Bill passed away today at 95,, a bluegrass pioneer for sure. Here is a performance on the Bluegrass Country Reunion video.
youtu.be/xD1c2HL4mOs?si=A5MirWK4XFFuSzfD
Edited by - chuckv97 on 10/30/2026 15:20:40
Oh man. Blue ridge mountain blues will forever be his signature tune.
Heres tab to banjo break God rest your soul Bill
Edited by - stanleytone on 10/31/2026 07:55:05
I just heard. We used to play together occasionally when we both lived in England. Good times.
Farewell Bill, I’ll be thinking of you today.
That's sad news.
I always think of Bill Clifton when casting my memory back to those far-off days in the early 70's when I started out learning to play banjo. A guitarist friend lent me his copy of Bill's album 'The Code Of The Mountains', and I listened to it a lot. Years later, I saw Bill and Red Rector play live in my (UK) home town and that brought back some fond memories too.
I believe Bill played a big part in encouraging the musical development of two of the early pioneers of bluegrass playing in the UK, the Townend brothers Rick and Andy.
Chuckv97, that is one of the first LP's my mom and dad bought in the early 1960s. I listened to that a lot when I was learning to play guitar and then banjo. The one they purchased before this one was Bill Clifton and the Songs of the Famous Carter Family, with a deep dark blue cover background. That one was a great bridge into bluegrass for me because I had started out on the guitar as a pure Maybelle Carter fan.
quote:
Originally posted by HSmithThat's sad news.
I always think of Bill Clifton when casting my memory back to those far-off days in the early 70's when I started out learning to play banjo. A guitarist friend lent me his copy of Bill's album 'The Code Of The Mountains', and I listened to it a lot. Years later, I saw Bill and Red Rector play live in my (UK) home town and that brought back some fond memories too.
I believe Bill played a big part in encouraging the musical development of two of the early pioneers of bluegrass playing in the UK, the Townend brothers Rick and Andy.
Talking of early 70's...
I took this at the Cambridge FF.
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