Red Rector

[AlanN]

Good stuff.

Great stuff on that there record. And the cover painting is telling for 2 things:

- Red on an F-5
- The strap is hanging down.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Almeria - If that guitar was used by Bill when he lived over here in the UK,i've most likely backed it up on banjo many times.When did he have it ?. Strangely,i played with Bill Clifton many times when he came up to Manchester.There were dozens of Folk music venues to play. One song i played with him over & over back in the late 60's early 7-'s ,was 'Little Whitewashed Chimney'. I never knew until a couple of years ago,that Bill had written it - such was my 'in depth' knowlege back then,
Ivan

[almeriastrings]

This is what Bill himself says about it:

"It was purchased from Stacy's Music Shop, Charlottesville, Va, in 1967 and was used by me all live performances from that time (until November 1977). In addition, it was used on all recordings during that time, i.e., Come by the Hills, Another Happy Day, Are You from Dixie, Bill Clifton & Co and every other album in this ten year period".


So... almost certainly is the guitar you encountered! Small world!

[mandolirius]

Interesting interview with Red:

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~john....do/rector.html

[mandolirius]

Red's great album on Old Homestead, with Vassar and Jack Hicks:

[almeriastrings]

I found a used copy of the '79 Pickin' magazine recently at Elderly, with Red and Bill on the cover:



Added it to the collection of stuff that lives with the D-35...

[swilshire]

Anybody have any idea what happened to his A4?

Red's instruments are on loan to the East Tennessee Historical Society in downtown Knoxville. There is a nice display on local musicians.

[mandolirius]

Red's instruments are on loan to the East Tennessee Historical Society in downtown Knoxville. There is a nice display on local musicians.

Cool. Do they have anything of Jethro's? He was from Knoxville if memory serves.

[Russ Jordan]

I would imagine Red's A4 stayed with his wife. I got to spend a great afternoon with her at a festival in Pigeon Forge TN, maybe 15 years ago. She was collecting everything she could about Red. She still had the mandolin then.

[Ole Joe Clark]

It's threads like this one that makes the Mandolin Cafe a great place to hang out. Thanks for the history lesson and memories.

Joe

[Don Stiernberg]

Somewhere I have a 25 year old cassette tape of the last show Red and Jethro did together- must have been 86 or 87, I guess, at the University of Chicago Folk Festival, which I helped put on as a college student.

I made dinner for Red in my shared college house and he played mandolin in my kitchen !

If anybody wants to help me digitize and share the old tapes, drop me a line and let's talk.

Neal

I played on that show with Jethro and Red. I'd love to be able to hear it again. Please contact me, maybe I have something I could trade you for a copy.Red was a great player and singer and those two gentlemen from Knoxville both played real clean and had lots of fun!
thanks,
Don Stiernberg

[mandolirius]

I played on that show with Jethro and Red. I'd love to be able to hear it again. Please contact me, maybe I have something I could trade you for a copy.Red was a great player and singer and those two gentlemen from Knoxville both played real clean and had lots of fun!
thanks,
Don Stiernberg

I can digitize cassettes and would be happy to do this one.

[oldwave]

My favorite memory was of Red Rector and Ted Bogan playing my Irish Eyes are Smiling at my Festival circa 1989 or 90

[Ole Joe Clark]

I can also digitize cassettes and LP, would love to help preserve and share those memories.

Joe

[Darryl Wolfe]

Mick - The guy on the Banjo is Richard (Rick) Townend. It was Rick's brother Andrew who became one of the first 'top' UK Mandolin players back in the '60's. Unfortunately Andy passed away in 1998 at the age of 46. It was around Rick & Andy that Bill Clifton formed the first Bluegrass band of any note in the UK,"The Echo Mt.Boys". I think that Red would have loved playing with those guys.Incidentally,Rick's also a terrific Mandolin & Guitar player,He's no slouch on the Fiddle either !
Ivan
http://www.ricktownend.co.uk/Rick-BillClifton.htm
http://youtu.be/vmm76bf5leI

I had the pleasure of seeing Andrew Townend tear the house down at Berryville VA in the late '60's It was Rawhide of course. We were the same age.

Staying on subject, I knew Red well and played with him many times in Knoxville. We would do a little twin mandolin or I would back him on guitar

[High Desert Mando]

Yes that was a great festival.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Red's birthday today. Hadn't seen this video in a few years, worth sharing.

[William Smith]

Another great mandolinist that had a style all his own!

[Timbofood]

Thanks Scott! It’s good to see the masters at work!

[allenhopkins]

As Red mighta said, "Real pickers don' need no strap."