Bill keith biography

American banjo player (–)

For other people named William Keith, see William Keith (disambiguation).

Musical artist

William Bradford "Bill" Keith (December 20, &#; October 23, ) was a five-string banjoist who made a significant contribution to the stylistic development of the instrument. In the s he introduced a variation on the popular "Scruggs style" of banjo playing (an integral element of bluegrass music) which would soon become known as melodic style, or "Keith style". He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in

Professional career

Keith was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.^[1] He attended Amherst College and graduated in In he became a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys.^[2]

Keith's recordings and performances during these nine months with Monroe permanently altered banjo playing, and his style became an important part of the playing styles of many banjoists. After leaving the Bluegrass Boys, he joined the Jim Kweskin Jug Band playing plectrum banjo.^[1] He began playing the steel guitar and soon after , worked together with Ian and Sylvia and Jonathan Edwards.^[1]

In the s, Keith recorded for Rounder Records. Over the years he performed with several other musicians, such as Clarence White and David Grisman in Muleskinner, Tony Trischka, Jim Rooney and Jim Collier.^[1] Today, Keith style is still regarded as modern or progressive in the context of bluegrass banjo playing. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 1, , and delivered a heartfelt address on that occasion, just three weeks prior to his death from cancer at his home in Woodstock, New York on October 23, , aged ^[3]

Joe Boyd, who was producing the music for the movie Deliverance, offered Duelling Banjos to Bill, but as Bill was travelling in Europe and wanted to visit a girl in Ireland, he turned it down suggesting Eric Weissberg instead. ^[4]

Afterwards

Keith made a mechanical contribution to the banjo, as well. He designed a specialized type of banjo tuning peg that facilitates changing quickly from one open tuning to another, while playing. Earlier famed banjoist Earl Scruggs had designed a set of cams which were added to the banjo to perform this task.^{[citation needed]}

Keith's invention made the extra hardware unnecessary, replacing two of the tuning machines already on the banjo — a more elegant solution. Scruggs himself became a partner in the venture for a while, and the product was known as "Scruggs-Keith Tuners". Known today simply as Keith Tuners, they remain the state of the art, and Bill Keith continued to manufacture and market them personally as the primary product of his own company, the Beacon Banjo Company, until his death. Beacon Banjo tuners continue their proud tradition, now in the hands of his son, Martin.^[5]

Discography

Solo and contributions

• Bill Keith & Jim Rooney, Bluegrass Livin' on the Mountain, Prestige Folklore FL
• Bill Keith, Something Auld, Something Newgrass, Something Borrowed, Something Bluegrass () Rounder - CD , (feat. Tony Rice, David Grisman)
• Bill Keith and Jim Collier, Hexagone
• Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, Bela Fleck, Fiddle Tunes for Banjo, Rounder CD
• Bill Keith, BanjoisticsRounder Select OG US -
• Bill Keith, Beating Around The Bush, Green Linnet.

With Bill Monroe

• Bill Monroe & his Bluegrass Boys, Deca Session, 20 & 27 Mars reed. CD 3/4, tracks 1 to 7 in&#;: Bluegrass Bill Monroe & his Bluegrass Boys, July Two Days at Newport, And More Bears AMD / ACDAA (CD ) (feat. Del McCoury, guitar; Bill Keith, banjo; Billy Baker, fiddle; Ralph Rinzler, Bass, producer)
• Bill Monroe & his Bluegrass Boys, Live at Mechanic Hall Acoustic Disc, ACD (CD ), (recorded 11 November by David Grisman; feat. Del McCoury, guitar; Bill Keith, banjo; Joe Stuart, fiddle; Bessie Lee Mauldin, Bass)
• Bill Monroe, Blue Grass – –, Bear Family Records, BCD (4CD) (feat. Del McCoury, guitar; Bill Keith, banjo; Kenny Baker, fiddle; Bessie Lee Mauldin, bass; Harry Silverstein, producer)

