Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise (October 2, 1915 – January 6, 1996) was an American bluegrass

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

r. Originally starting out playing the banjo and guitar, Wise began playing fiddle at age 12, working locally in the

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

area. He joined the Jubilee Hillbillies in 1938, then began playing with

Bill Monroe William Smith 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 takes its n ...

's Blue Grass Boys in 1942, including dates at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

. He worked with Monroe through 1948, then played with Clyde Moody. He also played with the York Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, and Connie B. Gay. In 1954, Wise became a member of

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts betw ...

's Rainbow Ranch Boys, again appearing at the Grand Ole Opry; he remained with the group until March 1970. Alongside this he worked as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

with Mac Wiseman and

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

, among others. Wise returned to Florida in 1984 and went into semi-retirement, though he continued to tour and record occasionally, such as with the Bass Mountain Boys in 1992. He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the '' In the Heat of the Night'' cast's CD ''Christmas Time's a Comin'' performing "Christmas Time's a Comin'" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA. Franks occasionally joined Wise performing twin fiddle with him on his shows.

Discography

*''Chubby Wise and the Rainbow Ranch Boys'' ( Starday Records, 1961) *''The Tennessee Fiddler'' (Starday, 1961) *''Chubby Plays Bluegrass'' (Stoneway Records, 1970) *''Chubby Plays Bob Wills'' (Stoneway, 1970) *''Grassy Fiddle'' (Stoneway, 1975) *''Chubby Plays Hank Williams'' (Stoneway, 1977) *''Chubby Wise in Nashville'' ( Pinecastle Records, 1994) *''An American Original'' (Pinecastle, 1995)

References

External links

*Sandra Brennan, Chubby Wiseat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Chubby 1915 births 1996 deaths People from Lake City, Florida American bluegrass musicians American bluegrass fiddlers Grand Ole Opry members Starday Records artists Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Florida Foggy Mountain Boys members Blue Grass Boys members