John Duffey
John Duffey | |
---|---|
Birth name | John Humbird Duffey Jr. |
Born | (1934-03-04)March 4, 1934 Washington, D.C., US |
Died | December 10, 1996(1996-12-10) (aged 62) Arlington County, Virginia, US |
Genres | Bluegrass |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, mandolin, dobro, guitar |
Years active | 1957–1996 |
Labels | Starday, Sugar Hill Records, Rebel Records, Folkways, Mercury |
John Humbird Duffey Jr. (March 4, 1934 – December 10, 1996) was an American bluegrass musician.[1]
Biography
Duffey was born on March 4, 1934, in Washington, D.C., and lived nearly all his life in the Washington D.C. area. He graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in suburban Maryland.[2] Duffey learned to play the mandolin, dobro, and guitar, in addition to his tenor singing voice. He founded two of the most influential groups in bluegrass, The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene.[3][4][5] His tastes and sources were eclectic, often raiding folk song books and Protestant hymnals for material. He embraced the music of Bob Dylan and his style of playing was rock and jazz-inflected. In the late 1950s and the 1960s, he also increasingly began working as a session musician to supplement his income.[2]
The son of a singer at the Metropolitan Opera, Duffey's singing ranged from tenor to falsetto, and was in contrast to the voice of baritone singer Charlie Waller.[6]
Duffey started playing guitar at age 17 after a neighbor convinced him to pick up the instrument.[7] In 1957, he worked at radio station WFMD in Frederick, Maryland partnered with Charlie Waller to fill in for other musicians.[7] That duo eventually became the Country Gentlemen. As a member of the Country Gentlemen, Duffey was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1996.[2]
Two months after his induction to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor, Duffey was hospitalized in Arlington, Virginia after complaining of chest pains. The next morning, he died after suffering a heart attack.[3]
A biography, John Duffey's Bluegrass Life: Featuring the Country Gentlemen, Seldom Scene, and Washington, DC, by Stephen Moore and G. T. Keplinger, Foreword by Tom Gray, was published in 2019 (Booklocker).
References
- ^ "John Duffey". International Bluegrass Music Museum. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ a b c "John Humbird Duffey, Jr". International Bluegrass Music Museum. 2012. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ^ a b Boyd, David L. (June 4, 2009). "John Duffey". Ancestry.com. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ^ "Oral History of the Seldom Scene". Archived from the original on December 13, 2021.
- ^ "Seldom Scene, Often Heard: A Bluegrass Band Returns to its Roots With a New Album". Smithsonian Magazine.
- ^ "The Country Gentlemen: One of the first progressive bluegrass bands". All Music.
- ^ a b Stambler, Irwin (2000). Country Music: The Encyclopedia. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 109. ISBN 978-0312264871.
- v
- t
- e
- Charlie Waller
- John Duffey
- Eddie Adcock
- Tom Gray
- Bill Emerson
- Doyle Lawson
- Bill Yates
- Larry Lahey
- Country Songs, Old and New (1960)
- Folk Songs & Bluegrass (1961)
- Bluegrass at Carnegie Hall (1962)
- Hootenanny (1963)
- Folk Session Inside (1963)
- Bringing Mary Home (1966)
- Traveler And Other Favorites (1968)
- Play It Like It Is (1969)
- New Look, New Sound (1970)
- One Wide River To Cross (1971)
- Sound Off (1971)
- The Award Winning Country Gentlemen
- Remembrances & Forecasts (1974)
- Joe's Last Train (1976)
- Calling My Children Home (1978)
- Sit Down, Young Stranger (1980)
- River Bottom (1981)
- Good As Gold (1983)
- Return Engagement (1988)
- Classic Country Gents Reunion (1989)
- Nashville Jail (1990)
- Let The Light Shine Down (1991)
- New Horizon (1992)
- Souvenirs (1995)
- Crying In the Chapel (2001)
- Songs Of The American Spirit (2004)
- On the Road (1963)
- Live From The Stage Of The Roanoake Bluegrass Festival (1967)
- Live In Japan (1970)
- Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains (1973)
- The Best of the Early Country Gentlemen (1971)
- Yesterday & Today Volume 1 (1973)
- Yesterday & Today Volume 2 (1973)Yesterday & Today Volume 3 (1974)
- 25 Years (Country Gentlemen album) (1980)
- The Country Gentlemen feat. Ricky Skaggs (1987)
- Sugar Hill Collection (1995)
- Early Rebel Recordings: 1962-1971 {Box Set} (1998)
- High Lonesome (1998)
- Complete Vanguard Recordings (2002)
- 45 Years of Memories (2002)