James Dee Crowe (August 27, 1937December 24, 2021) was an American

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four-year stint with

Jimmy Martin James Henry Martin (August 10, 1927 – May 14, 2005) was an American bluegrass musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass". Early years Martin was born in Sneedville, Tennessee, United States, and was raised in the hard farming life of rura ...

in the 1950s. Crowe led the bluegrass group

New South New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War. Reformers used it to call for a modernization of society and attitudes, to integrate more fully with the ...

from 1971 until his death in 2021.

Life and career

James Dee Crowe was born on August 27, 1937, in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

. He began playing the banjo early on and was offered a job with

's Sunny Mountain Boys (or Sunnysiders), a backup group, in 1954. Before starting in Martin's band, Crowe played with Pee Wee Lambert and Curly Parker. Crowe recorded with Martin between 1956 and 1960. In 1961, he formed the Kentucky Mountain Boys, principally performing in the Lexington region. In 1971, Crowe changed the band's name to The New South. As of 1975, the New South began to add

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and rock influences to its bluegrass repertoire, as well as

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

and folk elements drawn from the work of

Gram Parsons Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, ...

and

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1 ...

, respectively. Crowe stopped releasing new records between the late 1980s and 1992, when he founded a new band. Kentucky Educational Television in 2008 aired a biography of James Dee Crowe, ''A Kentucky Treasure: The James Dee Crowe Story'', produced by H. Russell Farmer. Crowe received the Bluegrass Star Award, presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation of Dallas, Texas, on October 15, 2011. The award is bestowed upon bluegrass artists who do an exemplary job of advancing traditional bluegrass music and bringing it to new audiences while preserving its character and heritage. He died from pneumonia on December 24, 2021, in

Nicholasville, Kentucky Nicholasville is a home rule city in and the county seat of Jessamine County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 31,490 during the 2020 U.S. Census, making Nicholasville the 10th-largest settlement in the state. Since the late 20th ce ...

, at the age of 84.

Discography

*1968: ''Bluegrass Holiday'' (Lemco) *1969: ''The Model Church'' (Lemco) *1971: ''Ramblin' Boy'' (Lemco) – reissued in 1978, with a different song order, as ''Blackjack'' (Rebel) *1973: ''Bluegrass Evolution'' (Starday) *1973: ''Bluegrass Holiday'' (King Bluegrass) *1975: '' J. D. Crowe & The New South'' (Rounder) *1978: ''You Can Share My Blanket'' (Rounder) *1980: ''My Home Ain't in the Hall of Fame'' (Rounder) *1981: ''Somewhere Between'' (Rounder) *1982: ''Live in Japan'' (Rounder) *1986: ''Straight Ahead'' (Rounder) *1994: ''Flashback'' (Rounder) *1999: ''Come on Down to My World'' (Rounder) *2006: ''Lefty's Old Guitar'' (Rounder)

Citations

Sources

External links

* Home page: * Feature story on J. D. Crowe:
J.D. Crowe Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2016) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowe, J. D. 1937 births 2021 deaths American banjoists American country singer-songwriters Bluegrass Album Band members Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky Country musicians from Kentucky Longview (American band) members Musicians from Lexington, Kentucky New South (band) members Rounder Records artists Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Deaths from pneumonia in Kentucky