Sonny Osborne (1937 to 2021) was the banjo player and baritone singer of the Osborne Brothers. He played for Bill Monroe at 14, then formed the Osborne Brothers with his brother Bobby in 1953. The band ran for more than 50 years and joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. Bluegrass Today wrote that, thanks to their 1967 record of Rocky Top, his banjo may be the most-heard in bluegrass after Earl Scruggs.
Why Osborne matters
Osborne kept a traditional Scruggs base and stacked new sounds on top. He borrowed licks from steel guitar, piano, and horns. He amplified his banjo for big stages and even patented a six-string banjo. With Bobby he built the “stacked trio” harmony, with the lead on top, that made the Osborne Brothers sound unlike anyone else. For a picker, he shows how to stretch the banjo without losing the drive.
Life and career
Osborne was born on October 29, 1937, in Thousandsticks, Kentucky. His father farmed, taught school, and played banjo, guitar, and fiddle. The family moved to Dayton, Ohio, in 1941. He got his first banjo in sixth grade. In the summer of 1951 he played with his brother Bobby in the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. In the summer of 1952, at 14, he joined Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys and played the Grand Ole Opry. He stayed into 1953.
When Bobby came home from the Marines in 1953, the brothers formed the Osborne Brothers. They debuted on WROL in Knoxville on November 8, 1953, and also played the Wheeling Jamboree. With Jimmy Martin they cut twelve singles for RCA starting in 1954. Red Allen joined in 1956, and their first record with him, Ruby, Are You Mad, was a hit that year. They signed with MGM and released Once More in 1958. In 1960 they played Antioch College, the first bluegrass band to play for a university audience.
In 1963 they signed with Decca, and in 1964 they joined the Opry. They added electric bass, drums, pedal steel, piano, and strings, which upset some bluegrass fans and won them many new ones. In late 1967 they released Rocky Top, by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, as a B side. It sold 80,000 copies in its first month. The Osborne Brothers entered the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1994. Sonny retired in 2005 after rotator cuff surgery. He then wrote a regular column for Bluegrass Today and stayed in touch with fans. He died at home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on October 24, 2021.
Playing style
Osborne credited Earl Scruggs for his core technique. On top of that he built licks from other instruments: steel guitar bends, piano voicings, and horn lines. His playing is clean and complex, with a traditional feel. By the late 1970s he turned away from melodic chromatic licks. He thought young players leaned on them in place of learning the basics.
He was also a tinkerer. He amplified his banjo for large shows and kept his resonator padlocked so no one could copy his pickup. He patented a six-string banjo. At the 2001 IBMA Awards, days after September 11, his solo America the Beautiful moved the room to tears.
Influences and legacy
Osborne built on Earl Scruggs. He followed Rudy Lyle in Monroe’s band. He played beside his brother Bobby for more than 50 years, and with Jimmy Martin and Red Allen early on. The Osborne Brothers’ use of electric instruments, drums, and strings pointed the way for later progressive bands. After he retired he mentored young players and wrote a column for Bluegrass Today.
Signature tunes and songs
Rocky Top Ruby, Are You Mad Once More Cripple Creek.
Essential recordings
Ruby, Are You Mad, the Osborne Brothers and Red Allen, single (1956) Once More, the Osborne Brothers and Red Allen, single (MGM, 1958) Rocky Top, the Osborne Brothers, single (Decca, 1967)
Awards and honors
Grand Ole Opry member, with Bobby Osborne (1964) International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, the Osborne Brothers (1994)
Watch and listen
Osborne teaches his own Rocky Top break in this Homespun lesson.
The Osborne Brothers play Cripple Creek. Listen for the clean, bright tone.
What to learn from Osborne
Learn the Rocky Top kickoff. It is short, it is fast, and every jam crowd knows it. The technique to steal is borrowing. Pick one lick from a steel guitar or piano record you like and work out how to play it on the banjo. That is how Osborne built his sound on a Scruggs base.
Sources
Sonny Osborne, Wikipedia Sonny Osborne of the Osborne Brothers dies at 83, NKyTribune
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Osborne built on Earl Scruggs, followed Rudy Lyle in Monroe’s band, and recorded with Jimmy Martin. J.D. Crowe came up beside him in the 1950s.