The Kentucky Rambler

Return to Top

Chapter One

Several years after Sarah Lou Wilson's death, Auston, her husband, stood over her grave and uttered these words: "If I had been as good of a man as she was a woman, she might still be here today." By some accounts, Auston was not a very compassionate man. He was often away from home for several days, leaving Sarah Lou to fend for herself and her often-ill children. Other of Auston's descendants paint a different picture of the man. He apparently got religion sometime after his wife's death.

Sarah Lou, who lived just outside Columbia, Kentucky, had seven children, only two of whom survived into adulthood. Her first died as a premature infant. She then had twins that succumbed to the same fate. Later on, a son died at age 4 of meningitis and a daughter died at age 3 of whooping cough. Her only daughter who survived was Hallie Wilson, and her only surviving son was Bryant. Sarah Lou died on the morning of April 30, 1924 while giving birth to her son. A midwife was in charge of the delivery. Auston refused to accept responsibility for his new son. None of Auston's brothers, including John Wilson and his wife who had no children of their own, would take the baby in. Sarah Lou's sister, Lettie Bryant, and her first-cousin husband, Luther decided they could not simply let the infant die, so they accepted responsibility for his care. Auston thought they were crazy for doing so, saying the baby didn't have a chance to survive anyway. At the suggestion of Lola Hurt, a neighbor, the infant was named Bryant, after his mother's maiden name.

Infant Bryant was the frailest of babies. According to Ruby Bryant, Luther and Lettie's daughter who was 16 when they took Bryant in, his fingers were no bigger than bird's legs. It seems he could not keep food in his stomach.

Ruby was in the eighth grade when Bryant came. Her parents had ambitions for here to attend college; she was very bright in school. But the new baby forced her to quit school and help take care of him.

Bryant would get very sick at night. He cried in pain until his whole body would turn purple. Ruby stayed up with him every other night for two years, along with her friend and neighbor Minnie Holt. She would alternate nights staying up with Bryant with her mother and father. During those two years, very little improvement was shown. One particular night he got so bad that they thought for sure they were going to lose him. The next morning, after surviving the night, he seemed to be a little better. This was when he had just turned two. Ruby said he had gone through the "crisis" that night, and started to improve steadily thereafter.

It was not until his crisis was over that he began to walk and talk. Although Ruby was his cousin, he grew to think of her as his sister. He regarded Lettie and Luther as his mother and father. His real father, Auston, would not help pay for his medication during his illness. "He's your child now. I'll never try to take him away. He's yours," Auston told Luther. Luther had plans to legally adopt Bryant, until his death a few days before Bryant turned four. Luther was the only dad Bryant had known, and he grieved for days at his passing.

Bryant had a pet red rooster that he taught to obey his commands. Once he painted the rooster's toenails red. He told the rooster to step high until the paint dried. Although the rooster would have stepped high anyway because of the foreign substance on his feet, Bryant thought for sure the rooster was obeying his commands. He also taught the rooster to sit still and listen as he sang it songs.

Bryant's real mother, Sarah Lou Bryant, had been an accomplished alto singer. Sarah Lou's sister, Lettie, led the singing in church and was herself a good singer. The church had a profound influence on Bryant's life. One afternoon when he was ten, preacher Conover came by to visit and observed Bryant playing church in a clearing in the woods near the back of their house, singing "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" and preaching a mock service. He had his pet rooster as his congregation and played music with a toy guitar he had made from a lard can and a fence slat. Another of Bryant's favorite songs at that time was "Lonesome Valley." Ruby noticed his interest in singing and "playing" the guitar so she offered to buy him a real one if he would promise to learn to play it and sing good Christian songs.

Bryant was about eleven when Ruby bought him his first second- hand guitar. As promised he learned to play it. Some friends, two brothers named Rollin and Henry Combest, taught Bryant a few chords, but Bryant learned how to play by himself; he had no formal training. The first song he ever learned on the guitar was "When It's Lamplighting Time in the Valley." When he was twelve or thirteen, Ruby told him that she would buy him a brand new guitar from the Sears-Roebuck catalog if he would learn some additional songs.

He would often sit by his blind Granny's bed in a wood and wicker dinning room chair and sing for her. His family moved in with his grandfather, Franklin Pierce Bryant, and grandmother, Martha Ann who was losing her sight and needed someone to take care of her.

Bryant loved singing songs from song books. His repertoire included a few secular songs, but he mainly sang the church hymns. He would search the Sears-Roebuck catalog for records that he wanted. His favorite songs included Roy Acuff's "The Precious Jewel."

He always listened to the Grand Ole Opry on WSM radio. His favorite performers were Bill Monroe and Roy Acuff. After he learned to play the guitar well enough, he started playing regularly in churches. Although he never played at dances or parties (Lettie thought these activities were sinful), he occasionally performed publicly in downtown Columbia for tips along with a neighborhood Negro fiddler named Bill Taylor. Some of the songs in his repertoire at the time included "Turn Your Radio On", which he often sang in church, "Amazing Grace", "A Beautiful Life", and "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be."

Bryant did well in school. He once won a handwriting contest and his work was displayed in public in Columbia. He had to drop out when he was in the eighth grade because his foster mother, Lettie, was not able to handle the chores of the household without his full-time help. While Ruby worked in a Sewing factory in Columbia for the WPA, Bryant did farm labor and some construction work for the highway department. He also worked for a while in a stave mill.

When he was in his early teens, he attended a traveling medicine show in Columbia. The star of the show was billed as The Duke of Peducah. He heard Bryant play the guitar and liked him so well that he invited Bryant to join his show which was going to play on the Grand Ole Opry. He instructed Bryant to meet him in Columbia the following Saturday after he had discussed it with his family. Bryant did talk it over with Lettie and Ruby and they decided that Bryant could go. But when Bryant showed up in Columbia as scheduled, the Duke was not there. Bryant later realized the Duke was probably an impostor and had no plans of actually taking Bryant with him. Around 1940, Bryant, being dissatisfied with farm labor, moved to Edinburgh, Indiana where he lived with a cousin, Garnet Bryant. He got a job at Hill Brothers Veneer Mill, a plant where logs are sliced paper thin. After several months, he returned to Kentucky where he continued his farm chores and church singing.

