William Hundley Emerson, Jr. (January 22, 1938 – August 21, 2021) was an American

five-string banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player known for being one of the founding members of the original

The Country Gentlemen The Country Gentlemen was a progressive bluegrass band that originated during the 1950s in the area of Washington, D.C., United States, and recorded and toured with various members until the death in 2004 of Charlie Waller, one of the group's f ...

and Emerson & Waldron and considered one of the finest bluegrass banjo players in music history. The bluegrass musician named Bill Emerson written about on this biography page is often confused with another country musician named Bill Emerson (known as "Wild Bill Emerson") who was also born in 1938. As a result, bluegrass musician Bill Emerson is frequently incorrectly attributed to songs on various music databases (such as

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and

Wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...

) written by Wild Bill Emerson and/or his wife, Martha Jo "Jody" Emerson (who's often miscredited as "Jodie"). Wild Bill and Jody have written for many country artists such as

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Hank Williams, Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

and

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

Career

Bill Emerson joined

Buzz Busby and the Bayou Boys Bernarr Graham Busbice (September 6, 1933 – January 5, 2003), known professionally as Buzz Busby, was an American bluegrass musician, known for his mandolin style and high tenor voice. He was nicknamed the "Father of Washington, D.C. Bluegra ...

in the 1950s. In 1957, when Busby was injured in a car accident, Emerson and Charlie Waller – who was also a member of the Bayou Boys – formed The Country Gentlemen.Carlin 2003, p. 123. Emerson's stint with the Gentlemen lasted until 1958 when he left the group and began working as a sideman. In 1962, he joined

Jimmy Martin James Henry Martin (August 10, 1927 – May 14, 2005) was an American bluegrass musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass". Early years Martin was born in Sneedville, Tennessee, United States, and was raised in the hard farming life of rural ...

Sunny Mountain Boys Sunny is a daytime weather condition. It may refer to: People * Sunny (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Sunny (singer), member of Girls' Generation * Sunny, of Sue and Sunny, who also recorded as a solo artist ...

where he remained until 1967 with the exception of a brief interlude with

Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen, Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armst ...

between 1964–1965. In 1967, Emerson and guitarist

Cliff Waldron Clifford Waldron (born April 4, 1941) is a retired American bluegrass musician. Waldron is best known for his collaborations with bluegrass musician Bill Emerson, with the two forming the bluegrass duo ''Emerson & Waldron,'' as well as the form ...

formed "Emerson & Waldron" recording for

Rebel Records Rebel Records is an independent American record label based in Charlottesville, Virginia that specializes in bluegrass and old time music. The label was founded in Mount Rainier, Maryland in 1959 by Dick Freeland, Bill Carroll and Sonny Compton. ...

.Carlin 2003, p. 124. The sound and repertoire of Emerson & Waldron was very similar to The Country Gentlemen often performing songs from contemporary rock, soul and country.Rosenberg 2005, p. 327. Three years later, in 1970, Emerson was back with The Country Gentlemen. In the absence of Emerson, Waldron renamed the group "Cliff Waldron and the New Shades of Grass.Tribe 2006, p. 156. While recovering from a February 1972 drive-by shooting following a Country Gentlemen performance at the Red Fox Inn in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, Emerson again left the group. He joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in 1973, attaining the rank of master chief petty officer and performing in both the United States Navy Band and its Country Current bluegrass ensemble for the next twenty years. In 1992, the Stelling Banjo Company issued an Emerson signature banjo model. Emerson died on August 21, 2021 at the age of 83 from complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

.Bill Emerson passes
/ref>

Discography

Emerson & Waldron

* New Shades of Grass (Rebel, 1968) * Bluegrass Country (Rebel, 1970) * Bluegrass Session (Rebel, 1970)

Bill Emerson

* Banjo Pickin' 'N Hot Fiddlin' (Coronet, 1963) * Banjo Pickin' 'N Hot Fiddlin' Vol 2 (Coronet, 1964) * Country Banjo (Design, 1969) * Home of the Red Fox (Rebel, 1987) * Gold Plated Banjo (Rebel, 1990) * Reunion ( Webco, 1991) * Banjo Man (Webco, 1996) * Eclipse ( Rural Rhythm, 2011)

Emerson and Goble

* Tennessee 1949 ( Webco, 1987) * Dixie In My Eye (Webco, 1989) * Webco Classics Volume One (Webco, 1995)

Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie

* Bill Emerson & the Sweet Dixie Band (Rebel, 2007) * Southern (Rural Rhythm, 2010) * The Touch of Time (Rural Rhythm, 2012) * Dancin' Annie (Rural Rhythm, 2014) * The Gospel Side of Bill Emerson and Sweet Dixie (Rural Rhythm, 2015)

Notes

References

* Carlin, Richard (2003), ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary'', Taylor & Francis * Rosenberg, Neil V. (2005), ''Bluegrass: A History'', University of Illinois Press * Tribe, Ivan M. (2006), ''Country: A Regional Exploration'', Greenwood Publishing Group

External links

* *
Bill Emerson
at The Bluegrass Connection.
Bill Emerson
featured player i
Banjo All-Stars
Trading Cards, Series 1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Bill 1938 births 2021 deaths American banjoists American bluegrass musicians American folk musicians Musicians from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians