I wanted to take a moment today for a tribute to a fine gentleman who is also one of the founding fathers of bluegrass music. I’m speaking of Joe Forrester, of Tennessee, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday in Nashville. Here’s a photo from a Nashville party a few years ago, of Joe swatting the guitar (he plays AMAZING rhythm) while I take a mandolin lead:
Joe played bass with Bill Monroe for about six months in 1945, and was in on the ground floor as what we call “bluegrass” was being invented. The band lineup was Bill Monroe on mandolin; Lester Flatt on guitar; Earl Scruggs on banjo; Joe’s brother Howdy Forrester on fiddle; and Joe on bass. Since this lineup of the band did not record with Bill (wartime restrictions greatly hampered recording in that era) they are little-remembered today, but they were a hot group. They immediately preceded the more-famous Monroe lineup with Chubby Wise and Jody Rainwater which is now regarded, since they recorded a LOT with Bill, as the “original” bluegrass band. But Joe and Howdy were there first!
Tags: joe forrester, red