It was around this time that he was summoned to take a physical for the draft board. World War II was under way in Europe and he wanted to fulfill his military obligation to the United States, so he got on the army bus in Columbia and was taken to Louisville for his examination. He was given the status of "4F" due to a slight heart ailment and was not drafted into service. He was disappointed at not being able to serve his country, so he decided to return to Indiana to work for a defense plant, Cummins Diesel, in Columbus. Unfortunately, he also failed their physical, so he got a job at Camp Atterbury, a U.S. army camp where he stoked the boiler. At the same time, he got work at Amos Molded Plastics, in Edinburgh. Edinburgh at the time had three large veneer mills, the plastic factory, and a canning factory. It was around 1944 that he coaxed Ruby and Lettie into coming to Edinburgh to live with him. His interest in music far from waning, he would frequently visit the park in Edinburgh where he would play and sing in hopes of attracting other hillbilly musicians.

Return to Top

Bryant and son Jerry

Chapter Two

In October of 1945, Bryant made his first appearance at the Brown County Jamboree in Bean Blossom, Indiana. It was owned then by Francis Rund and featured local bands.

Bryant was backed by a well-known regional band, the Kentucky Ridge Runners. The leader of the Ridge Runners, Homer Newland, invited Bryant to join with them as a lead singer. They played several shows around southern Indiana, but Bryant became disenchanted with the excessive drinking of some of the band members and dropped out. He did, however, continue his appearances at Bean Blossom using pick-up bands as back up.

Bryant became acquainted with a local grocer, Orville Streeval, whose hobby was playing the tenor (4-string) banjo. He formed a band with Streeval and a fiddle player by the name of Thomas "Curly" Goodman, and another Edinburgh fellow, Paul Meade, who accompanied on bass. In addition to these men, Clarence Woods, a rhythm guitar player, and Howard Fuller, another fiddle player, would occasionally be present. The band was a rather loose association, with different members playing with Bryant at different times. At the suggestion of Woods, the band went by the name of The Blue River Ramblers, after the river that flowed through Edinburgh. Each member had a rather different preference for the style of music they would play as well as for what type of shows they would book. Bryant preferred vocals of current country songs, primarily in the style of Roy Acuff and Hank Williams. In fact, Bryant had the Hank Williams vocal style down perfectly. The other members, especially Goodman, preferred fast instrumentals and square dance tunes. They preferred to play at dances, bars, and clubs, whereas Bryant's main interest was shows and radio.

For awhile, the band played a compromise repertoire which included prewar instrumentals and fast tunes such as "Bile Them Cabbage Down," "Down Yonder," and "Black Mountain Rag," plus current vocals by Williams and Acuff. They also played a variety of shows, and, in fact, went by two different names, depending upon who did the booking. Bryant had suggested the Johnson County Ramblers, because all the members were from that county. Woods would continue to book shows under the Blue River Ramblers name. Bryant was never completely happy with the arrangement, not only because of the aesthetic differences, but because his perception was that the other band members did not share in his dedication to music.

He continued to play with the Johnson County Ramblers sporadically from the late 1940's through the mid-1950's. They played various venues which included some square dances, lodges, parties, and taverns. Occasionally, they would play a bar for "drinks only", which meant that Bryant did not get paid at all since he was an abstainer.

In the early 1950's, Streeval sponsored the band along with Schaffer Drugs on WCSI radio in Columbus for a 13-week run of half- hour shows. Bryant broke from the band partially because of the over indulgence in alcohol by some of the band members and partially because he could not acquire the sound he wanted.

Around 1948, Bryant purchased a home recording machine. It would make 78-rpm single-cut disc recordings. Bryant was always interested in making a record. Before he moved to Indiana, he had heard of a recording studio in Columbia, Kentucky. He sought information on this studio, but it did not pan out. He cut several home recordings of Roy Acuff and Hank Williams songs, but what he really wanted to do was to cut a professional record in a studio. Someone had given him the faulty notion that he could not record a song that was written by someone else without their permission. He, therefore, accepted the inevitable responsibility of writing his own songs. Occasionally at first, he would write lyrics and sing them to the tune of an already-established song. Later, he would start using his own tunes to go with the lyrics he wrote. The first song he ever wrote was "What a Happy Morning" around 1951. He wrote "You'll Pay for the Heart You've Broken Today" shortly thereafter. About this time he had learned of a recording studio owned by Ted Dolen in Indianapolis. Bryant cut his first record on the Arrow label with the Johnson County Ramblers, "What a Happy Morning" / "You'll Pay for the Heart You've Broken Today" in the summer of 1952. He ordered 200 78-rpm records which were pressed in Cincinnati by the Shaw record company.

He gave a copy of his new record to WCSI radio in Columbus, Indiana where he and the Johnson County Ramblers had their series of live shows. The record soon became the number-one requested song at the station.

Return to Top

Bryant Wilson, 1960

Chapter Three

It was in 1948 that Bryant took his newly-purchased home disc recorder to Taylorsville, Kentucky with a friend of his, Charles Norton, whom he lived with at the time in an apartment above Main Street in Edinburgh. Charles went to visit his cousins in Taylorsville -- Catherine Sharp, age 15, and her older brother, Leonard. Catherine and Leonard often sang together in churches near Taylorsville. This was the first time that Bryant had met Catherine Sharp. She was very impressed with his recording machine, but after Bryant returned to Indiana, they would soon forget each other, not realizing that they would eventually end up as husband and wife. Catherine was the daughter of Clarence Sharp, a carpenter and house builder, and his wife, Alpha. Clarence died when Catherine was a child. Alpha died in 1990.

