Clyde Moody (September 19, 1915 – April 7, 1989), also known as the "Hillbilly Waltz King" and sometimes as "The Genial Gentleman of Country Music" was one of the great founders of American

Bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it la ...

Early life and career

Born in

Cherokee, North Carolina Cherokee ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, translit=Tsalagi) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Swain and Jackson counties in Western North Carolina, United States, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. Cherokee is located in the Oconaluftee River V ...

, United States, Moody got his start in the late 1930s in the string band J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers. In September 1940 he joined

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" 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 take ...

's Blue Grass Boys on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divi ...

. Moody's guitar style was unique, with him finger picking with his thumb and index finger. Moody also had a mellow voice that was a good contrast to Bill Monroe's voice. He appeared on Monroe's first solo recording session for RCA Victor's Bluebird label on October 7 of that year, playing guitar and singing lead vocals and bass on the Blue Grass Quartet's first recording ("Cryin' Holy Unto My Lord"). He was featured on that session singing "Six White Horses", a blues-based original. He also has the rare distinction of having played mandolin on a Blue Grass Boys session, as he provided the rhythm chops on " Mule Skinner Blues" and "Dog House Blues", while Monroe played guitar - the only instance where a Blue Grass Boy other than Monroe played mandolin at a Bill Monroe recording session. Upon his departure from the Blue Grass Boys in 1944, he remained at WSM and the Opry for several years as a solo artist. In 1952, he recorded as a member of the Brown's Ferry Four with

The Delmore Brothers Alton Delmore (December 25, 1908 – June 9, 1964) and Rabon Delmore (December 3, 1916 – December 4, 1952), billed as The Delmore Brothers, were country music pioneer singer-songwriters and musicians who were stars of the Grand Ole Opry in the ...

on King Records. He later played at the first Bluegrass Festival at Fincastle, Virginia, in 1965. His nephew, Bruce Moody (March 14, 1940 – February 21, 2009) was also a popular bluegrass musician and toured with him from 1962–1969. Some of his career highlights include appearing in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

three times and writing and recording the million-seller "Shenandoah Waltz" in 1947. He sang with a young

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in 1955 when Tom Parker paired them for a six-week tour. Moody was inducted into the

North Carolina Music Hall of Fame The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization and museum in Kannapolis, North Carolina that was created to honor musicians, composers and artists with ties to North Carolina that have made significant impact in the music indus ...

in 2011. He died in 1989 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

Discography

Russell, Tony(2008). Country Music Records: A Discography 1921-1942.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Clyde 1915 births 1989 deaths Bluegrass musicians from North Carolina American country singer-songwriters King Records artists Starday Records artists People from Cherokee, North Carolina 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from North Carolina Country musicians from North Carolina