Henry - Pretty good for a girl: women in bluegrass

Women in Bluegrass

MURPHY HICKS HENRY

University of Illinois Press
Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield

During the ten years that I have been working on this book I have had an amazing amount of help from the bluegrass community. My first and biggest thanks go to the women who shared their life stories with me. In the midst of hectic schedules they carved out time for interviews, answered a long list of questions, endured endless follow-up emails, and trusted me with their revelations. Their belief that I would take them seriously, listen without judgment, sympathize with their choices, refrain from prying into personal issues, and respect their confidences meant the world to me. Thank you for this trust. I was ever aware of it as I was writing, and I have tried hard to present your stories with the admiration I feel for your accomplishments. Any errors of fact or interpretation are mine alone.

My research almost always began in the pages of Bluegrass Unlimited, and I am greatly indebted to everyone who keeps this venerable publication rolling off the presses. Pete Kuykendall has been at the helm (or very close to it) since its inception in July 1966, and he and the entire staff were only a phone call away. (It did help that I've been writing the magazine's General Store column since 1987.) Thanks to Linda Shaw, Kim Yates, Katie Blankenship, Pat Jeffries, Sally Pontarelli, Lisa Kay Howard, and Sharon McGraw for always taking my calls with good cheer, even when they were up against their own deadlines.

I was consistently aided and abetted in my quest for corroborative detail by a number of other talented bluegrass writers. Three of these became my go-to guys, whose vast knowledge of all things bluegrass was ever at my disposal. For an entire decade Walt Saunders, Dick Spottswood, and Frank Godbey answered questions both deep and trivial at the drop of a hator rather the click of a mouse. Special thanks to Walt for insisting that I include Delia Bell and then lending me all of her albums, and to Dick for sending a complete list of Alex and Ola Belle's 45 rpm recordings.

Other exceptionally knowledgeable folks who were quick to reply to whatever information crisis I was facing at the moment include Tom Adler, Fred Bartenstein, Nancy Cardwell, David Dees, Jon Hartley Fox, Ken Irwin, Dan Hayes, Cherrill Heaton, Tom Henderson, Randy Pitts, Gary Reid, Neil Rosenberg, and Jon Weisberger. Their replies were often lengthy and thoughtful.

A host of musicians who worked closely with the women profiled here graciously filled in some elusive biographical tidbits. Many thanks to James Brooks, Andrew Buckland, Pat Cloud, Wayne Clyburn, Dudley Connell, Ed Dye, Tony Ellis, Bill Emerson, Pat Enright, Kristin Ericsson, Bill Evans, Bob Forrester, Joe Forrester, Bob French, Troy Gilchrist, Tom Gray, Jim Greer, Marvin Gruenbaum, Dave Harvey, John Hedgecoth, Bill Keith, Keith Little, Barbara MacDonald Magone, David McLaughlin, Ann Milovsoroff, Bruce Nemerov, Andy Owens, Todd Rakestraw, Wayne Rice, Mike Seeger, Elmo Shropshire, Rick Shubb, Tim Stafford, Peter Thompson, Tony Trischka, Butch Waller, Peter Wernick, Marshall Wilborn, and Mark Wingate.

The Bluegrass and IBMA Listservs kept me connected to the worldwide bluegrass community. Any time I posted a question (Does anyone know who played banjo with Ola Belle before Ted Lundy? Does anyone have the Good Ol Persons first album?), someone would shoot back an answer, offer to copy the album (Don't tell Laurie Lewis!), or provide a telephone number. My heartfelt thanks to all of you. As Charlie Monroe used to say, I'd like to buy you all a drinkand I would if I thought one would go around! Some of the fine folks who came through with recordings or information include Tom Armstrong, Cary Banks, Nick Barr, Cindy Brooks Baucom, Geoff Berne, Andrea Broadstreet, James Bryan, Meredith Bub, Mike Bub, DeeDee Bunnell, Joe Bussard, Lauren Calista, Jean-Mark Delon, Debbie Durant, Leo Eilts, Stewart Evans, Tom Ewing, Mark Freeman, Lena Taylor Isner, Rienk Janssen, Fred Jasper, Mike Kelley, Paul Kenny, Jerry Keys, Bill Knowlton, Kitsy Kuykendall, Kevin Lynch, Art Menius, Rod Moag, Harry Moore, Terry Moorehead, Julia Mottesheard, Alan Munde, Brad Paul, Jeremy Raven, Archie Warnock, Andy Wilkinson, Joe Wilson, and Ellen Wright. Pam Bock transcribed interviews early on. My apologies if I failed to mention any of you who extended a helping hand. The blame rests squarely on my faulty memory and less-than-stellar record keeping.

Other fellow travelers who went to great lengths to help out include Elena Sky, who Xeroxed Ola Belle Reed's entire unpublished autobiography; Richard D. Smith, who shared copies of his own original research into Bessie Lee Mauldin's life; and Eddie Stubbs, who duplicated cassettes of his live, on-air interview with Wilma Lee Cooper. Writers who generously provided entire unedited transcripts of interviews they conducted themselves include Ira Gitlin, Derek Halsey, Casey Henry, Henry Koretzky, and Carolyn Wright. Ira also interviewed Dede Wyland specifically for this book. And near the end of my journey, dozens of wonderful photographers, along with the women themselves, dug through old photos and then generously granted permission to use those I selected. I am greatly in your debt.

I was also blessed to have not one but two editors during this long labor. Judy McCulloh offered the initial idea for the book and was unwavering in her support. Her suggestions were always insightful and kind. Laurie Matheson, who took over when Judy retired, has been patient with my numerous questions and my hit-and-miss work ethic. Her enthusiasm over early portions of the book boosted my confidence and fired me up to write more while her hand-holding eased my angst. This is a better book thanks to my copyeditor, Jill R. Hughes.

My thanks would not be complete without mentioning those who have been with me for the long haul. My sisters, Claire, Argen, Nancy, and Laurie, were my first singing partners. We learned to sing from our mama, who eased us into slumber with songs like Chattanooga Choo Choo, and Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch. Daddy didn't sing so much but supported our early bluegrass endeavors by listening and saying, Stop tuning and play!

My final thanks goes to my own family, to whom I have dedicated this book. To Red for keeping the Murphy Method going so that I could write, for proofreading, and for going above and beyond the call to scan and tweak more than a hundred photos; to Casey for carving her own feminist bluegrass path, banjo in hand; to Chris for his stellar songwriting, which always makes me smile and sometimes moves me to tears. And to my first grandson, Dalton Whitfield Henry, whose favorite song of the moment is Larry Perkins Had a Dog and Banjo Was His Name.