Benjamin Horace Williams (March 28, 1931 – October 11, 2007) was an American bluegrass musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he sang and played

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

, guitar,

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 in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of t ...

, and

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

Career

Williams played fiddle in

Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...

's band and with such notables as

Mac Wiseman Malcolm Bell Wiseman (May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass and country singer active for seven decades in the twentieth century. He was part of Bluegrass music's earliest generation, though bluegrass never defined him. ...

Reno & Smiley Reno and Smiley were an American musical duo that was composed of Don Reno (May 17, 1925 – October 16, 1984) and Red Smiley (February 21, 1925 – January 2, 1972). They were one of the most acclaimed duos in country and bluegrass music in th ...

The Stanley Brothers The Stanley Brothers were an American Bluegrass music, bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians, made up of brothers Carter Stanley (August 27, 1925 – December 1, 1966) and Ralph Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016). Ralph a ...

, Flatt & Scruggs,

Grandpa Jones Louis Marshall Jones (October 20, 1913 – February 19, 1998), known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and Old-time music, old time/country music, country music singer. He was inducted as a member of the Country Musi ...

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

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier for women in country music with her 1952 hit recording " It Wasn't God ...

& Johnny Wright,

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...

, and

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

. He was a recipient of the IBMA Pioneers of Bluegrass award. Williams appeared playing banjo on ''The

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Por ...

Show'' playing "

Foggy Mountain Breakdown "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is a bluegrass instrumental, in the common " breakdown" format, written by Earl Scruggs and first recorded on December 11, 1949, by the bluegrass artists Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys. It is a standard i ...

". He joined Wagoner's in-house band, the Wagonmasters, as guitarist where he played

fingerstyle Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plect ...

, with

fingerpick A fingerpick is a type of plectrum used most commonly for playing Lap steel guitar and bluegrass style banjo music. Hawaiian steel guitar players invented them to gain a more substantial sound from their instruments. The National Finger Pick ...

s. He started out with Mac Wiseman in Virginia and then joined the Tennessee Cut-Ups. He joined the Bluegrass Boys in 1961, first playing guitar but switched to fiddle. He sang lead vocal on a recording of "

Cotton Fields "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" (also known as In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) is a song written by American blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, who made the first recording of the song in 1940. Early versions Reco ...

" and played fiddle on numerous tracks in that and the subsequent year. He continued working with Wiseman and playing banjo and mandolin.

View of colleagues

Fellow Blue Grass Boy Doug Hutchens commented,

"Benny was one of the three real utility Blue Grass Boys ... that could and do about anything include work on the bus. The first time I saw him was in the late 60s just before Kenny Baker returned to the band, Benny was playing fiddle with his right hand bandaged where he had got it caught in the fan on the bus the day before. His main instrument was fiddle but could play banjo, bass and guitar as well... Benny was a quiet and unassuming man and preferred to be the sideman and made many a country entertainer's song sound right."

Discography

* Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass (Benny Williams compilation) *Bill Monroe – Bluegrass 1959–1969 CD * Music of Bill Monroe CD (vocals, fiddle) *Porter Wagoner – Rca Country Legends CD *Porter Wagoner – Rca Country Legends CD (vocals, guitar)

Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass

An album titled ''Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass'' was engineered By Bernard Rousseau of the Harriman Sound Lab and made available through Scott Morgan's Morgan Stringed Instruments on CD. Williams enjoyed a long-time collaboration with Scott's father Tom Morgan, himself an IBMA Hall of Fame inductee. On this album, Benny plays fiddle on "Never Again" and "The Legend of Bill Monroe" and banjo on " Soldier's Joy". On other tracks he plays cross pick mandolin and Travis -tyle guitar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Benny American country singer-songwriters American bluegrass musicians American bluegrass mandolinists American bluegrass fiddlers 20th-century American fiddlers 21st-century American fiddlers 1931 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American singer-songwriters

Career

View of colleagues

Discography

Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass

See also

References