Bands

• Red Allen, Frank Wakefield and Kentuckians, The Bluegrass, Folkways Records – FA ^[6] CD Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW^[7]
• Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band, Jug Band Music, Vanguard VRS, VSD
• Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band, See Reverse Side For Title, Vanguard VRS, VSD
• Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band, Garden of Joy, Reprise
• Blue Velvet Band, Sweet Moments With The Blue Velvet Band Warner Bros. - Seven Arts Records WS (Bill Keith: Pedal Steel Guitar, member of The Blue Velvet Band, with Richard Greene, Jim Rooney, Eric Weissberg).
• Mud Acres, Music Among Friends , Rounder
• Muleskinner, A Pot pourri of Bluegrass Jam, Warner Bros. records BS (feat. Peter Rowan, Clarence White, David Grisman)
• Muleskinner Live: Original Television Soundtrack, released in , Sierra MSI
• Jim Rooney, One day at the Time, Rounder Records,
• – Bill Keith & Jim Rooney, in Banjo Paris Session vol. 1 Pony/Musigrass; Cezame CEZ & vol 2 Cezame CEZ
• The David GrismanRounder Record () reed. CD , (feat. Tony Rice)
• Peter RowanThe First Whippoorwill, Sugar Hill, reed. CD SHCD
• David’s Rounder Album Band, Live at Grass Valley (Bluegrass festival, Ca July 30 David Grisman, Tony Rice, Bill Keith, Vassar Clements, Jerry Douglas, Mark Schatz) Acousticdisc/Acoustic Oasis Downloads
• Richard Greene, The Grass is Greener, Rebel Records REB CD

• Bill Keith & Jim Rooney, Philadelphia Folk Festival - (Volume II) (various artists), Prestige Folklore INT
• Gloria Belle, Today I Can Smile/Baby, You Gotta Be Mine single 45 RPM Redwing (sidemen: Bill Keith (banjo) and Clarence "Tater" Tate (fiddle))
• The Bee Gees, Odessa, Polydor Records (UK), Atco Records (US)
• Judy CollinsTrue Stories And Other Dreams Elektra EKS (sidemen: Bill Keith: Pedal Steel Guitar, with Eric Weissberg)
• Marcel Dadi And Friends – Country Show Guitar World Records – GW 4 (US release)
• Marcel Dadi – Dadi's Pickin' - Lights Up Nashville - Part Two, Cezame – CEZ (US release, Nashville Memories, Guitar World Records – GW 6)
• Marcel Dadi – Travelin' Man Guitar World Records – GW 5 (US release)
• Christian Seguret (fr) With Bluegrass Friends: Bill Keith, Mike Lilly, Wendy Miller, Jean Marie Redon (fr), Jean-Claude Druot, Denis Blanchard – Old Fashioned Love, Cezame – CEZ (tracks: B3, B4)
• Mud Acres: Woodstock Mountains: More Music From Mud Acres, Rounder (My Love Is But A Lassie Yet, (banjo instrumental quadrille)
• Slim Richey's Jazz Grass Ridge Runner RRR (Night In Tunisia - feat. Bill Keith, Alan Munde, Sam Bush)
• (fr) Banjoistiquement Votre, Cezame CEZ (track: Steel Banjo Rag)
• Mud Acres: Woodstock Mountains Revue&#;: Back to Mud Acres, Rounder (track: Panhandle Rag BK: banjo+ pedal steel)
• Compilation: Song Of The Hills: Appalachian Classics, Shanachie (track 5&#;: Footprints In The Snow, instrumental version with Tony Trischka, Eric Weissberg, Kenny Kosek, Stacy Phillips, Molly Mason).
• Gordon TitcombThe Last Train, Rising Son Records, (with Arlo Guthrie, Mike Auldridge and Bill Keith)
• Tony TrischkaTerritory, Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD (track: Trompe De L'oreille)

References

Bibliography

• Tony Trischka, Pete Wernick, Masters of the 5-String Banjo, Oak Publications, , ISBN&#;
• Neil V. Rosenberg, Charles K. Wolfep The Music of Bill Monroe, University of Illinois Press, , p.&#;, discography p.&#; sq. Bill Keith is identified as: "Bradford Keith". ISBN&#;
• "Bill Keith" in The Encyclopedia of Country Music, The Ultimate Guide to the Music, ed. by The Country Music Foundation and Paul Kinsbury, Oxford University Press, , p.&#; ISBN&#;

External links