Ronnie Allen, son of ‘Red’ Allen, passed away on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. He was 67 years of age.
Along with brothers Greg and Harley, Ronnie, who played electric bass in the trio, they formed the Allen Brothers band. After being introduced by father ‘Red’ on three albums on which they recorded with him, they recorded two albums for Rounder Records and one for Folkways.
The family will receive friends on Monday, February 27, 2017, from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. at Newcomer Funeral Home South Chapel in Dayton. A funeral service will follow at 6:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the charity of your choice in Ronnie Allen’s memory.
The funeral home web site includes some nice remembrances of his life in the Dayton, Ohio, area. Simply click on the Guest Book icon to read them all.
Patuxent Music has released an absolutely classic set of recordings from Red Allen and Frank Wakefield. The WDON Recordings contain 22 tracks cut in 1963 when Red and Frank had a recurring radio program at WDON AM in Wheaton, MD.
This was at a time when the bluegrass scene in the greater DC area was fertile and fresh, and Red and Frank had Pete Kuykendall on banjo and Tom Morgan on bass. Of course, Pete went on to launch and manage Bluegrass Unlimited magazine which he continues to operate, but in the early ’60s Kuykendall was an eager beaver banjo picker and novice recording engineer. He tracked these songs live at his home studio, and then took the tapes to the radio station for broadcast.
Aficionados of traditional bluegrass often describe this period as the end of the era of the first generation grassers. While their influence was still strong, more modern sounds were starting to be represented, especially in the DC scene where The Country Gentlemen were already active. But The WDON Recordings show a group firmly in the original bluegrass tradition.
Patuxent shared this video of an interview conducted with Frank Wakefield, Tom Morgan and Pete Kuykendall about this period.
On these tracks, Red Allen is in fine voice, and Frank Wakefield’s mandolin is inspired as are his tenor vocals. It’s a pure sound such as you only rarely hear these days. And it is a treat to have such a fine recording of Kuykendall on banjo.
The selected songs come from the top favorites in bluegrass, 1963-style:
Deep Elem Blues
Somebody Loves You Darling
You’ll Always Be My Blue Eyed Darling
Pistol Packin’ Mama
Will You Be Satisfied That Way
Old Joe Clark
Give Me the Flowers While I’m Living
I Guess I’ll Go On Dreaming
I’m Blue and Lonesome Too
All I Want Is You
Poor Ellen Smith
Alone and Forgotten
I Wonder Why You Said Goodbye
I Thought I’d Never Fall in Love Again
Sweet Sunny South
I Wonder If You Feel the Way I Do
Wayfaring Stranger
Little Rosewood Casket
Don’t Laugh
Red Apple Rag
I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could
Sing, Sing, Sing
Anyone who remembers bluegrass during this time will surely want to have this CD in their collection, and younger fans seeking an understanding of the era should have it as well. Hat’s off to Tom Mindte and Patuxent Records for making it available.
CDs can be purchased from the label, and digital downloads are offered from popular resellers.
The Virginia Musical Museum in Williamsburg is set to induct bluegrass and traditional music artist Bill Jenkins into their Hall of Fame this year. A ceremony is scheduled for August 9 at the American Theatre in Hampton, VA. Bill will be recognized for this honor, followed by a concert by he and his Virginia Mountain Boys.
Born in Newport News, VA and raised in Hayes on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula, Jenkins played and sang on Richmond’s storied Old Dominion Barn Dance as a younger man. He also worked with the Virginia Gentlemen and as a member of Red Allen & the Kentuckians.
Long noted for hewing to the old time traditions of early bluegrass, Bill is said to have committed more than 500 songs to memory. He will be accompanied at the induction concert by his singing partner Ken Worrell on second guitar, Clyde Bailey on banjo, Bill Collier on bass, Robert Cottingham on mandolin, and Joe Gilley on fiddle.
This honor is given to Bill Jenkins for 56 years of serving as an ambassador for Virginia’s musical traditions.
Other artists to share this distinction at the Virginia Musical Museum include Bruce Hornsby, Kate Smith, Roy Clark, Wayne Newton, Ralph Stanley, Patsy Cline, the Statler Brothers, and The Carter family.
Veteran Fairborn, Ohio, bluegrass musician Red Spurlock has been diagnosed with oral cancer.
A Kentucky-born banjo player, Spurlock started out in late in 1951 playing with Red Allen in Dayton area bars, including the Miami Bar and the Friendly Inn, later known as Little Mickey’s. A teenage Frank Wakefield was in the band also. They didn’t have a band name back then, and Spurlock thinks that they were the first band to start playing bluegrass music in the area. The band broke up in 1953 when Allen took up another job.
