G. B. Grayson

Gilliam Banmon Grayson (November 11, 1887 – August 16, 1930) was an American old-time fiddle player and singer. Mostly blind from infancy, Grayson is chiefly remembered for a series of sides recorded with guitarist Henry Whitter between 1927 and 1930 that would later influence numerous country, bluegrass, and rock musicians. Grayson wrote much of his own material, but was also instrumental in adapting several traditional Appalachian ballads to fiddle and guitar formats. His music has been recorded or performed by musicians such as Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Mick Jagger, the Kingston Trio, and dozens of bluegrass artists, including the Stanley Brothers and Mac Wiseman.

Biography G.B. Grayson was born in rural Ashe County, North Carolina in 1887 to Benjamin Carrol and Martha Jane Roark Grayson. According to his sister, when G.B. was six weeks old, his sight was damaged when he stared out the window at bright snow for several hours. While he was mostly blind his entire life, he could identify some people from their size and could tell time using a watch with large numbers. When G.B. was two years old, his family moved west to Johnson County, Tennessee, where he would live for the rest of his life.

While G.B.'s family was poor, the Graysons were a fairly prominent family in the mountains along the northern Tennessee-North Carolina border. G.B.'s uncle, James Grayson (1833–1901), was a Union Army officer who helped organize an anti-Confederate uprising in Carter County, Tennessee at the outbreak of the American Civil War and later aided in the capture of legendary North Carolina fugitive Tom Dula. G.B. and Henry Whitter were the first to record the folk song Tom Dooley— based on the capture of Dula— in 1929.

The two recorded eight sides for Gennett Records in October of that year, but their greatest success came with a subsequent Victor session which produced the double-sided "Train 45"/"Handsome Molly", which sold over 50,000 copies in five years. Later, their recordings would shape the folk revival. The Kingston Trio had a Number 1 hit with a version of "Tom Dooley" in 1958. In the early 1960s, musicologist Ralph Rinzler played Grayson's recording of "Ommie Wise" at Clarence Ashley's house in Shouns to help convince Ashley, Doc Watson, and several of their bandmates to take up the more traditional style of music rather than the more modern electric music. "Train 45" and "Nine Pound Hammer" have become staples at Bluegrass festivals. "Handsome Molly" has been recorded by both Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger.