Even those that aren’t followers of bluegrass music probably know a little bit about Rocky High, Tennessee. They most likely know that corn gained’t develop in any respect on Rocky High, as a result of the grime’s too rocky. By far.
The explanation for that’s Sonny and Bobby Osborne, founding members of the legendary Osborne Brothers bluegrass band, who helped carry bluegrass into mainstream America. With songs like “Rocky High” and “Roll Muddy River,” they repeatedly pioneered the artwork kind because the Fifties.
Lead singer and mandolinist Bobby Osborne died June 27, 2023, at age 91, the final of the duo and one of many final of bluegrass’ first technology. He was additionally a Purple Coronary heart recipient who was wounded in Korea.
Kentucky-born Bobby Osborne, the older of the 2 brothers, started his skilled music profession as a teen within the late Forties. His household moved to Dayton, Ohio, when he was 9. At 18, he struck off to West Virginia along with his brother Sonny. The pair fashioned the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers and have been quickly joined by their sister, Louise, for his or her first album in 1951.
However earlier than the Osborne Brothers made it huge, Bobby Osborne would get drafted by the Marine Corps. First sworn into the army in 1951, he had a selection: the Army or the Marine Corps. They informed him the troopers could be despatched to Fort Meade, Maryland, for coaching whereas the Marines would go to Camp Pendleton, California. Bobby selected the Corps so he may see Southern California and keep away from “freezing my butt off.” He would serve in Korea for 2 years.
“If it hadn’t been so chilly, I most likely would have died there,” Osborne informed Podcast host Tom Energy.
One evening, he and a few fellow Marines have been despatched on a “fox hunt,” a mission to seize an enemy prisoner. They needed to climb an enemy-held hill and infiltrate their place in the midst of the evening. By the point Osborne reached the highest of the hill, the enemy had opened up on them with small arms and mortars. They jumped right into a ten-foot trench and cleared it, however after they climbed out, Bobby didn’t notice he’d been hit.
“By the point I bought to the highest of the trenchline, it felt like somebody simply poured heat water throughout,” he stated. “I couldn’t see, it was darkish.”
Bobby Osborne had been shot within the head. He then handed out whereas nonetheless on the enemy hill.
“The battle was over after I come to,” he stated. “My helmet was gone… it was so chilly, I touched my head, it was like somebody threw grime in my face.”
Everybody else had gone and daylight was coming. Osborne bought up and walked down the hill, the place he encountered a younger Marine who was lacking a hand. Osborne requested him if he may stroll, finally convincing the boy to hobble out of the world with him. They quickly discovered themselves misplaced in a spot they couldn’t bear in mind from the evening earlier than.
“The one factor that saved us was a tank that had a searchlight on it,” Osborne stated. “I knew the place that was and we began strolling towards it.”
It took so lengthy for Osborne and his fellow Marine to get dwelling that Osborne’s household was knowledgeable he was lacking in motion. Three telegrams have been despatched again dwelling, with the final one informing his household that he was not lacking, he was wounded.
After the struggle, Osborne moved to Detroit, the place he began a challenge along with his brother Sonny and guitarist Jimmy Martin. When that fell by way of, Purple Allen joined the band. It was with Allen that the Osborne Brothers (together with Allen, bassist Ernie Newton and fiddlers Tommy Jackson and Artwork Stamper) have been signed to MGM Data in 1956 and recorded their first single for the label: “Ruby Are You Mad?”
From there, they introduced their model of bluegrass to school campuses, radio stations (generally enjoying Elvis Presley covers) and even the Nixon White Home. They have been inducted into the Worldwide Bluegrass Music Corridor of Fame in 1994.
Sonny Osborne retired from making music in 2005, and he died in 2021. Bobby Osborne remained a participant on the Grand Ole Opry along with his band, the Rocky High X-Press, proper up till his demise. He was the oldest standing member of the Opry.
— Blake Stilwell might be reached at blake.stilwell@army.com. He may also be discovered on Fb, Twitter, or on LinkedIn.
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