Hylo Brown (April 20, 1922 – January 17, 2003) was an American bluegrass and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer, guitarist and bass player.

Biography

Frank "Hylo" Brown, Jr. was born in

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

, Johnson County, Kentucky, United States, and began his career as a performer on radio station WCMI in Ashland, Kentucky in 1939. Soon, he moved to WLOG in Logan, West Virginia and their "Saturday Jamboree". Six months later, he moved with his family to Springfield, Ohio. He began composing songs and performing on local radio stations in Ohio. During an appearance at

WPFB WPFB (910 AM) is a radio station broadcasting Catholic programming after a switch from an adult album alternative format as a simulcast of WNKU. It is licensed to Middletown, Ohio, United States, and serves the Dayton area. The station is own ...

in Middletown, Ohio he received his nickname "Hylo" because Smoky Ward, who was on the show, could not remember his name and started calling him "Hi-Lo". That nickname was a humorous indication of Brown's presumed vocal range. In 1950, he recorded with Bradley Kincaid at WWSO studio in Springfield. Four years later, Brown wrote a song, "Lost To A Stranger", that was sent to Ken Nelson, the

A & R Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

man of Capitol Records. The song was meant to be recorded by

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording " It Wasn't God ...

but instead, Nelson offered Brown a recording contract if he recorded it himself. On November 7, 1954, he cut his first recordings for Capitol Records. "Lost To A Stranger" became his first hit. In early 1955, he formed the Buckskin Boys performing on the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia. In 1957, he joined

Flatt & Scruggs Flatt and Scruggs were an American bluegrass duo. Singer and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, both of whom had been members of Bill Monroe's band, the Bluegrass Boys, from 1945 to 1948, formed the duo in 1948. Flatt and Sc ...

on their "Martha White Mills" shows, and he was regularly featured in solo performances as well as with the Foggy Mountain Boys. He renamed the Buckskin Boys calling them The Timberliners. The Timberliners consisted of Brown on guitar, Red Rector on mandolin, Jim Smoak on banjo, Clarence "Tater" Tate on fiddle and Joe "Flap Jack" Phillips on bass. After his Capitol contract had expired, Brown signed with

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

in 1961. He retired in 1991 and moved to

Mechanicsburg, Ohio Mechanicsburg is a village in Champaign County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,644 at the 2010 census. History Mechanicsburg was platted in 1814. The village was so named for the fact a large share of its settlers worked as mechan ...

. Hylo Brown died from cancer on January 17, 2003. He is interred in Rose Hill Burial Park, Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. Hylo Brown has received several honors posthumously: In 2003, just weeks after his death, he was inducted into the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America's Preservation Hall of Greats. In 2009, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.

Selected discography

*''Hylo Brown'' - Capitol (1959) *''Bluegrass Balladeer'' - Starday Records (1962) *''Bluegrass Goes To College'' - Starday Records (1963) *''Sing Me A Bluegrass Song'' - Starday Records (1963) *''Hylo Brown and The Timberliners'' - Rural Rhythm (1966) *''Sings Folk Songs of Rural America'' - Rural Rhythm Records (1967) *''Legends & Tall Tales'' - Rural Rhythm Records (1967) *''Sings Country Gospel Songs'' - Rural Rhythm Records (1967) *''Hylo Brown and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys'' - Rural Rhythm Records (1968) *''Sings the Blues'' - Rural Rhythm Records (1968) *''America's Favorite Balladeer'' - Rural Rhythm Records (1968) *''Hylo Brown & The Timberliners'' 1954-1960 - Bear Family Records (1992) *''In Concert'' (recorded in 1959) -

Copper Creek Records Copper Creek Records is a record label based in Roanoke, Virginia specializing primarily in bluegrass and old-time music. History Spurred by his interest in the music of the Stanley Brothers, Gary B. Reid launched Copper Creek in October 1978. T ...

(1996) *''20 Old-Time Favorites'' (re-issue of ''Hylo Brown and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys'') - Rural Rhythm Records (1997)

References

Other sources

*Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, ''All Music Guide to Country: The Definitive Guide to Country Music'', 2003 (p. 90) *

Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner note ...

, ''Liner notes to "Hylo Brown & The Timberliners'', Bear Family Records BCD 15572 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Hylo 1922 births 2003 deaths People from Johnson County, Kentucky Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky Starday Records artists Country musicians from Kentucky Musicians from Appalachia 20th-century American musicians American country singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Kentucky People from Springfield, Ohio People from Mechanicsburg, Ohio 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Ohio Foggy Mountain Boys members Singer-songwriters from Ohio