ACUTABTranscribed from the playing of Bill Emerson
One of the true giants of bluegrass banjo! Bill is a true master of both Scruggs and melodic style banjo picking and a recognized pioneer in his own right. From his very early days with The Country Gentlemen through his fascinating career as a banjoist in the US Navy and his subsequent outing with Emerson & Newton, Bill has demonstrated what clean, quality banjo picking is all about. Regardless of your primary stylistic interests, Bill has much to show you.
The book contains all the banjo breaks from Bill's 1990 album, Gold Plated Banjo, plus those from Emerson & Taylor's Appaloosa. Many of Bill's originals are included plus his cuts of classics like Earl's Breakdown, Lonesome Road Blues, and Black Mountain Rag. Don Reno favorites like Choking The Strings and Home Sweet Home are here as well.
This book offers the intermediate banjo player some clever arrangements of many tunes in the standard repertoire. With only a few exceptions, they are not terribly hard to play. More advanced banjo pickers can use this book to study the subtleties of a master stylist.
Bill
Emerson is one of the most influential musicians in bluegrass. He began playing
guitar in 1955 and banjo the following year, which was when he heard a performance
by Uncle Bob & the Blue Ridge Partners on a Rockville, Maryland,
radio station. He was so captivated by their sound that he went to the station
to meet them, and was asked to join them. A few months later, Emerson joined
Buzz Busby and the Bayou Boys. When an auto accident put Busby and some of the
band members out of commission, Emerson and bandmate Charlie Waller assembled
a new band, the Country Gentlemen, to keep their booking at the Admiral Grill
in Bailey's Cross Roads, Virginia. They recorded three singles for Dixie and
Starday, including "High Lonesome"/"Hey Little Girl." In
1958, Emerson left the Gentlemen to play live gigs with the Stonemans, later
playing with Bill Harrell, Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys, and Red
Allen and the Kentuckians. In 1963, he released the album This World is Not My
Home. While playing with Allen, he recorded a few albums as Bill Emerson and
his Virginia Mountaineers, including Banjo Pickin' n Hot Fiddlin' Country Style.
In 1965, he left Allen's band and rejoined Jimmy Martin's for two albums. Emerson
left again in 1967 and teamed up with Cliff Waldron to form Emerson & Waldron
and the Lee Highway Boys. On Rebel, the group recorded three albums, including
Bluegrass Country. He returned to the Country Gentlemen in 1970, playing club
dates and recording with them until 1972, when he was hit in the arm during a
drive-by shooting as he and the band were leaving the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda,
Maryland. He recovered fully and joined the U.S. Navy Band the next year.
Emerson's 20-year military stint was spent playing music in Washington, D.C., doing outside session work, and performing with his country/bluegrass band, the Country Current. Beginning in 1988, Emerson recorded two solo albums for Rebel, Home of the Red Fox and Gold Plated Banjo (1991). The previous year, he was honored by Sterling Banjo Works, who issued a Signature Series of banjos ("Bill Emerson Red Fox Model") and gear after him. Emerson released his Reunion album in 1992, which features various lead singers he has worked with over the years, including Jimmy Martin, Charlie Waller and Tony Rice. He finally left the Navy in 1993 and has since released a duet album with protégé Wayne Taylor. Occasionally, Emerson plays reunion concerts with some of the groups he belonged to, but has declined to rejoin them full-time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide