Biography
This Kentucky mandolinist embodies the opposite of any urbane bluegrass performer. Although he cut sides now viewed as foundational examples of the style, such as the lighthearted cotton-mill number “Lint Head Stomp,” he has lived almost entirely in the remote settlement of Elkhorn City, Kentucky, devoting extensive periods to writing both instrumentals and songs with lyrics. Despite the spelling of his given name, Phebel, his playing on the instrument carries no trace of weakness. During the 1950s he recorded for Essex and other imprints while also producing custom discs for the Kentucky station WISI, backed by guitarist Junior Morgan and Estil Stewart on a so-called “bull bass.”
Approached for background material to accompany the reissue compilation The Early Days of Bluegrass, Wright supplied no clarification about the bull bass—leaving open the whimsical possibility that the term referred to an oversized fish—yet offered intriguing recollections of other instruments he had owned. His initial mandolin was acquired from an acquaintance for a mere quarter. The subsequent purchase represented a far greater outlay: $4.45 for a guitar. His father, an old-time banjoist, refused to let such an expenditure remain idle and promptly enlisted the boy to perform at square dances. Deeply religious, the mandolinist rejects any notion that secular music is inherently sinful, regarding his own involvement instead as a direct continuation of his family’s musical heritage.
Under the name Phebel Wright & the Music Mountain Boys, he issued two EPs on the Wright-Tone label. Among the selections are a boisterous, hee-haw rendering of “Santa Claus Is Coming,” the personalized instrumental “Wright’s Swing” that edges toward progressive bluegrass, and the track “Thick Ack-A-Thouin’,” perhaps the most torturously spelled title in country-music annals.
Approached for background material to accompany the reissue compilation The Early Days of Bluegrass, Wright supplied no clarification about the bull bass—leaving open the whimsical possibility that the term referred to an oversized fish—yet offered intriguing recollections of other instruments he had owned. His initial mandolin was acquired from an acquaintance for a mere quarter. The subsequent purchase represented a far greater outlay: $4.45 for a guitar. His father, an old-time banjoist, refused to let such an expenditure remain idle and promptly enlisted the boy to perform at square dances. Deeply religious, the mandolinist rejects any notion that secular music is inherently sinful, regarding his own involvement instead as a direct continuation of his family’s musical heritage.
Under the name Phebel Wright & the Music Mountain Boys, he issued two EPs on the Wright-Tone label. Among the selections are a boisterous, hee-haw rendering of “Santa Claus Is Coming,” the personalized instrumental “Wright’s Swing” that edges toward progressive bluegrass, and the track “Thick Ack-A-Thouin’,” perhaps the most torturously spelled title in country-music annals.