Bashful Brother Oswald

Bashful Brother Oswald
Background information
Birth name	Beecher Ray Kirby
Also known as	Pete Kirby
Born	(1911-12-26)December 26, 1911 Sevier County, TennesseeUnited States
Died	October 17, 2002(2002-10-17)(aged 90) Madison, Tennessee
Genres	country,old-time music
Occupation(s)	sideman,session musician,solo artist
Instrument(s)	resonator guitar,Dobro,steel guitar,banjo,guitar,vocals
Years active	1930s–1990s
Labels	Starday,Rounder

Beecher Ray "Pete" Kirby(December 26, 1911 – October 17, 2002), better known asBashful Brother Oswald,was an Americancountrymusician who popularized the use of theresonator guitarandDobro.He played withRoy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys and was a member of theGrand Ole Opry.

Though he released only a few recordings as a solo artist, he played as asession musicianon numerous records, including theNitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1972 albumWill the Circle be Unbroken.

Biography

Early years

Beecher Ray Kirby was born in ruralSevier County, Tennesseein theGreat Smoky Mountains.His father, G. W. Kirby, was anAppalachianfolk musicianwho playedfiddleand banjo. As a child, Kirby learned to play guitar and banjo and sanggospel music.By his teens, he was playing forsquare dances.

In the late 1920s, Kirby followed the path of many people from theAppalachianregion and moved to the northern United States to find work. He went toFlint, Michiganand worked on theBuickassembly line. He lost his job, though, in the economic downturn of theGreat Depressionin the 1930s.

Kirby then returned to music, playing at informal square dance parties held in the homes of other transplanted southerners. It was at one such party that Kirby met aHawaiianguitarist named Rudy Waikiki.

"That was when I first heard someone play something like my style. He was a real Hawaiian boy, from over in the islands, and he was playing this way and I loved it. I'd go to them parties just to watch him play," Kirby said. "Then I'd go home and get my guitar and try to do the same thing. I was just playing a straight guitar and I had to raise the strings up, put a nut under the strings."

With themusic of Hawaii,played bySol Hoʻopiʻiand other performers, gaining in popularity, Kirby bought his firstresonator guitar,an earlyNationalmodel, and joined in the trend, playing in bars, cafes and beer gardens. He visited theChicago World's Fairin 1933, playing in clubs and gaining a following. Some of the clubs he played in were owned byAl Capone.

Return to Tennessee

In a bid to find more steady work, Kirby moved toKnoxville, Tennesseein 1934. Taking the stage name Pete Kirby,he played resonator guitar with local bands, among themRoy Acuff's Crazy Tennesseans, later to become the Smoky Mountain Boys. Acuff joined theGrand Ole Opryin 1938, and Kirby joined the Opry with Acuff's band on New Year's Day 1939.

It was with the Acuff band that Kirby became introduced as Bashful Brother Oswald, with Kirby posing as the brother of the band's banjoist, Rachel Veach ( "Queen of the Hills" ),so that it would appear to audiences that the unmarried Veach was beingchaperonedby a family member.To fit his new persona, Kirby created the clownish Oswald character, wearing a floppy, wide-brimmed hat, tattered biboveralls,oversized work shoes and adopting a braying laugh.

Featured on the nationwide broadcasts of the Opry, Oswald created a sensation playing his resonator guitar on such songs as "Old Age Pension Check". The instrument, developed in the late 1920s, was still relatively new. Oswald and the Acuff band were featured in a Hollywood film,Grand Ole OpryforRepublic Pictures,which gave the instrument even greater exposure. "People couldn't understand how I played it and what it was, and they'd always want to come around and look at it."

In addition to his guitar and banjo playing, Oswald was a vocalist, and his tenor voice can be heard on Acuff's hit songs, "Precious Jewel" and "Wreck on the Highway".

Later years

Oswald began his career as a solo artist andsession musicianin the 1960s.

He released his self-titled debut album in 1962 onStarday Records.He joined theRounder Recordslabel in the 1970s, releasing around a half dozen albums over the years until his last recording,Carry Me Back,in 1999.

His session work included working with theNitty Gritty Dirt BandonWill the Circle Be Unbroken,an album that paid tribute to the old-time, traditional country musicians ofNashville, Tennessee,Roy Acuff,Maybelle Carter,Earl Scruggs,Merle Travis,Doc Watsonand others.Bill Monroedeclined to participate. Solo tracks by Kirby onCircleinclude "The End of the World" and his own composition, "Sailin' to Hawaii". Oswald was also present for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's follow-up album,Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Twoin 1989, singing backing vocals on the title track.

Oswald was the sole member of the 1939 Smoky Mountain Boys that still accompanied Acuff at the time of Acuff's death in 1992.With former Smoky Mountain Boys bandmate Charlie Collins, Oswald formed the musical comedy duo "Os and Charlie", which was a fixture at theOprylandtheme park and on theGrand Ole Opry.

He participated in 1994'sThe Great Dobro Sessionsalbum, featured alongside such other resonator guitarists asMike Auldridge,Jerry Douglas,Josh Graves,Rob Ickes,Tut TaylorandGene Wooten.

Gibson Guitar Corporation,owner of theDobrobrand of resonator guitars, created a "Brother Oswald" signature series Dobro in 1995. The model has since been retired.

Oswald died on October 17, 2002, at his home inMadison, Tennessee,at the age of 90.

External links

• Bashful Brother OswaldatAllMusic