However, Spurlock and the rest of the band, now known collectively as the Rainbow Ramblers, went out on the road and got an early morning radio show in Pritchard, AL. The adventure didn’t last long though; Spurlock returned to Dayton and started Fairborn Auto Glass, a company that he owned until 1992.
When Red Allen left the Osborne Brothers in 1958 the two Reds teamed up with Frank Wakefield to form the Red Heads (naturally!). Two years later they cut a good version of the Louvin Brothers’ Love and Wealth and You’ll Always Be Untrue on Dayton’s BMC Records.
Spurlock has been in several bands since, chiefly leading the Rainbow Ramblers. They released a CD Ode to Bluegrass in 2000. He played and recorded with the Powell Brothers. Currently he plays with Evan Lanier and the Bluegrass Express.
Spurlock has received radiation and surgical treatment, during which 42 lymph nodes were removed, 18 of which were cancerous, causing the removal of a portion of his tongue.
Last Sunday (September 16) Spurlock’s family and friends got together to stage a benefit to assist with medical expenses. A sum of over $6,000 was raised.
We are enquiring about a bank account to enable donations to be made and will pass along this information as soon as it is available.
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.
February 12, 1930 Harley ‘Red’ Allen was born in Pigeon Roost, Kentucky. *
February 12, 1977 The LP Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body And Soul (MCA 2251) debuted on the Billboard Hot Country LPs music sales chart. **
* Red Allen took fill-in jobs playing guitar for Bill Monroe in April 1967.
“In April 1967, guitarist Peter Rowan left the Blue Grass Boys to join friend David Grisman to pursue other musical interests. Filling in on guitar Red was one of at least a dozen lead singers who played with the Blue Grass Boys while they searched for a replacement for Rowan. On one short two-day tour starting in Waverly, Ohio, and ending the following day in Bean Blossom, Indiana, Red had a very unusual problem which may have sealed his fate as a future Blue Grass Boy. While playing the first night in Ohio, Red became ill and had to be taken to the doctor. A heart problem was originally suspected. However, the following day in Bean Blossom, Bill Monroe joked from the stage that Red had been on tour with the Blue Grass Boys and had been so nervous playing the previous day that he had to be taken to the doctor and couldn’t make that day’s show. In fact Red remained in Ohio under doctor’s care overnight and didn’t show up in Bean Blossom until half way through the first set.”
Lamar Grier confirmed that Allen was very nervous, “because he really wanted that job.”
Satterlee added:
“Doug Green, now known as Ranger Doug, of the western band Riders in the Sky, was at Bean Blossom that day to audition for the guitarist and was available to fill in for the missing Red Allen.”
Doug Green has noted that date as April 30, 1967.
** The LP peaked at No. 37 during its four weeks on the charts.
Wayne Yates, brother to former Country Gentleman Bill Yates, passed away last night (12/11) at the age of 75. He is picture on the left in this album cover from a project he and Bill made together.
Wayne worked with a number of bluegrass bands over the course of his life, including stints with both Red Allen and Del McCoury.
Dennis Saterlee, whose book on Red Allen, Teardrops In My Eyes, was published earlier this year, put together a brief history of Wayne’s contributions to bluegrass music.
Wayne Yates, originally from Manassas, Virginia, and his brother Bill, formed The Clinch Mountain Ramblers bluegrass band in the Washington D. C. area in the late 1950s. The Ramblers, which included, legendary banjo player Porter Church, recorded a few sides for the Nashville based Kash label. To earn some extra money they also teamed up with Patsy Stoneman who had left the famous Stoneman family band to strike out on her own. It was during that period that a recently relocated Red Allen, fresh from Dayton, Ohio, started playing as a regular member of The Clinch Mountain Ramblers
Red was fresh from his breakup with the Osborne Brothers who had placed more than a couple of hits on the country music charts. It wasn’t long before Red arrived that he took over the band. They first started playing as Red Allen and the Yates Brothers but soon changed the name to the Kentuckians, Red’s original band name.
As the mandolin playing member of the Kentuckians, Wayne helped record two landmark albums. One for the Washington based Melodeon label and a second for the fledgling County record label. With the addition of the Yates Brothers, Red had the ability to sing Osborne style harmonies once again. These recording were well received by the fans who remembered Red with the Osbornes as well as by a new audience which was coming to bluegrass music from the folk music explosion that was taking place in the nation. These albums are currently available on the Rebel, Lonesome and Blue CD released a few years back.
After two albums Wayne left the band to concentrate on his day job. His brother Bill would go on to fame with Jimmy Martin and the Country Gentlemen, among others, but Wayne preferred to stay at home. In the 1970s and early 1980s Wayne could be found sitting in with local bands at any of a number of popular bluegrass music venues in the Washington D. C. area. Although not wanting to give up a steady income from his day job, he remained a part of the local bluegrass scene for years.
Just a few years back Bill and Wayne reunited to record a new CD which should still be available.
Wayne will be remembered as a well respected pioneer in the Washington D. C. music scene.
Dennis’ book on Red Allen can be obtained through bookstores and retailers who specialize in bluegrass music, including County Sales, Bluegrass Publications and IBMM.
UPDATE 4:56 p.m.Eddie Adcock shared a few wordsin Wayne’s memory…
“In the Washington DC era of my youth I spent quite a bit of time ‘running around’ with Wayne Yates and his brother Bill, and I’ll always remember that experience fondly…even though we sure got into a lot of scrapes together! One thing I remember most about Wayne, though, is that he would rather sing than eat. He was a fine singer, and he could sing all the parts – lead, baritone and tenor. Wayne was a mainstay on the Washington DC bluegrass scene for a long time, when for good reason DC was known as ‘The Bluegrass Capitol’.
Dennis Satterlee, the author of the Red Allen biography Teardrops In My Eyes, has written to share some good news for Allen fans eager to get their hands on the book, though tempered with some sad news as well.
It seems that the book will be available quite soon, but Dennis also mentioned that his publisher Norman Levine, passed away December 8 after a brief period of hospitalisation.
“It has been a busy week but I think we are finally in a position to tell the world that the book will be available shortly after Christmas. It will be sold through County Sales, Elderly Instruments and will also be available through the International Bluegrass Music Museum gift shop as well as a handful of regional outlets. Of course it can still be ordered through the Plucked String Foundation which has a new southern home at 20 Towne Drive, Box 107, Bluffton, SC 29910.
The late Norman Levine’s other book offerings are still available through his Maryland address [Box 2770 Kensington, MD 20891]and are not available at the Bluffton address.”
The Red Allen book retails at $25.00 and will be available from the Plucked String Foundation eBay store.
Levine was a long-time impressario and evangelist for the mandolin and mandolinists, having been the publisher of Mandolin Quarterly magazine, and a prime mover in the establishment of the Plucked String Foundation. The foundation exists to offer funding for projects that would not be justified based on commercial viability alone, but whose existence would further the goals of the organization, primarily teaching, research and new compositions for the instrument.
We just received an update from Dennis Satterlee, author of the upcoming biography of Red Allen, Teardrops In My Eyes.
Dennis tells us that he expects to have copies of the book available within the next few weeks, and that the publisher, Plucked String Foundation, is offering free shipping on all orders received by October 31.
Fans of Red Allen’s music will be delighted to learn that there is to be a book published about him shortly. Author, Dennis Satterlee’s book, Teardrops In My Eyes – The Music Of Harley “Red” Allen, is scheduled to be made available in November, published by The Plucked String Foundation Inc. Press.
The book is expected to have about 220 pages and comprises a biographical study of Red Allen’s musical career and a detailed discography; with recording dates, musicians, vocal parts, studios, producers where available, album numbers, single numbers and EP numbers.
It is anticipated that the 8 x 10 format paperback will have between 20 and 30 black and white photographs that are, for the most part, from private sources and never before seen.
Satterlee, who has played bluegrass and brother-duet style music in various parts of the States, is originally from western New York State and worked for the federal government for almost 30 years. His work has taken him to Louisiana, Vermont, New Jersey and now, retired, he lives in South Carolina, and plays bluegrass in a Georgia band. Here he provides some background information that led him to write his book ……
“I started listening to bluegrass music in the early 1960s. Mostly Flatt and Scruggs and the Dillards because that’s all I could find in the record stores. My first Red album was the Folkways album with Frank Wakefield. It just struck me as something that fit between the smooth crooning of Lester Flatt and the more urgent styling of Bill Monroe. Red (and Frank) seemed to be a perfect combination for bluegrass. When I retired (1997) I started looking for Red’s albums and singles that I didn’t have in my collection. Someone told me about the Red Head’s recording (see my article in Bluegrass Unlimited, April, 2006). I called both Red Spurlock and Frank Wakefield to learn more about that recording session and they told wonderful stories. It occurred to me at that point that maybe I could put together a discography (which I was doing for myself anyway) and add some stories from the musicians who played on the sessions and do a book. Over 50 musicians, family members and friends have added stories and remembrances to this work.”
The book, of which there will a first print run of 500 copies, is expected to retail at $25. Plans to determine through what outlets it will be sold have yet to be finalized. Watch this space!
Satterlee, who is a member of the International Bluegrass Music Museum and Hall Of Honor in Owensboro, Kentucky, is donating his royalties from this book to the museum.