Catherine moved to Edinburgh in 1950 to baby-sit for her brother, Leonard, who worked at Amos Plastics with Bryant. Leonard and Bryant were good friends, and Catherine got to know Bryant through his visits to her brother. A year later, on November 24th, 1951, they were married in a civil ceremony in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Catherine moved in with Bryant at his Main Street address where he lived with Ruby and Lettie. They later moved to a small cabin on the east side of the railroad tracks near downtown Edinburgh. It was while they lived in this cabin that Bryant and Catherine had their first child, a son whom they named Jerry. This happened in May of 1953. The next year, they moved to a small upstairs apartment on Holland Street, and a year after that to a small house on the same street owned by Orville Streeval.

It was during this time period that Bryant began writing songs and recording them at Dolen's studio in Indianapolis. He learned he could save money by sending the tapes he made at Dolen's to Cincinnati for pressing himself. He chose Comet as his label.

Bryant surprised Catherine with his first song that he had written by presenting it to her in manuscript form. She was delighted to know that he displayed a talent unknown to her before then.

After his first record, "What a Happy Morning," became a hit on WCSI in 1952, Bryant decided he wanted to cut another record. This time, he would not use the rest of the band; he went to Indianapolis, accompanied by Catherine and Ruby, on a hot summer afternoon. He had a bad cold, and Catherine questioned his ability to sing. He explained that on these particular songs, it would be better not to have a lot of instruments. His goal was a new sound. One that would come closer to the kind of heart songs sung by Roy Acuff, a style that was to better reflect his own taste.

Both sides of the recording contained Bryant's own compositions: "Long Distance From Heaven", and "The Life of Jesus." Of this recording, Norman Carlson writes in his review: "The recording is straight singing with a voice and talent comparable only to such names as Acuff." He also calls it "the most unusual record of his career." This time, Bryant paid Dolen for the recording and sent the tapes himself to Shaw records in Cincinnati to be pressed. During this time period, Bryant continued to play shows with the Johnson County Ramblers. He, along with Fuller, Streeval, and Woods, played two songs on an Indianapolis television station, WFBM- TV. Bryant also continued to sing at the Brown County Jamboree using pick-up bands. He continued to reflect the Hank Williams style until Williams' death in 1953, after which time he retreated some from this style of singing.

Bryant's music was probably influenced by Hank Williams and Roy Acuff more than anyone else, although there was another person who may have had an equal impact on him. Leonard Burton, who was also born in Adair County Kentucky (Columbia is the county seat of Adair County), came to Edinburgh in 1954.

Bryant had first heard Leonard play, with his wife and daughter, the Adair County Trio, on a radio program in Kentucky. After Leonard got a divorce, and after his daughter got married, he came to Edinburgh and looked up Bryant at his upstairs Holland Street address. Later that same year, he settled in Edinburgh and bought a small grocery store.

Leonard had a very high singing voice. He played banjo and guitar. He and Bryant became good friends after his move to Edinburgh. They would often play in "jam sessions" together. One night, while Leonard and Bryant were practicing, Catherine joined in with them just for fun. Catherine had sung a little with her brother, Leonard, while in Kentucky, but Bryant didn't think her voice matched his style of music very well. But Leonard noticed that she could sing very nicely and advised Bryant to teach her more about it. That evening, Bryant, Leonard, and Catherine worked on one song: "Walk in the Gospel Way", which had been previously recorded by the Adair County Trio. Leonard and Bryant acted as her coach that night. They began to talk about reforming the Adair County Trio with Bryant and Catherine as new members.

They sang under that name at churches around the area. They were not exclusively gospel, however. They also performed at dances and at Bean Blossom. In 1956, the trio recorded their first 45-rpm on Bryant's own Comet record label, which he started using after he figured out he could save money by sending the tape to Cincinnati for pressing himself. The cuts on the single were "You Better Watch Your Steppin'" and "My Main Trial is Yet to Come." After the recording of this record, they decided not to use the name Adair County Trio anymore out of respect for the wishes of Leonard's former wife, Virginia. They began using the name, Wilson Family Trio, instead.

Bryant wrote "You Better Watch Your Steppin'" shortly after getting Catherine a job in a local grill. It was the environment of the place, not really anything about Catherine's behavior, that gave him the idea for the song. Bryant took some copies of his new record to a local juke box jobber. The jobber placed at least ten of these records in juke boxes around the area. Nearly every single that Bryant ever recorded has been on the juke box. At one time, his records were on perhaps a hundred juke boxes in Indiana and parts of Ohio.

In September, 1957, Lettie died at their home on Holland Street. Bryant was understandably devastated, since she was the only "mom" he had known. Ruby said it was the only time since he was a child that he cried out loud. Lettie's dying words to Bryant and Ruby were: "Be sweet to each other, and meet me up yonder in heaven someday." Bryant wrote a song in memory of Lettie, titling it "Meet Me Up Yonder" (See Appendix). He wanted to make it a suiting tribute to her.

In the spring of 1958, Bryant, Catherine, and Leonard Burton traveled to Cincinnati to make the recording at Rite Record's studio using their new group name, the Wilson Family Trio, and a new label, Adair. Unfortunately, the record turned out to be his worst selling. The flip side contained an instrumental composition by Leonard called the "James L. Special." It was a preview of things to come as Bryant began to switch from the Williams and Acuff style to bluegrass.

During these years of the mid- and late 1950's, Bryant and Catherine had two more children. Rickey Dale was born in December of 1955, and Anita Darlene was born in October of 1957.

Bryant played several times at Mockingbird Hill Park near Anderson, Indiana. Jerry, their eldest son, often accompanied him and Catherine. Once, during the late 1950's, while they were at Mockingbird hill, the storm clouds began to grow fierce. A tornado appeared in the sky but didn't touch down. Upon their return home, they found that Edinburgh had also been struck with severe weather, though no family member was injured.

