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Charlie
Waller - The Legend Since
their formation in July of 1957, The Country Gentlemen have been at the forefront
of innovation and popularity in bluegrass music. The trend setters from the word
go, their snappy arrangements were the first to break from the established mold
of the 40s and 50s. Their music was the first to be marketed to a non-rural audience.
They found much work in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area, college campuses,
and urban coffee houses during the 1960's. Through
the years, The Gentlemen have been one of the most imitated and emulatied groups
and been a source of inspiration for many new bands. The contemporary bluegrass
music scene began with The Country Gentlemen. Immediate offshoots in the 60s and
70s include Cliff Waldron and Bill Emerson and The New Shades of Grass as well
as The Seldom Scene. Former Country Gentlemen are hightly visible in today's music
world. The late John Duffey was a founder and leader of The Seldom Scene along
with Tom Gray. Bill Emerson went on to lead the U.S. Navy Band, Country Current,
until his retirement. Doyle Lawson is one of the top performers of today. Jerry
Douglas and Jimmy Gaudreau have great careers as super pickers. Ricky Scaggs went
on to a super star status in both country and bluegrass music. Eddie Adcock along
with his wife Martha are a prominent duo. Both are songwriters and excellent singers.
Eddie is a legendary banjo and guitar player as well as a talented record producer.
Bill Yates, long time member of the Gents, is now called an Ambassador of Bluegrass
Music who travels the country in his retirement visiting festivals and doin guest
spots with his many friends. Charlie
Waller, the founding lead singer and guitar player of The Country Gentlemen, is
the one memeber who remained constant in the band. Many changes occurred, but
the Waller sound did not. His guitar rythym and beautiful, rich voiced helped
create and maintain a legend for over 47 years. So many great songs came from
Charlie and his associates: Legend of the Rebel Soldier, Bringing Mary Home, Fox
On The Run, Calling My Children Home, Waltz of the Angels, The Fields Have Turned
Brown, Matterhorn, and many others. The impact of the Gents has been and will
continue to be great for generations to come. Charlie
Waller, Eddie Adcock, John Duffey, and Tom Gray, now called the Classic Country
Gentlemen were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall
of Fame in 1996. One
of Charlie's hopes and dreams was that his son Randy Waller would someday take
over and continue the band. In keeping with that idea he had asked Randy to join
him on the road. For the past year and halfRandy had been working with his dad.
Randy also worked on Charlies latest CD, playing guitar and singing. Charlie recorded
one of Randy's song The Vision, on that project. Charlie
may also have had a vision of things to come because on August 18, 2004, Charlie
Waller passed away suddenly from a massive heart attack while picking vegetables
in his garden. He will be sorely missed and mourned by his many friends and fans. A
great voice has been stilled, but a new voice has been introduced, as Randy Waller
has taken over just as Charlie wanted. The Country Gentlemen will continue ... ____________________________________________________ Randy
Waller - The Legacy Born
in Washington , DC in 1959, Randy grew up surrounded by the music of the Country
Gentlemen. "Those musicians were like family to me,"
he says of giants like Eddie Adcock, Jimmy Gaudreau, Bill Yates, Ricky Skaggs,
Jerry Douglas and Doyle Lawson. Spending the school year on a farm with
his father's sister in Tennessee , he traveled the roads with his dad in the summers,
soaking up groundbreaking music and learning the rigors of life in a traveling
bluegrass band. When he finished his schooling, he chose to make his living
outside of bluegrass, developing a solo career that found him opening for major
country acts, fronting regional country and country-rock bands and teaching guitar
in Richmond , Virginia - an experience that immersed him in the musical world
of his generational peers.
Yet in the end, Randy Waller came back to
his bluegrass family. "Daddy's Old Guitar,"
the emotional center of Randy Waller , tells
the story: how Charlie Waller fulfilled on Christmas Day of 2002 the promise he'd
made to his son in 1963 by giving him his 1937 D28 herringbone guitar. "I
figured I'd better get out there and start playing it," Randy says with
a smile, "so I started playing with him and the Country Gentlemen in 2003."
Within months, fans moved by his stunning solo performance of "Old
Rugged Cross" were asking for recordings, and the idea for the CD was born.
To make Randy Waller , the singer/guitarist/songwriter
turned first to members of his Country Gentlemen "family,"
bringing Jimmy Gaudreau in to play mandolin and mandola and Eddie and Martha Adcock
to provide harmonies and recruiting Mike Moore, a friend from his teenaged years,
to play bass. Award-winning banjo man Sammy Shelor (Lonesome River Band)
and fiddler Aubrey Haynie came on board at the recommendation of recording engineer
Tim Austin ; "they were a godsend," Randy says.
Anchored by "Daddy's
Old Guitar" and "Old Rugged Cross," the disc
provides irrefutable evidence of the explosive combination of family legacy and
individual experience, as Waller sets his own compositions alongside those of
powerful writers like Carl Jackson and songs like "This Ol'
Cowboy" (Marshall Tucker Band) and "Give It Up Or
Let Me Go" (Bonnie Raitt) that bring the transformative genius of the Country
Gentlemen (who translated rock songs like "Fox On The Run"
into bluegrass classics) into the 21 st century.
"My dad told me about
the first time he heard me play the guitar when I was a kid; he was in the bathroom
shaving, and all of a sudden he heard me play that Lester Flatt G run. He
says he cut himself, it surprised him so much," Randy
Waller says with a laugh. So be advised: stay away from sharp objects
the first time you give Randy Waller a spin.
If you haven't heard him yet, I guarantee you, too, are going to be surprised.
- Jon Weisberger , Nashville , TN , March, 2004 |
