Biography
Bobby Simpson, a banjo player once affiliated with the Ohio trio the Country Pardners, long served as the preferred bail bondsman for bluegrass musicians facing legal difficulties around Asheville. The group had enjoyed strong local affection until one member departed for military service and rock and roll, introduced through Elvis Presley’s performances, prompted several participants including Simpson to exit the music industry. He subsequently moved to Mineral Spring, North Carolina, a modest suburb of Charlotte that later became absorbed within the city’s expanding boundaries, and there established the Stewart-Simpson bonding enterprise. Upon encountering former colleagues he would remark, “I’ll try not to let them put you in jail.” A later generation encountered his distinctive banjo work when Rounder reissued the Country Pardners’ recording of “Another Old Dog in the Race” on the second volume of its Early Days of Bluegrass series.
Simpson’s entry into the trio stemmed from his association with fellow Ohio musician Bill Price, who as a teenager had studied under Jimmy Martin. After concluding his own stint alongside J.D. Crowe, Price teamed with Simpson, both still in their mid-teens. The pair frequented a Charlotte record shop operated by Jimmy Skinner, whose live broadcasts from the premises facilitated the rapid assembly of new ensembles. Among the most enthusiastically received was the unit formed by Simpson, Price, and Carlos Brock, the last of whom had previously worked with Bill Monroe, Red Allen, and Sonny Osborne. The two lead figures projected a magnetic stage presence reminiscent of leading Western film actors, while Simpson’s sharply defined banjo tone supplied a bracing clarity akin to an unexpected plunge into the French Broad River.
Before the scheduled RCA sessions, producer Chet Atkins informed the group that a newly offered number, “Why Baby Why” from George Jones, had already been recorded by both Red Sovine and Webb Pierce. Although RCA had extended a contract and Roy Acuff’s publishing company had likewise advanced a proposal, the Country Pardners never achieved comparable commercial success. Had circumstances differed, Simpson might have attained the stylistic prominence of Earl Scruggs; instead, his subsequent career arguably benefited the bluegrass community by assisting some of its practitioners in avoiding incarceration.
Simpson’s entry into the trio stemmed from his association with fellow Ohio musician Bill Price, who as a teenager had studied under Jimmy Martin. After concluding his own stint alongside J.D. Crowe, Price teamed with Simpson, both still in their mid-teens. The pair frequented a Charlotte record shop operated by Jimmy Skinner, whose live broadcasts from the premises facilitated the rapid assembly of new ensembles. Among the most enthusiastically received was the unit formed by Simpson, Price, and Carlos Brock, the last of whom had previously worked with Bill Monroe, Red Allen, and Sonny Osborne. The two lead figures projected a magnetic stage presence reminiscent of leading Western film actors, while Simpson’s sharply defined banjo tone supplied a bracing clarity akin to an unexpected plunge into the French Broad River.
Before the scheduled RCA sessions, producer Chet Atkins informed the group that a newly offered number, “Why Baby Why” from George Jones, had already been recorded by both Red Sovine and Webb Pierce. Although RCA had extended a contract and Roy Acuff’s publishing company had likewise advanced a proposal, the Country Pardners never achieved comparable commercial success. Had circumstances differed, Simpson might have attained the stylistic prominence of Earl Scruggs; instead, his subsequent career arguably benefited the bluegrass community by assisting some of its practitioners in avoiding incarceration.
Albums