A few months after the recording of "Meet Me Up Yonder" Bryant, Catherine, and Leonard returned to Cincinnati along with a mandolin player whose last name Bryant could remember only as Price. They recorded "Walk in the Gospel Way", and "What about You" as the Wilson Family Trio on the Adair label. Bryant sent a copy of the record to a disc jockey, Paul Kellinger, at a radio station in Del Rio, Texas, XERF. It was a 150,000-watt station with its transmitter in Mexico. Kellinger played the song almost every night for about a year.

Bryant's greatest hope for fame began one day when he noticed a small boy standing on the sidewalk outside a tavern in downtown Edinburgh. The child was crying for his parents inside to buy him some ice cream. They said they did not have the money. It was obvious to Bryant that they could afford to buy liquor. This incident touched Bryant. Some time later, he composed his best selling song, "Steppin' in Daddy's Tracks." The Trio, along with their regular fiddle player, John Carney, recorded the song on Bryant's own equipment at his home on Russell Street in Edinburgh, where they had moved in 1958. Although they thought the recording was acceptable, Bryant realized when he got the discs back from Rite, that it was one of his worst efforts. He, in fact, withheld them from release.

The Wilson Family Trio began to fold after this time as Leonard would be late or absent more frequently and Bryant became discouraged. In July of 1959, Bryant again recorded "Tracks" along with "My Time Will Come Some Day." This time, the record was judged good enough to release. It was in this year that he took his new recording to Mockingbird Hill and sold over a hundred copies in one day. The new recording featured the fiddle played by Charlie Gore, who was much superior to Carney. The record was released on the Adair label with Bryant's new band, The Kentucky Ramblers.

Return to Top

Bryant Wilson and Bill Monroe, 1960

Chapter Four

Between the two recordings of "Steppin' in Daddy's Tracks", a rift of sorts developed in the style of music Bryant preferred to sing. With the incarnation of the Kentucky Ramblers, Bryant's style became distinctly bluegrass-oriented, and moved away from the gospel trio style. In thinking about a new name for his band, Bryant definitely wanted to include the word Kentucky for several reasons: First, this was his home state which he thought about with fondness. Secondly, assumedly he wanted to emphasize the fact that he had switched to the bluegrass style. He settled for the "Rambler" part of the name, not because he was especially happy with it, but because it was a popular name style and he could not think of anything better. At one time, he thought of changing the name Kentucky Ramblers to Kentucky Cardinals--the cardinal is a favorite bird of his. He found out that the Cardinals was already in use so he aborted the name change.

During the period of the late 1950's and early 1960's, Bryant was introduced to the hazards of dealing with unscrupulous song publishers. He developed a habit of taking any new song to a Columbus music store owner and song publisher who published songs under the pseudonym, H. Gibson. Gibson offered to publish Bryant's songs in exchange for half ownership. Bryant was unaware at the time that this was non-standard procedure in the publishing business, so he agreed to the terms. Gibson saw the potential of "Daddy's Tracks" immediately. He, in fact, arranged his own version of the song and tried to suppress the jointly owned version. Rite Records and Starday Records both attempted to deal with Gibson, and Bryant offered him $500 for his half of the song, but he refused all offers. At that point, Bryant offered Gibson full rights to "Daddy's Tracks" if he would give up his half of all the other songs Bryant had written, as well as cancel a small debt on a guitar. Gibson agreed to the deal. Bryant now owned clear title to all his own songs with the exception of the only one that could possibly make him famous.

Bryant, however, continued to order new pressings of the second recording of "Daddy's Tracks" to sell at shows. Sales remained strong and steady. The original copyright on "Daddy's Tracks" (1958), remained in both names. In 1987, Bryant requested a copyright search to verify that 1) the copyright had not expired (if it had, the song would have converted to public domain), and 2) that Bryant's name remained as one of the copyright owners. Both these situations existed. At that point, Bryant called Gibson, who was now out of the publishing business, to ask one more time if he would make a deal and allow Bryant clear title to the song. Gibson told Bryant that he had no further plans for the song after all these years and that Bryant could do what he wished. With that, Bryant immediately filed for a new copyright under his own name. Had he waited another eight months, the song would have become public domain, never again eligible for copyright.

Bryant had always enjoyed listening to bluegrass music. While still living in Kentucky, he was impressed with Bill Monroe and his ability to sing so high. Although he had seen Monroe play in Kentucky, he became acquainted with him at the Brown County Jamboree at Bean Blossom. Until then, Bryant had broken many-a-string on his guitar trying to tune it to the pitch of Monroe's singing on records that Bryant owned. At Bean Blossom, he realized that his record player was running too fast!

Bryant was reluctant to make a total switch to bluegrass at first, thinking that he did not have the ability to sing in the style. This was proven wrong after he got with a band and actually tried it. At the time, bluegrass was growing in popularity accompanied by an increase in number of bluegrass musicians. These were some of the factors that encouraged Bryant to make the switch. His first bluegrass band was a rather loose unit, consisting of Ernest Kerns, who played with Bryant on some of his early recordings; Charlie Gore who played at Bean Blossom but not on road shows; as well as Bobby Jewel and Delmer Sexton of Indianapolis, who also did not do road shows with Bryant.

During the early 1960's, Bryant continued to play regularly at Mockingbird Hill where he met such country and bluegrass greats as Roy Acuff, Johnny and Jack, Wilma Lee and Stony Cooper, The Stanley Brothers, and Carl Butler. Around this same time, Bryant became close friends with Carl Story from South Carolina. Carl was one of Bryant's favorite singers; he had a style close to what Bryant was striving for: a bluegrass singer with a large gospel repertoire. They often were booked to play at the same shows. When Carl heard Bryant's "My Time Will Come Some Day", he asked Bryant's permission to record it, and asked if Bryant would write additional material for him.

Carl took Bryant, for the first time, to Nashville, Tennessee, where they visited Starday Records, Carl's label. This resulted in contracts for three of Bryant's songs: "My Time Will Come Some Day", "Church in the Valley,", and "Won't That be a happy Day." A few years later, Carl and Bryant were both booked at Bean Blossom. There they sung "My Lord Keeps a Record" on stage together for the first time. According to Norman Carlson, "It was one of country music's unheralded great moments."

