William McCormick of the McCormick Brothers band passed away on Thursday, December 19, 2013, in Oak Grove, Tennessee. He was 74 years old.
Born May 9, 1939, William Harold McCormick was the next to the youngest brother.
From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, the legendary McCormick Brothers recorded for Hickory Records – they were actually the first artists to sign for the label. Their first recordings included Red Hen Boogie and Banjo Twist.
William McCormick joined the band playing bass in 1955. He played bass on the remainder the Hickory recordings which consist of many 45s, an EP Authentic Bluegrass Hits and an LP release, Songs for Home Folks.
McCormick recorded three CDs with the Boys From Kentucky and co-wrote an instrumental called The Road To Kentucky with John Wayne Harrison.
He helped to write the song I’m Happy to Know and instrumentals The Banjo’s Fling, Haskel’s Five String, The Mad Banjo and The Banjo Strut.
William McCormick also worked with Jim and Jessie for a while.
Younger brother Gerald had this to say about him ……
“William was a very good bass man. He was a showman and a crowd pleaser everywhere we would play. He loved the bass and where ever he saw one he would pick it up and begin to play it. He always keep you right on the time.
William helped write several of the songs on Hickory. He loved working on arrangements of any song.”
In this video clip William McCormick gets to display his bass playing talents ….
Discography
- Songs for Home Folks (Hickory Records LPM H 102, 1961)
- Authentic Bluegrass Hits (Hickory Records, all instrumentals, EP LPE 1509, UK release)
- Somewhere in Time (Stonewall Music SWM 2008-001, 2008)
- Bluegrass Invasion (Stonewall Music SWM 2002, 2010)
- Grass Meets Brass, with Bill Walker’s Orchestra (Metromedia MD 1019, 1969)
