The bluegrass world took a devastating hit over the course of just four days when pioneering mandolinists/vocalists Bobby Osborne and Jesse McReynolds died. Del McCoury Band/The Travelin’ McCourys mandolinist Ronnie McCoury spoke with Rolling Stone about the huge losses noting that the pair’s deaths marked “the end of that generation.”
Both Bobby Osborne and Jesse McReynolds teamed with their brothers to form bands that influenced many others who followed the path they forged. Jesse McReynolds and sibling Jim found success as Jim & Jesse, while Bobby Osborne and his brother Sonny’s Osborne Brothers act also helped bring bluegrass to the masses. McReynolds passed last Friday, June 23 of natural causes at age 93 and then Osborne crossed over at 91 on Tuesday, June 27.
“I just can’t remember a time in my life without hearing them,” Ronnie McCoury told Rolling Stone. “I’ve always thought that bluegrass mandolin came from three guys: Bill Monroe, Jesse McReynolds and Bobby Osborne — those are the three styles to me.” The Osborne Brothers and Jim & Jesse were each asked to joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. The two musicians were among the oldest living members of the famed institution before they passed.
“[Jesse and Bobby] were incredibly gifted singers and musicians,” added McCoury. “And that’s really hard to find in today’s music world, to [be] so talented all the way around like that. There’s a lot of great pickers and there’s a lot of great singers, but there’s not a lot of both.”
The Ohio-via-Kentucky Osborne Brothers put out a string of country hits from 1958 through 1973 that included “Once More,” “Rocky Top,” “The Kind Of Woman I Got,” “Ruby Are You Mad” and “Blue Heartache.” Ronnie McCoury picked up on Bobby Osborne’s inventive style of single-note picking that matched fiddle melody runs.
“Bobby was an electric guitar player first. But then he heard Ernest Tubb and those guys, and that’s what got him into [bluegrass and country music],” McCoury explained. “And [Bobby] started putting that kind of [guitar] playing onto the mandolin. He was also a fiddle player, so was Jesse, and they adapted a lot of fiddle tunes and fiddle notes to the mandolin — more so than Bill Monroe.”
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Greensky Bluegrass Honors Bobby Osborne & Jesse McReynolds, Debuts Beatles Cover In Grand Rapids
Greensky Bluegrass played a concert on Wednesday at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan that included debut Jim & Jesse, The Osborne Brothers and Beatles covers.
Pioneering bluegrass duo Jim & Jesse were heard throughout the Southeast from the late 1950s until the early 1960s on Suwannee River Jamboree, a live radio show. The pair released a string of stellar albums on Capitol, Columbia, Epic and Opryland USA between the ’50s and ’90s. Jim died in 2002 with Jesse moving forward in fronting their The Virginia Boys backing band. In 2010, Jesse McReynolds issued a tribute to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter that featured contributions from the likes of longtime Garcia pals David Nelson and Sandy Rothman as well as frequent Phil & Friends member Stu Allen.
Jesse developed an approach to cross-picking that was hard to replicate. “I would attempt to do some Jesse cross-picking, but it was so far out to me,” McCoury stated. “I just could not play it, especially up to the speed like he did. He created his own style.”
“[Jesse and Bobby] were pioneers,” Ronnie McCoury concluded. “This is the end of that generation.”