Bryant had been working at Como Plastics in Columbus, Indiana since 1953 when he left Amos Plastics. He played shows at Como for their company picnics and parties several times. He would occasionally take his two oldest sons, Jerry and Rickey along with him when he and Catherine would sing. In the mean time, they changed residences several times, though remaining in Edinburgh. They moved from their Holland Street address owned by Orville Streeval into a larger house on Russell Street. Catherine had started working at Webb Veneer when they lived on Holland Street, but later, she would join Bryant at Como Plastics. Bryant worked in the molding room, where the plastic parts are made, and Catherine worked in the finishing room, where the parts are trimmed and painted. She would often come home covered with paint and with calluses on her thumb where she had to "snap" the lining of a toy plastic helmet in place. Although they always had food on the table, they were far from being affluent. Many times, they had to settle for gravy over light bread with fried potatoes for supper. While both Bryant and Catherine worked, Ruby would stay at home and baby-sit their three children, Jerry, Rickey, and infant Anita Darlene.

It was on Russell Street that Jerry, age 5, developed an interest in singing. His favorite tune at the time was "I've Laid Around and Played Around." His father once took him to a radio show he was playing live on a Salem, Indiana station. Jerry sung his favorite song accompanied by his father on guitar, over the air, the one and only time he was to do so.

From Russell Street, they moved back to Holland Street, across from the Streeval house they had previously occupied. Then, around 1962, Bryant bought a house from a friend of Ruby's. It was a large, two-story house on Kyle Street and it needed some work, but was quite livable. He has remodeled it in stages over the years. In 1960, Bryant and Catherine had a fourth child. They named him Robert Dean although he was called "Deannie" all through his childhood. Robert was the smallest baby of the six they would finally have. Catherine had a difficult delivery with Robert and the doctors advised her not to have any more children, but three- and-a-half years later, in April of 1964, along came Gregory Wayne. Greg was born with deformed feet; they were twisted backward and doubled up on his legs. After many trips to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, where Greg had several surgeries, he was able to walk normally using special shoes, which he continued to wear until he was a teen.

Sixteen months after Greg was born, in August of 1965, Bryant and Catherine had their last child, Kenneth Durand. After checking that he was normal, Catherine decided she would take the necessary steps to prevent any future children. At the close of 1965, they had six kids, ranging in age from twelve years to 4 months; only one of them, Anita Darlene, was a girl.

Return to Top

Chapter Five

In July of 1964, Bryant recorded a set of four songs in a back room of Hedrick's Radio and TV shop. The Kentucky Ramblers at the time consisted of Roger Smith, a truck driver from Columbus, Indiana, singing baritone and playing fiddle; Elmer Rooks, a long- time friend of Bryant's from Kentucky whom Bryant coaxed into singing with him although he had no prior musical experience; Neil Rosenberg, playing banjo, who had grown up on the west coast and had been a member of The Plum Creek Boys, a college bluegrass group; and Marvin Hedrick and his son playing guitar and mandolin, respectively. The songs recorded consisted of "Church in the Valley," which Bryant had written with Carl Story in mind; "I'll Be Satisfied," from one of Bryant's song books; "Somebody Touched Me;" and a song written by Bryant a few days after John Kennedy was assassinated, "A Tribute to J. F. K."

It was during the mid-1960's, while playing at bean blossom, that someone stole Bryant's treasured Martin guitar. This guitar had the best tone quality he had ever heard in a guitar. It disappeared from backstage while Bryant was taking a break between shows. He figured it may have been a member of one of the bands from Nashville, Tennessee that were booked that weekend. He even went so far as to take a trip to Nashville to search the pawn shops in a desperate attempt to retain possession of the Martin, but to no avail.

In 1965, he released his first LP on the Adair label. It consisted of a collection of songs, some of which had been previously released as singles, such as "Steppin' in Daddy's Tracks" and "Meet Me Up Yonder." It also contained "Amazing Grace," which included James Crabtree on fiddle and Paul Johnson on banjo. Crabtree and Johnson occasionally played with Bryant, but were never considered regular members of the Kentucky Ramblers. In fact, the band did not really have any "regular" members until the mid-1960's when Bryant put together a band consisting of Elmer Rooks, Hiram Gist, and Frank Neat. This was to be his stage band for several years, although he continued to cut records and tapes using various other personnel.

Elmer, who had performed a vocal with Bryant in 1964 learned, with Bryant's help, to play the bass. Although Frank Neat hails from Adair County, Kentucky, Bryant met him for the first time at the Johnson County Conservation club, near Trafalgar, where Bryant was playing a square dance. Leonard Burton, who still occasionally played banjo for Bryant, couldn't make it one night, so he recommended Frank. Bryant offered Frank a regular position as a Kentucky Rambler, although he could only play the banjo "claw hammer" style. Frank quickly picked up the Scruggs style after a few lessons with Roger Smith.

A little later, Bryant recruited Hiram Gist, originally from Clay County, Tennessee, but who was currently living in Scotsburg, Indiana, to play fiddle for the band. They played shows regularly at Bean Blossom, and at the Conservation Club. They were the host band for a square dance every Saturday night at the club. It was here that Bryant's oldest son, Jerry, who was about twelve at the time, learned to "call" square dances. The regular caller would let him do two or three dances each week.

Just prior to Elmer Rooks' joining the band as a bass player, Bryant tried to teach Jerry to play the bass and to accompany him on stage. Although Jerry did learn how to play bass, his interest was never high enough in playing bluegrass to keep him on as part of the band. Jerry often did attend the dances and shows his dad played, however.

The Kentucky Ramblers was the staff band at the Brown County Jamboree during this time period. The Jamboree was run by Birch Monroe, brother to Bill who still owned it.

They would play every Sunday afternoon and evening. They also did a Sunday morning gospel show from Bean Blossom which was broadcast on a Martinsville radio station for awhile. Bryant met many famous country stars there over the years, including Loretta Lynn, the Stoneman Family, Crystal Gayle, who at the time was Brenda Gayle, Loretta Lynn's little sister, the Osborn Brothers, and many others that were not-so-famous.

