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 Sneedville is the only city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,282 per the 2020 census. History Settlement began in the 1790s, following the American Revolutionary War,Will Thomas Hale and Dix ...

, United States, and was raised in the hard farming life of rural East Tennessee. He grew up near Sneedville, singing in church and with friends from surrounding farms. His mother and stepfather who used to sing gospel were his first influences. When he was in his teens he played guitar in a local string band and later appeared on radio with Tex Climer and the Blue Band Coffee Boys.

Music career

In the winter of 1949,

Mac Wiseman Malcolm Bell Wiseman (May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass and country singer. Early life He was born on May 23, 1925, in Crimora, Virginia. He attended school in New Hope, Virginia, and graduated from high school the ...

had just left

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

's Blue Grass Boys. Martin, who wanted to apply for the vacant post as guitarist, rode the bus into Nashville. He snuck in backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. While picking his guitar, he was overheard by the Blue Grass Boys' banjo player Rudy Lyle, who brought him forward and presented him to Monroe. Martin sang two songs with Monroe and was hired. Beginning in 1949, Martin was lead vocalist for Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. Martin's high voice mixed with Monroe's tenor came to be known as the "high lonesome" sound. His influence radically changed Monroe's music from the fast-paced but smooth style of the "original" 1945 band with

Flatt and 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 Scru ...

. Martin challenged Monroe to raise the pitch on many of his classics and to write new, "lonesome" songs. This band with Rudy Lyle (banjo) and Charlie Cline (fiddle) was one of the many high points of Monroe's career. Martin's lead was defining in "lonesome" songs such as "Sitting Alone in the Moonlight", "Memories of Mother and Dad" and "I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome". Martin had a famously high-strung and exuberant personality, and inevitably clashed with Monroe's equally stubborn temperament. He left Monroe and worked briefly with the

Osborne Brothers The Osborne Brothers, Sonny (October 29, 1937 – October 24, 2021) and Bobby (born December 7, 1931), were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s and until Sonny retired in 2005. They are probably best known for ...

until he formed his own band, The Sunny Mountain Boys, in 1955. The classic line-up of this band, with

J. D. Crowe James Dee Crowe (August 27, 1937December 24, 2021) was an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four-year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s. Crowe led the bluegrass group New South from 1971 until ...

and "Big" Paul Williams (stage name for Paul Humphrey), defined his "Good 'n Country" style, a commercially oriented, crowd-pleasing bluegrass with simple harmonies, catchy melodies, and a strong rhythm propelled by Martin's effective guitar playing. He credited himself with inventing the "G" run, a guitar lick used widely in the bluegrass genre. However, aural evidence from the period before Martin began performing professionally, clearly shows Lester Flatt using this run when backing

. Three important components of Martin's unique sound, besides his cutting tenor voice, were tight trio singing, sometimes a female high-baritone fourth part, and the use of a snare drum in place of mandolin to keep the back-beat. Among Martin's biggest hits of the 1960s were "Hit Parade of Love", "Sophronie", "Stepping Stones", "Tennessee", and "Widow Maker" (a popular truck driver's song). His instrumentals (with the Sunny Mountain Boys), such as "Theme Time", "Bear Tracks" and "Red Rooster", featured ultra-crisp playing by a series of banjo players including Sam "Porky" Hutchins, J.D. Crowe, Vernon McIntyre Jr. and

Bill Emerson Norvell William Emerson (January 1, 1938 – June 22, 1996) was an American politician. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri from 1981 until his death from lung cancer in Bethesda, Maryland in ...

, and, powered by Martin's guitar runs, set a standard for bluegrass instrumentals that was influential. In the 1960s and 1970s, Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys included singer and instrumentalist

Gloria Belle Gloria Belle Flickinger (June 9, 1939 – May 5, 2023) was an American bluegrass vocalist and musician, playing the banjo, bass, and mandolin. She was probably the first female lead singer in bluegrass, having begun her music career as early ...

, who is considered the first female lead singer in bluegrass.Artis, Bob. ''Bluegrass: from the lonesome wail of a mountain love song to the hammering drive of the Scruggs-style banjo, the story of an American musical tradition''. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1975. p. 73 She toured Japan with Martin during 1975. In regards to her playing, Martin said jokingly, "She's not very good, but we let her sing with us 'cause we feel sorry for her." Martin was famous as a dangerously unpredictable, but highly entertaining stage presence. He freely acknowledged his problems with drinking and volatile mood swings, which kept him from realizing his lifelong dream of joining the Grand Ole Opry. He made frequent appearances on the

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the ...

and

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

WWVA Jamboree The ''Wheeling Jamboree'' is the second oldest country music radio broadcast in the United States after the '' Grand Ole Opry''. The Jamboree originated in 1933 in Wheeling, West Virginia on WWVA, the first radio station in West Virginia and a 50, ...

(renamed Jamboree U.S.A. in the 1960s), as well as the Grand Ole Opry, but was never invited to join the latter. In 1973, he performed on Bill Monroe's Brown County Jamboree. He performed on the

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constant ...

's 1971 album, ''

Will the Circle Be Unbroken "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the ch ...

,'' as well as Volume II (1989) and Volume III (2002). He joined producers

Randall Franks Randall Franks is an American film and television actor, author, and bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and mountain dulcimer. He was inducted into the Tri-State Gospel Music Hall of Fame (Georgia, Tennessee and Al ...

and

Alan Autry Carlos Alan Autry Jr. (also known for a time as Carlos Brown; born July 31, 1952), is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League player. During his brief football career, he was known as Carlos Brown. He played the ro ...

for the '' In the Heat of the Night'' cast CD ''Christmas Time's A Comin, performing "Christmas Time's A Comin'" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA.

Death

Martin died in Nashville on May 14, 2005, after having been diagnosed with

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become ma ...

more than a year earlier. He is interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville's

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

neighborhood. A report of his death in the ''Toronto Star'' called him "one of the greatest vocalists in bluegrass.""Bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin plucked at 77", ''Toronto Daily Star'', May 17, 2005

Legacy

In 1995, Martin was inducted into the

International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor Induction to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, called the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor from its creation in 1991 through 2006, is managed by the International Bluegrass Music Association, and the Hall itself is mainta ...

. A documentary on his life, ''King of Bluegrass: The Life and Times of Jimmy Martin'', was released in 2003. Martin is also featured in the documentary film ''High Lonesome''. Martin's hobby was raccoon hunting with dogs; he featured his hunting dogs on the covers of several LP albums and wrote songs celebrating their prowess. His troubles with the Nashville music industry are memorialized in "The Death of Jimmy Martin", a song by

Tom Russell Thomas George Russell (born 1947/1948) is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Americana music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, rock, and the cowboy music of the American West. Man ...

on ''The Wounded Heart of America'' album.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Guest singles

References

External links

Discography
at Discography of Bluegrass Sound Recordings

NAMM Oral History Interview with Jimmy Martin
July 22, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Jimmy 1927 births 2005 deaths People from Hancock County, Tennessee Deaths from bladder cancer American male singer-songwriters Bluegrass musicians from Tennessee American country singer-songwriters King Records artists RCA Victor artists Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Country musicians from Tennessee Music of East Tennessee Musicians from Appalachia Burials in Tennessee 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Tennessee 20th-century American male singers