November 2, 2000

Lexington, KY & Morristown, TN--Just got back from a trip down to Kentucky and Tennessee to interview both JD Crowe and Paul Williams. Crowe and Williams helped form the seminal Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys lineup in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Together the threesome recorded such classics as Ocean of Diamonds, Rock Hearts, Pretending I Don’t Care, God Guide our Leader’s Hand, I Like to Hear ‘Em Preach It, and countless others.

Crowe and Williams were both great to visit with and interview. They were each very forthcoming and really helped me understand what things were like during their days with Martin. My favorite parts were hearing Crowe talk about how Martin taught him to do everything with conviction. It was also great to hear about how Crowe got started in bluegrass. As a young kid in Lexington he was completely fascinated with the sound of the guitar lines of Ernest Tubbs. JD Crowe was working on becoming a guitar player, but then one night Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs came through town and changed all of that. Crowe couldn’t get over the banjo playing of Earl Scruggs and ended up buying a banjo. He then went down to enter in a talent contest on WLAP in Lexington. As the winner, he was then invited to play on the air as part of Esco Hankins and His Crazy Tennesseans broadcast. Impressed with Crowe’s playing, Hankins asked Crowe to be a regular part of the act.

Along with Bill Monroe, Carter Stanley, and Lester Flatt, Paul Williams is one of the most important songwriters in bluegrass history. He wrote such numbers as Losing You, Mr. Engineer, Hold Whatcha Got, Don’t Cry to Me, I Like to Hear ‘Em Preach It, My Walking Shoes, and Steppin’ Stones. It was great to get to sit down with him and hear about his songwriting process. If you get a chance, pick up Paul Williams most recent CD, Old Ways and Old Paths on Rebel Records. I also know that he has one in the can that should be out in the near future.