Bill Emerson (1938 to 2021) was a founding member of the Country Gentlemen in 1957, a Jimmy Martin banjo player in the 1960s, and co-leader of Emerson and Waldron, who cut the first bluegrass version of Fox on the Run. He then spent about 20 years in the U.S. Navy Band, playing in its bluegrass group, Country Current. He joined the IBMA hall of fame in 2019.
Why Emerson matters
Emerson played banjo at three turning points. He helped start the Country Gentlemen, the band that brought new songs into bluegrass. He held the banjo chair for Jimmy Martin through most of the 1960s. With Cliff Waldron he took a British pop hit, Fox on the Run, and turned it into a bluegrass jam standard. He is often named among the most influential banjo players in bluegrass.
Life and career
Emerson was born on January 22, 1938, in Washington, D.C. His first professional job, in 1955, was with Uncle Bob and the Blue Ridge Partners. He then played in Buzz Busby and the Bayou Boys. When Busby was hurt in a car accident in 1957, Emerson and Charlie Waller formed the Country Gentlemen. He left in 1958, and Eddie Adcock took his place.
As a sideman he worked with the Stoneman Family and Red Allen. In 1962 he joined Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys, where he stayed until 1967, with a short break to play with Red Allen in 1964 and 1965. In 1967 he and guitarist Cliff Waldron formed Emerson and Waldron for Rebel Records. They played rock, soul, and country songs in bluegrass style, and they recorded the first bluegrass version of Manfred Mann’s Fox on the Run. In 1970 he went back to the Country Gentlemen.
In 1973 he joined the U.S. Navy. He rose to master chief petty officer and played in the Navy Band and its Country Current bluegrass group until 1992. In 1988 he joined the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame. His song Tennessee 1949, written with Pete Goble, won IBMA Song of the Year. The Stelling Banjo Company issued an Emerson signature model in 1992. In 2007 he came out of retirement to form Bill Emerson and Sweet Dixie and recorded for Rebel and Rural Rhythm. He received the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2016 and entered the IBMA hall of fame in 2019. That year he formed Emerson 414 with his son Billy. He died on August 21, 2021, at 83.
Playing style
Emerson played Scruggs-based banjo with drive and a clear melody. In the Country Gentlemen and Emerson and Waldron he had to fit the banjo to songs that were not written for it, and his playing on Fox on the Run shows how. Instrumentals he played for decades include Theme Time and Tennessee Breakdown.
Influences and legacy
Emerson came out of the Washington, D.C. bluegrass scene of the 1950s. He played beside Charlie Waller, Jimmy Martin, Red Allen, and Cliff Waldron. He said Rudy Lyle was the banjo player he ranked next to Earl Scruggs. Eddie Adcock followed him in the Country Gentlemen. Through Country Current he played bluegrass for the Navy for two decades.
Signature tunes and songs
Fox on the Run Theme Time Tennessee Breakdown Tennessee 1949 Sweet Dixie.
Essential recordings
Banjo Man (Webco and Pinecastle, 1996) Bill Emerson and the Sweet Dixie Band (Rebel, 2007) Southern, Bill Emerson and Sweet Dixie (Rural Rhythm, 2010) Eclipse (Rural Rhythm, 2011)
Awards and honors
Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame (1988) IBMA Song of the Year, Tennessee 1949, with Pete Goble IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award (2016) International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame (2019)
Watch and listen
The Country Gentlemen play Matterhorn in the early 1970s, with Emerson on banjo.
Emerson plays his Tennessee Breakdown in 2009.
What to learn from Emerson
Learn the banjo break on Fox on the Run. It is simple, it fits a song every jam sings, and it shows how to frame a melody that was not written for banjo. The technique to steal is song-first playing. Before you add licks, sing the melody, then make sure your break follows it.
Sources
Bill Emerson (musician), Wikipedia Emerson, Bill (and Sweet Dixie), BluegrassBios.com Rudy Lyle: The Unsung Hero of the Five-String Banjo, review, Bluegrass Unlimited
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Emerson co-founded the Country Gentlemen, was followed there by Eddie Adcock, and played for Jimmy Martin. He ranked Rudy Lyle next to Scruggs.