His son, Robert, at one time had a pronunciation problem. Until he was about five or six he could not pronounce his "R's" correctly. One weekend while Bryant was playing at Bean Blossom, the Stoneman's were the featured band. Ronnie Stoneman, of "Hee Haw" fame, spent over an hour trying to teach Robert how to speak better. She had a similar problem when she was his age. From then on, Robert could pronounce his "R's."

From time to time, Bryant would venture into the promotion and booking business by hiring some of the talent from Bean Blossom to play in Edinburgh. He did a show with Hi-Lo Brown at the Pixie Theater sometime during the mid-1960's.

Bryant had made arrangements with Birch and Bill to host a weekly square dance on Saturday nights at the jamboree barn. It was only marginally successful. Bryant also played a benefit show along with Bill Monroe in Edinburgh at the high school gymnasium. The benefit was for Bill Merchant's ill daughter.

But it was during this time that a rift developed in the heretofore close friendship between Bryant and Bill Monroe. Bill became upset with Bryant over something that Bryant was never able to pinpoint. In fact, Bryant went to Nashville in 1988 to find out from Bill exactly what was wrong. Although Bill admitted being angry at Bryant, even he could not remember the exact circumstances that caused it. He could only narrow it down to the time Bryant was hosting the square dance at Bean Blossom. In any event, they shook hands as a gesture of mutual friendship, although they were not nearly as close as they had been before the incident took place. During the days when the Kentucky Ramblers were playing at the Conservation Club, they became very enthusiastic about adding a comedy routine to their show. Bryant and Elmer worked up this bit where Elmer would get dressed up like a hillbilly drunk and they would "pretend" to make up a song about members of the audience set to the tune of "Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight." In reality, they wrote the song together well in advance of their performance, about audience members who were regularly there!

Humor was always a part of the Kentucky Ramblers' stage show. They would do a standard routine where they would pretend to argue over a woman named "Bureau." "You mean Beula, don't you?" Bryant asked. "No, Bureau," was Elmer's reply. "A bureau is about this high, this wide, and has drawers.....(pause)." "THAT'S Bureau!" During the fall of 1967, Bryant began a series of recordings in his home that resulted in the production of three more singles.

Participating in the session were Bryant, Catherine, Jerry, (who sang and played bass), Ruby Bryant, Elmer Rooks and his wife Geneva, who accompanied Bryant in a duet of "Dreamin' of a Little Cabin." One of the songs, "Won't That Be a Happy Day" included Ruby Bryant singing alto. This represents the only recording she ever made with Bryant. Another song, "There is Coming a Day," was written by Catherine, her first recorded composition, and was accompanied by Bryant on guitar and by Leonard Burton playing his newly-purchased dobro. The first recording ever made with Bryant's Kentucky Ramblers' stage band of Frank Neat, Hiram Gist, and Elmer Rooks was also produced that same month. The single contained two instrumentals highlighting the talents of Hiram and Frank. The instrumental pieces were "Clay County Breakdown," featuring Hiram, and "Adair County Breakdown," featuring Frank.

In the late 1960's and early 1970's the 8-track tape was a new and popular medium. In 1973, Bryant decided that, rather than another album, he wanted to record an 8-track tape.

So he took the Kentucky Ramblers, accompanied by Catherine, Jerry, and Rickey to Cincinnati to record at Rite Record's studio. The difference is that Roger Smith replaced Hiram Gist on the fiddle. Hiram had moved to Kentucky and, although he continued to play stage shows occasionally, he gradually began to drop out of the band. It was about this same time that Rick began to help out with the bass playing on some recordings. The 8-track included a mixture of secular bluegrass tunes and gospel songs. A fine version of "Hummingbird" leads it off.

It was during the fall of 1970 that Rick, who had become a decent bass player, joined with Danny, David, and Doug Harden of Nashville, Indiana (in Brown County), to form the Brown County Boys bluegrass band. The Harden brothers had played at the Brown County Jamboree using the same name but without a bass player. Rick, having learned to play bass so that he could accompany his dad, decided to accepted the Harden's invitation to join with them. Although the Brown County Boys played mostly old standard tunes, being young (they were mostly in their early to mid teens), they did show a tendency to play an occasional progressive bluegrass number. They worked up a bluegrass version of "Ain't No Sunshine," a Bill Withers rock song, although they don't remember ever performing it in public. In 1977, Doug married Rick's sister, Darlene.

Meanwhile, The Kentucky Ramblers was in the midst of another change, albeit gradual. Hiram had already moved to Kentucky, and Frank Neat followed suit a few years later. Bryant was thus without a banjo and fiddle player again. Ronnie Carnes was added as the banjo player after Frank left. During the latter part of the 1970's, Bryant recruited Lucian Johnson, a dobro player who lived across Kyle Street from him, to play some shows and make a few recordings. Bryant also recorded a couple of 8-track tapes which he mass produced using home equipment with Lucian and his sister, Ruby Curry, singing trios of gospel songs. Lucian's brother, Ural, also helped with the vocals occasionally. Most of their bookings were local, such as picnics or Memorial Day celebrations at the Irwin Park in Edinburgh.

Return to Top

Bryant and Catherine Wilson, 1981

Chapter Six

As the Kentucky Ramblers again became disarrayed, The Brown County Boys began to evolve and become more diversified in their repertoire. Early in the 1980's, they adopted a slight name change to Brown County Band, thinking that "Boys" sounded too juvenile, or too much like a typical hillbilly band, which they endeavored not to be. David Harden got married and dropped out of the band in the late 1970's. Rick, who had learned to play the guitar quite adequately, took over as the guitar player and lead vocalist. Rick's voice, although much weaker than his father's, was maturing nicely. Shortly after Rick took over lead vocals and guitar, Greg Wilson, Rick's younger brother, began learning the bass. He picked it up very quickly and developed a style that added significantly to the band's sound. At first, he played the upright, but after a while, the band members agreed that an electric bass would increase the "fullness" of their sound.

