From October 1, 2010 through to the end of September 2011, we will, each day, celebrate the life of Bill Monroe by sharing information about him and those people who are associated with his life and music career. This information will include births and deaths; recording sessions; single, LP and CD release dates; and other interesting tidbits. Richard F. Thompson is responsible for the research and compilation of this information. We invite readers to share any tidbits, photos or memories you would like us to include.
- October 30, 1984 Randall ‘Randy’ Franks joined the Blue Grass Boys for a little short of a month. *
- October 30, 1994 Bill Monroe helped to record three more tunes for Butch Robins’ CD Grounded, Centered, Focused [HHH CD 108]. The songs, My Father‘s Footsteps, Old Lonesome Waltz and Tanyards, like the two recorded earlier in the week, were all written by Monroe.
* Franks was a Blue Grass Boy for about a month. He replaced Kenny Baker after the band returned from a Japanese tour during which Tater Tate filled in on fiddle. Franks played fiddle, except on songs he was less familiar with. On those, Franks switched to bass and Tate, who had been in the band longer and knew more of the repertoire, took over the fiddle playing tasks.
He was still in school at the time and returned to finish his education rather than pursuing a full-time career at that point. He continued to perform frequently as a guest performer with the Blue Grass Boys throughout the rest of Monroe’s career.
Franks is probably best known for his role as Officer Randy Goode in the television series In the Heat of the Night (1988 – 1993).
