in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys for much of
1949-53, his last session with the band being January 1954. He
replaced Mac Wiseman in the band and is considered by many to be
the finest lead vocalist and guitarist ever to work with Bill
Monroe's band and notably singing several duets with Monroe.
During the early-50's Martin formed a trio with the Osborne
Brothers and regularly performed on radio in Detroit. A vibrant
performer who developed his own bluegrass sound, Martin formed his
Sunny Mountain Boys in 1955 and still played with the band into
this millennium. During the half century since then Martin has
seen a wealth of musical talent pass through his band with names
such as Doyle Lawson, Vic Jordan (later Lester Flatt) Bill Emerson
(Country Gentlemen), Clarence 'Tater' Tate, Paul Williams, Alan
Munde (Country Gazette) and banjo player J.D. Crowe (New South).
Though the band members changed constantly, the quality of
musicianship has remained the tops with Martin and the Sunny
Mountain Boys being a mainstay of bluegrass concerts and festivals
and his vocal contributions ushered in what is now known in
bluegrass as the ''high, lonesome sound.''
Jimmy Martin, the brash fireball whose electrifying stage
presence and soaring vocals made him one of bluegrass music's most
consequential and colourful artists, died on the morning of May 14
2005 from complications of bladder cancer. He was 77.
Head of Gusto Records…Starday and King Records owner Moe
Lytle was the first to dub Jimmy Martin The King of Bluegrass.
This collection of Jimmy Martin's Greatest Hits was recorded on
state-of-the-art equipment at Gusto Studios in Nashville in the
late 70's and early 80's.
Jimmy Martin had some chart success with "Widow
Maker" (his signature-tune) from 1964, which we find here
along with "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" of which Martin
achieved acclaim for the work he did on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
album of the same name. Other classics to be found include
"Sunny Side Of The Mountain", "Truck Drivin'
Man", "Roll In My Sweet Babies Arms",
"Knoxville Girl" and others.
Slated for his use of drums that horrified some bluegrass
purists, Martin is perhaps one of the bluegrass unsung heroes!!!
Jimmy Martin's Greatest Hits offers an ideal collection of some of
the best known numbers associated with Martin and a fine
acknowledgment to his memory.
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