The changes just mentioned marked a sudden and drastic improvement in the Brown County sound. They experimented with a sound generally termed "newgrass," or progressive bluegrass, a sort of blend of pop rock and bluegrass. A particularly well-done piece was an instrumental version of "Yesterday," a Beatle's hit which they played in the bluegrass style. Their first album included mostly original works written by Rick and Roland VanWye, a friend of Rick's. The song "Pine Mountain" was written by Doug's father, Web Harden. The album also included "Church in the Valley," written by Bryant. Although the sound was quite good, the style was not in keeping with the bluegrass tradition. Rick said a few years later that he was not pleased with the material on the album.

Agreeing it was time for another change, The Brown County Band decided to go back to the more traditional style of bluegrass, yet keep their own particular brand of harmony and chord changes that made them stand out as above average. They also decided to change banjo players, replacing Danny Harden with John Smith, from Edinburgh. They had several banjo players over the years, including Wayne Wyatt from Indianapolis who got a rave review in Bluegrass Unlimited magazine for his work on their second album. They also added a dobro player from Edinburgh, Jerry Gadberry, whose strong point was his lack of "whiney runs" in favor of a clearer, crisper segue.

At the time of these personnel changes, they also opted for a new band name. They chose Pine Mountain, from a song on their first album. Pine Mountain's repertoire included a rich mixture of traditional bluegrass and country songs such as "When I Stop Dreaming," and "Hard Hearted;" some of Rick's own compositions, such as "Don't Make Your Love a Memory" and "I Sit Alone;" as well as some of Bryant's compositions like "A Path That's Hard to Travel," and "Church in the Valley." Most of these songs were included on Pine Mountain's album, Memory Avenue, that was released in 1987. After the advent of Pine Mountain, the Kentucky Ramblers became totally defunct. Instead of recruiting new members to replace the ones that had left the Kentucky Ramblers, Bryant used Pine Mountain as his permanent pick-up band. The show bookings were billed as "Pine Mountain, with Bryant Wilson." Pine Mountain did not really have a leader. Rick handled most of the bookings and Doug handled the finances.

They acquired a Silver Eagle bus in the mid-1980's and used it to travel to shows around the eastern quarter of the nation. Most of their bookings were at bluegrass festivals in the South, although they have also played festivals in Canada. They played regularly at the fall festival in Earl Park, Indiana for several years. In of 1989, their stage show consisted of a mixture of secular and gospel tunes with a segment of the show devoted to Bryant. The audience's reception of Pine Mountain was outstanding. Their superb harmony and their upbeat stage presence combined to make their show one of the better acts on the bluegrass festival circuit. They were frequently called back for encores at the demand of the audience.

It was in the early 1980's that Bryant learned he had rheumatoid arthritis. Over the next several years, he gradually lost the ability to play the guitar adequately enough for stage shows. His segment of the Pine Mountain stage show consisted of vocals backed by the other members of the band. Pine Mountain developed a four-part harmony that was unsurpassed. They used the quartet of Rick (lead), Jerry Gadberry (baritone), Doug (tenor), and Greg (bass). On Byrant's segment, he sang lead and was backed by two or three other members of the band singing harmony.

One of Bryant's early goals was to tour with a bluegrass band. His goal was realized with the advent of Pine Mountain. He enjoyed traveling to different parts of the country and singing for different audiences. He also used Pine Mountain to make recordings of cassette tapes which he sold at the stage shows and festivals. Pine Mountain went out of existence in 1989. A combination of factors, primarily related to the fact that some of the band members wanted to concentrate on their families, resulted in the break up of the band. They no longer toured, but continued to play a single show each year -- a Bluegrass festival just north of Indianapolis. Although Pine Mountain disbanded, two of its members, Greg and Doug, continued to play music with other bands. And Rick learned how to play the piano and began to sing Gospel music at the First Christian Church in Edinburgh.

Return to Top

Chapter 7

Bryant was somewhat disappointed that Pine Mountain decided to call it quits. He enjoyed touring with them. Bryant was beginning to show his age, having to contend not only with the painful and crippling arthritis, but also with his worsening emphysema. About a year before his scheduled retirement from Como, he was the victim of an accident at work. He was hit by a tow-motor, which crushed the lower portion of his leg. Although he eventually recovered to the point where he could walk, he was forced into early retirement. He did not enjoy his retirement. He was always looking for something to do, but was limited by his injury. Touring with Pine Mountain was just about the only thing that kept him in reasonably good spirits. And when Pine Mountain quit touring, his health began to worsen almost immediately. Whether or not the deterioration in his health was a direct result of Pine Mountain's break-up is only conjecture, but the two incidents did take place at about the same time. During the next few years, Bryant became more and more surly in his attitude. His arthritis flared up occasionally, and his emphysema was making it harder and harder for him to breathe. Near the end of his life, he became a virtual invalid. Catherine was tireless in her efforts to keep him as comfortable as possible. She continued to work at Como during the day, while spending all evening taking care of Bryant. On the first day of Winter, December 21, 1992, at the age of 68, Bryant succumbed to his long illness. But just as he was gasping his last few breaths of life, the telephone rang.

Catherine, sitting with Bryant at his bed, picked up the receiver. It was Bill Monroe. He had not spoken with Bryant in several years, and there was no particular reason why he should call at that time, but he did. He wanted to talk to Bryant. Catherine told him that Bryant was dying, but Bill told her to put the receiver up to Bryant's ear. Bryant had a glimmer of recognition on his face, just as he drew his last breath. Then it was over.

