Biography
Wandering festival grounds at events spanning folk, bluegrass, old-time, Celtic, and blended styles often leads listeners to overhear a memorable melody wafting from impromptu jams or circles: "High on a mountain, standing all alone, Wond'ring where the years of my life have gone." For certain audiences the verse registers as an ageless relic predating the twentieth century, whereas others detect the contemplative spirit of contemporary singer-songwriters. Its origins actually rest between those views. "High on a Mountain" and numerous other enduring folk and country numbers sprang from the expressive imagination of Ola Belle Reed, a native of North Carolina. Long embraced by old-time country and bluegrass listeners, her compositions also reached wider Nashville circles during the 1990s. Born Ola Belle Campbell in 1916 as one of thirteen children of Arthur Campbell, she grew up in a household whose roots extended back to colonial settlement in the New River Valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains. From an early age she absorbed guitar and clawhammer banjo, cherishing both the traditional pieces passed down by her parents and the first wave of country music arriving via radio and 78 rpm records. During her teens she joined her brother Alex in an initial incarnation of the North Carolina Ridge Runners. The Depression prompted Arthur Campbell to relocate the family northward in search of employment, ultimately settling near the Mason-Dixon Line where Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania converge. Alex served in the Normandy invasion and later performed on Armed Forces Radio during the Occupation with Grandpa Jones' Munich Mountaineers. Upon his return, he and Ola Belle established a sustained radio partnership broadcast live and in syndication across numerous outlets, among them WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia, a longtime competitor to WSM for country listeners. In 1949 she wed Bud Reed, a recognized country vocalist, and together with Alex they organized the New River Boys while launching New River Ranch near Rising Sun, Maryland, one of the leading country music parks of the 1950s. Around 1960 the operation shifted a short distance north along U.S. Route 1 across the Pennsylvania line to Sunset Park near West Grove, where the group appeared regularly for another twenty-six years. The 1970s resurgence of interest in old-time and early country music brought Ola Belle, now performing with son David Reed, to receptive crowds at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Brandywine Mountain Music Convention. Numerous compositions she had introduced on radio began receiving widespread recordings. Del McCoury, a longtime Sunset Park regular from nearby Gettysburg, helped turn "High on a Mountain" into a bluegrass standard early in his bandleading career. In Minnesota, Stoney Lonesome, fronted by Kate MacKenzie of Prairie Home Companion renown, cut her "I've Endured" in the late 1980s, while Ohio duo Ann & Phil Case chose "The Springtime of Life" as the title track of their 1996 debut album. Nashville recognition arrived in 1995 when Marty Stuart's version of "High on a Mountain" enjoyed a prolonged chart run. The National Heritage Fellowship awarded to Ola Belle Reed in 1986 acknowledged her lasting impact on American folk music. A severe stroke roughly a year afterward curtailed her performing and songwriting activities. She remained in Rising Sun, surrounded by family and friends that included brother Alex, and took pleasure whenever her songs continued to air on country radio. In February 1999 she and Bud marked their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Albums
