Vassar Clements Bio
Michael Baryshnikov
А вот его биография.
К сожалению, 16 августа 2005 года Вассар Клементс умер в Hэшвилле, Теннесси.
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Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine (с)AMG
Combining jazz with country, Vassar Clements became one of the most
distinctive, inventive, and popular fiddlers in bluegrass music. Clements first
came to prominence as a member of Bill Monroe's band in the early '50s, but he
never limited himself to traditional bluegrass. Over the next four decades, he
distinguished himself by incorporating a number of different genres into his
style. In the process, he became not only one of the most respected fiddlers in
bluegrass, he also became a sought-after session musician, playing with artists
as diverse as the Monkees, Hank Williams, Paul McCartney, Michelle Shocked,
Vince Gill, and Bonnie Raitt.
Clements taught himself to play fiddle at the age of seven. Soon afterward, he
formed a band with two of his cousins. By the time he was 21, Clements' skills
were impressive enough to attract the attention of Bill Monroe. Monroe hired
the young fiddler and Clements appeared on the Grand Ole Opry with the
mandolinist in 1949. The following year, the fiddler recorded his first session
with Monroe.
For the next six years, Clements stayed with Monroe's band, occasionally
leaving for brief periods of time. In 1957 he joined Jim & Jesse's Virginia
Boys, and stayed with the band for the next four years. In the early '60s
Clements was sidelined for a while as he suffered from alcoholism. By the end
of the '60s he had rehabilitated, and he returned to playing in 1967. That year
he moved to Nashville and began playing the tenor banjo at a residency at the
Dixieland Landing Club. In 1969 he toured with Faron Young and joined John
Hartford's Dobrolic Plectorial Society. The band only lasted ten months, and
after its breakup Clements joined the Earl Scruggs Revue; he stayed with that
band for a year.
Clements began playing sessions in 1971, appearing on albums by Steve Goodman,
Gordon Lightfoot, David Bromberg, J.J. Cale, and Mike Audridge over the next
two years. In 1972 he was featured on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's hit album
Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which helped establish him as a country and
bluegrass star. Clements capitalized on the record's popularity in 1973, when
he released his first solo album, Crossing the Catskills, on Rounder Records
and began touring the festival and college circuits. That same year, he
appeared on a number of albums, including the Grateful Dead's Wake of the
Flood, Jimmy Buffett's A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, and Mickey
Newbury's Heaven Help the Child.
In 1974, Clements signed a record contract with Mercury Records, releasing two
albums for the label -- Vassar Clements and Superbow -- the following year.
That same year, he appeared in the bluegrass supergroup Old & in the Way, which
also featured Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, and John Kahn. He also
had a cameo role in Robert Altman's film Nashville in 1975. In 1977, Clements
released two albums for two different labels -- The Vassar Clements Band on MCA
Records and The Bluegrass Session on Flying Fish. It would be four years before
he released another solo album. During that time, he toured constantly and
appeared on numerous albums. Clements reappeared in 1981 with Hillbilly Rides
Again and Vassar, which were both released on Flying Fish.
During the '80s and '90s, Clements continued to record sporadically, but he cut
numerous sessions for other artists and played numerous concerts every year. In
1995, Clements reunited with Old & in the Way, which released That High
Lonesome Sound in 1996. The solo Back Porch Swing followed three years later;
Full Circle appeared in spring 2001. In 2004 he released Livin' With the Blues,
his first blues-based album.
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Rest begards...oh, sorry, best regards, Michael
... I sold a quart of blood and bought a half a pint of Scotch...