Return to Top

  
Discography
 
YEAR	TYPE			TITLES  (LABEL)                    

1952	SINGLE      	WHAT A HAPPY MORNING * / YOU'LL PAY FOR THE 	
			HEART YOU'VE BROKEN TODAY   (ARROW)  

1954    SINGLE		LONG DISTANCE FROM HEAVEN / THE LIFE OF JESUS* 	
			(COMET)  

1954    SINGLE      	OLD KENTUCKY* / YOU'RE AFRAID TO LOVE ME  		
			(COMET)  

1955    SINGLE      	BETTER WATCH YOUR STEPPIN'* / MY MAIN TRIAL IS 	
			YET TO COME  (COMET)  

1958    SINGLE      	MEET ME UP YONDER* / JAMES L. SPECIAL  (ADAIR)  

1958    SINGLE      	WALK IN THE GOSPEL WAY / WHAT ABOUT YOU  (ADAIR)  

1959    SINGLE      	STEPPIN' IN DADDY'S TRACKS* / MY TIME WILL COME
			SOME DAY*  (ADAIR)  

1959?   SINGLE      	LITTLE DARLIN' PAL OF MINE / USED TO BE  

1960?   SINGLE      	A PRAYER* / MOTHER IS GONE  1964    SINGLE      
			DREAMIN' OF A LITTLE CABIN / HEAVENLY LIGHT IS 	
			SHINING ON ME  

1964    EP          		CHURCH IN THE VALLEY* / TRIBUTE TO J.F.K.* / 	
			SOMEBODY TOUCHED ME / I'LL BE SATISFIED  

1966    LP          		SIDE 1: 
			MEET ME UP YONDER *                         
			WALK IN THE GOSPEL WAY                         
			DREAMIN' OF A LITTLE CABIN                         
			HEAVENLY LIGHT IS SHINING ON ME                         
			AMAZING GRACE                         
			STEPPIN' IN DADDY'S TRACKS*                     

			SIDE 2:                         
			A PRAYER*                         
			MOTHER IS GONE                         
			TRIBUTE TO J.F.K.*                         
			SOMEBODY TOUCHED ME                         
			CHURCH IN THE VALLEY*                         
			I'LL BE SATISFIED     

1973   8-TRACK     	ADAIR-406:  HUMMINGBIRD / GOD GAVE YOU TO ME / 	
			PANHANDLE COUNTRY / LIVING LIKE A FOOL / 
			ROLLIN' IN MY SWEET BABY'S ARMS / I CRIED AGAIN 
			/ STEPPIN' IN DADDY'S*                         
			TRACKS / WATCHING FOR ME TO COME HOME / THE RICH 
			MAN* / STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN / HALLELUJAH I'M READY 
			/HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN*  

THE FOLLOWING 8-TRACKS WERE HOME-MADE IN THE MID- OR LATE-1970'S.  
THE EXACT DATES ARE NOT KNOWN.                      

			ADAIR-407: IF JESUS CAME TO YOUR HOUSE / JESUS 
			REMEMBERED ME / WHO WILL YOU MEET AT THE END OF 
			THE ROAD* / ONE DAY AT A TIME / I SAW THE LIGHT 
			/ DEAR BROTHER / HOUSE OF GOLD / PRAYER BELLS OF 
			HEAVEN / ASHAMED TO OWN THE BLESSED SAVIOR / 
			PRECIOUS MEMORIES 
					
			ADAIR-408: SOMEONE STOLE MY MARTIN / YOU AIN'T 
			WOMAN ENOUGH / I'VE LOST THE ONLY LOVE I KNEW / 
			WILL YOU VISIT / ME ON SUNDAY / ALL THE GOOD 
			TIMES HAVE PAST AND GONE / SILVER BELLS / 
			RAINBOW AT NIGHT / LONESOME 77203 / GOD GAVE YOU 
			TO ME / BRAND NEW MR. ME / HELP ME UNDERSTAND / 
			PICK ME UP ON YOUR WAY DOWN                      

			ADAIR-409: CHURCH IN THE VALLEY* / MY TIME WILL 
			COME SOME DAY* / IN HEAVEN WE'LL NEVER GROW OLD 
			/ WHAT KIND OF MAN JESUS IS / A BEAUTIFUL LIFE / 
			MEDALS FOR MOTHER / CRYING HOLEY UNTO THE LORD / 
			GREAT JUDGEMENT MORNING / STEAL AWAY AND PRAY / 
			LIGHT AT THE RIVER / WHERE WILL I SHELTER MY 
			SHEEP / LEANING ON JESUS                      

			ADAIR-410: THERE'S COMING A DAY** / WALK IN THE 
			GOSPEL WAY / MOTHER IS GONE / MY MAIN TRIAL IS 
			YET TO COME / STEPPIN' IN DADDY'S TRACKS* / WHAT 
			ABOUT YOU / JAMES L. SPECIAL / LONG DISTANCE 
			FROM HEAVEN* / I AM A PILGRIM / MY LOVED ONES 
			ARE WAITING / WAY FAIRING STRANGER / TAKE MY 
			HAND PRECIOUS LORD / HOW CAN YOU REFUSE JESUS 
			NOW / WILDWOOD FLOWER  

1989    CASSETTE    	ADAIR C-501:  WHO WILL YOU MEET AT THE END OF 
			THE WAY* / WALK IN THE GOSPEL WAY / THERE'S 
			COMING A DAY / MEET ME UP YONDER* / I'M CLIMBING 
			UP THE HILL OF GLORY / ROCK MY SOUL / THANK YOU 
			MOM AND DAD*** / STEPPIN' IN DADDY'S TRACKS / 
			WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN / HELP ME UNDERSTAND

* Written by Bryant Wilson
** Written by Catherine Wilson 
*** Written by Rick Wilson 

Sample Music

This song was recorded backstage at the Brown County Jamboree in Bean Blossom, Indiana. It is very poor quality, but is the only recording of Bryant Wilson and Bill Monroe singing a duet. (MP3 - 1.2M)
My Time Will Come Someday

"Steppin' in Daddy's Tracks" was Braynt's biggest hit. This version is accompanied by Pine Mountain, whom Bryant toured with in the 1980s. (MP3 - 2.9M)
Steppin' in Daddy's Tracks