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ron robinson - Posted - 07/16/2022: 12:45:32
thank you greg denton for your post just love these old stories you cannot get better must have been a hard life them days but very enjoyable doing what you loved
Edited by - Texasbanjo on 07/16/2022 14:08:10
Eric A - Posted - 07/17/2022: 09:48:36
I think Carlton might have had one beer too many that time.
rcc56 - Posted - 07/17/2022: 10:42:52
Ah, Jimmy Martin. Great singer. Bad behaviour. Really bad.
My sole memories of him were seeing him at the old Berkshire Mountain Bluegrass Festival in upstate New York around 1980.
He was insulting and harassing the women in the audience. If he'd acted that way in Alabama, he would have been shot, or at the very least hauled off to the woods for a "good talking-to"-- the kind of talking-to where the local sheriff sees and hears nothing. But in that part of the country, we'd never seen on-stage behaviour like that before, so nobody did anything. We just sat there flabbergasted.
Edited by - rcc56 on 07/17/2022 10:52:57
heavy5 - Posted - 07/17/2022: 12:51:48
Jimmy was truly a person I'll never forget having seen him several times at the early Gettysburg fests . One year he was eating corn on the cob & drinking beer w/ some friends camped near our Scamper & his wild personna was just at red line , going at the corn like a starved bovine & wiping off residue on the sleeve of his red & white stage jacket & all of of sudden did an about face midst the crowd , walked a few steps , & took a leak like , "well why not" !
I had to duck behind the Scamper to stop laughing .
He reminded me a bit of Monroe w/ his quick wit & staccato like verbage but in no way relative to his manners . I admired the guy for his unique ways & music as he was truly a one of a kind entrepreneur but as is written , had his dark times .
Edited by - heavy5 on 07/17/2022 12:53:54
RB3 - Posted - 07/19/2022: 09:13:19
Over the years, I had the opportunity to see Martin in action, in person, on a good number of occasions. These were private parties, festival jam sessions and of course, an awful lot of stage performances. He was a piece of work.
I had an old friend who moved to Nashville to take a crack a playing music full time. He got a job playing with a little family band. The band leader was of course, the patriarch of the family. He idolized Jimmy and his music and the two had become friends. One year, he decided he would throw a birthday party for Jimmy, and he invited everyone in Nashville. My friend said not a single person who was invited, showed up for the party.
Jimmy alienated a lot of folks, but I think most of them still had great respect for what he accomplished artistically. His contribution to Bluegrass is inestimable.
Tractor1 - Posted - 07/19/2022: 09:53:14
His over the top --self promotion (during the show)was right up there with Jerry Lee Lewis--I usually can't stand a braggard--but some I can't help but admire.
Not to mention his dedication to his workers always --playing the banjo solid
Edited by - Tractor1 on 07/19/2022 09:56:32
From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 07/19/2022: 17:54:48
Put on some headphones and listen...really listen close to Jimmy Martin sing. He had so many voice inflections. No one better. He was there with Hank and Jones. And no one could rev up an audience like Jimmy Martin. Great showman. And he was a great band leader. He knew the sound he wanted and got it out of them. If more guys played like Jimmy Martin, bluegrass would be in a better situation today and we wouldn't have to put up with the folks that trigger the discussion: is that bluegrass?
Larry Wallace, his longest tenured banjo player talked about writing a book on him. Wish he would. The one the lady wrote was a hammer job.
ken
