Vernon Derrick (November 7, 1933 – January 4, 2008) was an American musician and entertainer. Derrick may best be remembered as a fiddle and mandolin player of Hank Williams Jr.'s Bama Band in the 1980s.

Personal life

Derrick was born in Grant, Alabama, in 1933 and was a resident of

Arab, Alabama Arab () is a city in Marshall and Cullman counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, located from Guntersville Lake and Guntersville Dam, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 cen ...

, since 1941. Derrick began his professional career in music as a teenager, playing a short stint with

Flatt and Scruggs Flatt and Scruggs were an American bluegrass music, bluegrass duo. Singer and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, both of whom had been members of Bill Monroe's band, the Bluegrass Boys, from 1945 to 1948, formed the duo in 1948 ...

, and then enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. After a long career, Derrick died from heart and

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

at Marshall Medical Center North,

Marshall County, Alabama Marshall County is a county of the state of Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 97,612. Its county seat is Guntersville. A second courthouse is in Albertville. Its name is in honor of John Marshall, famous Chief ...

on January 4, 2008, and was interred at Mount Oak Cemetery, near

Musical career

Derrick recorded and toured with the

Stanley Brothers The Stanley Brothers were an American 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 and Carter perfo ...

and played both fiddle and mandolin on the original sessions of such Hank Williams, Jr. hits as "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down" and "A Country Boy Can Survive". He has been recognized by The

Alabama Music Hall of Fame The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then saw to its Phase One construction of a facility after a statewide referend ...

as an Achiever. He was also a longtime member of

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 ...

's bluegrass band 1964–1970 and off and on in the decades that followed. While working with the Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys, Derrick wrote "The Arab Bounce" and "Big Country", two classic bluegrass favorites which have been performed and recorded by several bluegrass artists and groups. His career included numerous appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and Midnight Jamboree with several different bands. Derrick played fiddle for Hank III &

The Damn Band The Damn Band is the backing band of Hank Williams III. It was formed in 1995, and the band is on most of Williams's country records. The band has had many changes in the line-ups. It consists of acoustic guitar (played by Williams), steel guita ...

from 1995 to 1999. Many country and bluegrass fans and musicians believe that Vernon Derrick was a musical stylist who was ahead of his time in the field of bluegrass music.

References

1933 births 2008 deaths People from Marshall County, Alabama Bluegrass musicians from Alabama American bluegrass mandolinists American bluegrass fiddlers People from Arab, Alabama 20th-century American violinists Country musicians from Alabama {{US-violinist-stub