Biography
For more than thirty years the Lilly Brothers, consisting of Charles Everett and Bea, performed old-time and bluegrass music as a team. Their strongest legacy took root in New England, where they became a regular presence on the downtown Boston circuit beginning in the early 1960s and continuing until 1980.
Born three years apart in Clear Creek, West Virginia, Charles Everett and his older brother Mitchell Burt “Bea” Lilly took up complementary instruments—mandolin, banjo, and fiddle for Everett, guitar for Bea—while both sang. Their formative listening included the Delmore Brothers, the Callahan Brothers, and the Monroes. In 1938 the pair made their first radio appearance, performing old-time country material on a West Virginia station under the name Lonesome Holler Boys. They later added a banjo and shifted toward bluegrass. By 1939 they had settled into regular broadcasts at WJLS Beckley, working both as a duo and alongside other musicians. Subsequent years found them moving among additional Southern outlets with outfits such as the Smiling Mountain Boys and Red Belcher’s Kentucky Ridgerunners.
Their first recordings were cut in 1948 during an engagement with the latter group at WWVA. They stayed at that station until 1950, at which point a dispute with Belcher over compensation prompted their return to West Virginia. The brothers then went separate ways for a period: Charles joined Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys as mandolinist and tenor, remaining until early 1952, when he relocated to Boston with fiddler Tex Logan and banjo picker Don Stover. Their initial local work came on WCOP’s Hayloft Jamboree, after which they moved onto the city’s club circuit.
Throughout the 1950s the Lilly Brothers entered the studio with some regularity. Between 1958 and 1959 Charles rejoined Flatt & Scruggs for another year while Stover toured with other ensembles; otherwise the original duo stayed together through 1970. In addition to their Boston appearances they performed at regional festivals and helped shape the growth of urban bluegrass. Early in the 1970s Charles and his wife Joann left Boston for West Virginia. Bea followed later to assist Everett with a local television program before returning to the city himself. After 1971 Charles appeared only sporadically at summer festivals and on occasional recordings. A 1979 documentary, True Facts in a Country Song, later recounted their career. Bea Lilly, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, died on September 18, 2005, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, at the age of 83. Everett Lilly passed away at his home in Clear Creek on May 8, 2012, aged 87.
Born three years apart in Clear Creek, West Virginia, Charles Everett and his older brother Mitchell Burt “Bea” Lilly took up complementary instruments—mandolin, banjo, and fiddle for Everett, guitar for Bea—while both sang. Their formative listening included the Delmore Brothers, the Callahan Brothers, and the Monroes. In 1938 the pair made their first radio appearance, performing old-time country material on a West Virginia station under the name Lonesome Holler Boys. They later added a banjo and shifted toward bluegrass. By 1939 they had settled into regular broadcasts at WJLS Beckley, working both as a duo and alongside other musicians. Subsequent years found them moving among additional Southern outlets with outfits such as the Smiling Mountain Boys and Red Belcher’s Kentucky Ridgerunners.
Their first recordings were cut in 1948 during an engagement with the latter group at WWVA. They stayed at that station until 1950, at which point a dispute with Belcher over compensation prompted their return to West Virginia. The brothers then went separate ways for a period: Charles joined Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys as mandolinist and tenor, remaining until early 1952, when he relocated to Boston with fiddler Tex Logan and banjo picker Don Stover. Their initial local work came on WCOP’s Hayloft Jamboree, after which they moved onto the city’s club circuit.
Throughout the 1950s the Lilly Brothers entered the studio with some regularity. Between 1958 and 1959 Charles rejoined Flatt & Scruggs for another year while Stover toured with other ensembles; otherwise the original duo stayed together through 1970. In addition to their Boston appearances they performed at regional festivals and helped shape the growth of urban bluegrass. Early in the 1970s Charles and his wife Joann left Boston for West Virginia. Bea followed later to assist Everett with a local television program before returning to the city himself. After 1971 Charles appeared only sporadically at summer festivals and on occasional recordings. A 1979 documentary, True Facts in a Country Song, later recounted their career. Bea Lilly, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, died on September 18, 2005, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, at the age of 83. Everett Lilly passed away at his home in Clear Creek on May 8, 2012, aged 87.
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