Died On This Date (January 10, 2009) Butch Baldassari / Mandolin Virtuoso

Jerome “Butch” Baldassari
1952 – January 10, 2009

butchButch Baldassari was a respected mandolin player and educator.  Over the course of his career, he formed two superb groups, Weary Hearts and the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble with whom he released a handful of albums.    He also played in bluegrass perennial favorites, Lonesome Standard Time from time to time.  In later years, worked as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.  Butch Baldassari was 56 when he died of a brain tumor on January 10, 2009.

Thanks to Craig Rosen from Number 1 Albums for the assist.

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Appalachian Mandolin & Dulcimer - Butch Baldassari & David Schnaufer

Died On This Date (December 31, 2002) Jim McReynolds / Bluegrass Great; Jim & Jesse

Jim McReynolds
February 13, 1927 – December 31, 2002

Jim McReynolds was a guitarist and singer who, with his brother, Jesse McReynolds, made up a popular bluegrass duo, Jim & Jesse.  Whether working just side-by-side, or within the confines of their group, the Virginia Boys, the McReynolds brothers were the longest running musical duo in history, with a career that lasted over 55 years.  Over the years, the Virginia Boys included such musical greats as Vassar Clements, Carl Jackson, and Earl Scruggs.  By the early ’50s, Jim & Jesse were recording for Capitol Records, and later, Columbia and Epic Records.  They also hosted their own national weekly radio program, The Suwannee River Jamboree during the late ’50s and early ’60s. They continued to record and perform together up through Jim’s death.   Jim McReynolds died of cancer on December 31, 2002.

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Jim & Jesse

Died On This Date (December 11, 2008) Wayne Yates / Played With Del McCoury

Wayne Yates
DOB Unknown – December 11, 2008

yates
Wayne Yates on left

Wayne Yates was a respect bluegrass mandolin player who played with his brother, former Country Gentlemen picker , Bill Yates, as well as with Del McCoury and Red Allen.   During the late ’50s, the Yates brothers formed the Clinch Mountain Ramblers who eventually added Allen who then took over the band and changed its name to the Kentuckians.  Wayne went off on his own after recording two albums with the group.  He was 75 when he passed away on December 11, 2008.



Died On This Date (December 1, 2009) Jack Cooke / Bassist For Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe

Jack Cooke
December 6, 1936 – December 1, 2009

Jack Cooke was a bluegrass bassist and singer best remembered for his time playing in Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys. Cooke first came to prominence as part of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys with whom he played from 1956 to 1960.  He played on some of Monroe’s biggest hits, including the classic, “Big Mon.”  After leaving Monroe, he fronted his own band for a few years until getting the call to join Stanley in 1970.  He played in the Clinch Mountain Boys up until early 2009.  Cooke received a Grammy in 2002 as part of the Jim Lauderdale & Ralph Stanley album, Lost in the Lonesome Pines.  Jack Cooke, 72, passed away at a local hospital on December 1, 2009.



Died On This Date (November 21, 2009) Allen Shelton / Influential Banjo Picker

Allen Shelton
July 2, 1936 – November 21, 2009

Allen Shelton was a banjo virtuoso who came to prominence when he joined Jim & Jesse’s band in 1960.  His outstanging finger play was particularly outstanding on such songs as “Bending the Strings,” which he wrote, and Jim & Jesse’s “Keep On The Sunny Side.”  Shelton made his first solo album for respected roots label, Rounder Records, in 1976.  His 2001 release, Shelton Special, also on Rounder is regarded as one of his best.  Allen Shelton, 73, was suffering from leukemia when he passed away on November 21, 2009.

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Allen Shelton At His Best - Bending the Strings - Allen Shelton