Occupation(s) Fiddler Died October 11, 2007 Role Musician | Name Benny Williams Instruments Fiddle Genres Bluegrass | |
 | ||
Born March 23, 1931 ( 1931-03-23 ) Labels The master tapes, recorded by Bernard Rousseau, Collector, (Engineer) are on 15 IPS tapes. THese are at ETSU in Johnson City, TN. (The sounds are 90% binaural. Engineered at Rousseau's SOUND LAB in Harriman. Tom Morgan in the producer.) Associated acts Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Albums Mr. Blue Grass, Bluegrass Instrumentals Music group Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys (1961 – 1967) Similar People Mac Wiseman, Bill Monroe, Vassar Clements, Bobby Hicks, Lester Flatt | ||
Bluegrass fiddler opry legend benny williams 1985
Benjamin Horace Williams (b. March 28, 1931 – October 11, 2007) was an American bluegrass musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he sang and played fiddle, guitar, banjo, autoharp, and mandolin.
Contents
- Bluegrass fiddler opry legend benny williams 1985
- WANDI RAW Benny Williams Beechworth
- Career
- View of colleagues
- Discography
- Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass
- References
WANDI RAW Benny Williams 'Beechworth'
Career
Williams played fiddle in Bill Monroe's band and with such notables as Mac Wiseman, Reno & Smiley, The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Grandpa Jones, Jimmy Martin, Kitty Wells & Johnny Wright, Stonewall Jackson, and Marty Robbins. He was a recipient of the IBMA Pioneers of Bluegrass award. Williams appeared playing banjo on The Porter Wagoner Show playing "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". He joined Wagoner's in-house band, the Wagonmasters, as guitarist where he played fingerstyle, with fingerpicks. He started out with Mac Wiseman in Virginia and then joined the Tennessee Cut-Ups. He joined the Bluegrass Boys in 1961, first playing guitar but switched to fiddle. He sang lead vocal on a recording of "Cotton Fields" and played fiddle on numerous tracks in that and the subsequent year. He continued working with Wiseman and playing banjo and mandolin.
View of colleagues
Fellow Blue Grass Boy Doug Hutchens commented,
"Benny was one of the three real utility Blue Grass Boys ... that could and do about anything include work on the bus. The first time I saw him was in the late 60s just before Kenny Baker returned to the band, Benny was playing fiddle with his right hand bandaged where he had got it caught in the fan on the bus the day before. His main instrument was fiddle but could play banjo, bass and guitar as well... Benny was a quiet and unassuming man and preferred to be the sideman and made many a country entertainer's song sound right."
Discography
Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass
An album titled Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass was engineered By Bernard Rousseau of the Harriman Sound Lab and made available through Scott Morgan's Morgan Stringed Instruments on CD. Williams enjoyed a long-time collaboration with Scott's father Tom Morgan, himself an IBMA Hall of Fame inductee. On this album, Benny plays fiddle on "Never Again" and "The Legend of Bill Monroe" and banjo on "Soldier's Joy". On other tracks he plays cross pick mandolin and Travis -tyle guitar.