January 9, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E93 TRIBUTE TO JOHN DUFFEY, AN asked Duffey how he wished to be remem- thesda-Chevy Chase High School. His father AMERICAN MUSICAL PIONEER bered. The answer was Duffeyesque: ``Well, I had been a singer with the Metropolitan hope no one will think I was a klutz.'' Opera, and the son inherited an exceptional HON. DAVID R. OBEY When the passage of time allows a broader singing voice with a range said to be three of perspective, I believe John Duffey will be con- four octaves. OF WISCONSIN As a high school student, the young Mr. sidered one of the most important creators of IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Duffey developed a love for the bluegrass this music. Through his wit, laughter, extraor- music he heard on the radio. His father Thursday, January 9, 1997 dinary musical gifts and passionate perform- taught him the voice and breathing tech- Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, it is a tradition of ance, he said, ``this is a great American work- niques of a classical opera singer, despite the House to take note of milestones and pas- ing class music.'' what was said to have been the elder sages in our Nation. Mid-last year the world of I extend condolences to his family, his fel- Duffey’s lack of enthusiasm for ‘‘hillbilly music lost Bill Monroe, who was widely re- low members of the Seldom Scene, and the music.’’ thousands who will miss him as I will. As a young man, Mr. Duffey worked at a garded as the founder of bluegrass. I take this variety of jobs, including that of printer and Mr. Speaker, I am inserting in the RECORD occasion to call attention to the fact that sadly repairer of stringed instruments. But his av- on December 10 we lost another giant in that at this point four articles. The first, the obituary ocation was music, and it soon became his musical tradition with the passing of John for John Duffey, written by Bart Barnes, which vocation as well. Duffey. appeared in the Washington Post. Second, the In 1957, with Bill Emerson and Charlie He was a remarkable singer of bluegrass, accompanying newspaper article, written by Waller, Mr. Duffey founded the Country Gen- possessed of a powerful vocal instrument, one Richard Harrington, which appeared in the tlemen, a bluegrass and folk music group that could soar to impossibly high notes or be- Post that same day. Third, an article written that for about 10 years rode the wave of folk for Bluegrass Unlimited by Dick Spottswood. music enthusiasm that surged through the come the soul of harmony and touch the 1960s. The group disbanded in the late 1960s, heart. He was a good performer with mandolin And fourth, a tribute to John Duffey written by Dudley Connell for Sing Out! magazine. Mr. and Mr. Duffey went to work as an instru- and guitar, and he was the prince of wit and ment repairman at a music store in the laughter. Connell is lead singer in The Seldom Scene, Cherrydale section of Arlington, which was He was a founding member of two bands which was cofounded by Mr. Duffey. how he was making a living when the Sel- that influenced string band musicians and [From the Washington Post, Dec. 11, 1996] dom Scene was formed. singers across the Nation and around the MUSICIAN JOHN DUFFEY DIES; LED THE GROUP ‘‘When we started the Seldom Scene, we all worldÐthe Country Gentlemen and the Sel- SELDOM SCENE had jobs and we didn’t care if anybody liked (By Bart Barnes) what we did or not,’’ Auldridge told The dom Scene. For more than 20 years, John Washington Post’s Richard Harrington last Duffey and the Seldom Scene could be heard John Duffey, 62, a singer and mandolin player who founded and led the Seldom year. ‘‘We just said, ‘We’re going to do some Thursday nights at the Birchmere in Alexan- Scene bluegrass group for 25 years, died Nov. bluegrass because we love it, and some dria. I had the pleasure of hearing them per- 10 at Arlington Hospital after a heart attack. James Taylor or Grateful Dead, and if people form there often. When my constituents would Mr. Duffey, who was known to music buy it, great. If they don’t, what do we come to town and asked me if there was lovers for a high, lonesome and lusty tenor care?’ ’’ something different they could see, I would al- voice that was once described as ‘‘one in a Mr. Duffey was a large and imposing man ways tell them if they wanted to see the peo- million,’’ had been a fixture in Washington’s with a precise and soulfully expressive voice, and his singing was invariably moving. But ple's music at its finest they should head down musical community since the 1950s. The Sel- dom Scene was probably the premier blue- he also had an engaging, irrepressible and to the Birchmere and see John Duffey and his grass band in the Washington area, accord- sometimes off-the-wall style of stage chatter friends perform. ing to Pete Kuykendall, the publisher of and a superb sense of timing that could John Duffey did not like being boss and he Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and a former break up an audience with a one-liner. liked being bossed even less, so these bands bandmate of Mr. Duffey’s. ‘‘What people love about him is that you were composed of partners. A John Duffey For 22 years, the Seldom Scene has played know he’s one of these guys stuck in the ’50s, comment about band structure can be applied regularly at the Birchmere in Alexandria. but he’s so happy with himself, so confident, to other aspects of life. He said, ``Democracy The group also has toured oveseas, played in and he’s also nuts,’’ Aulridge said in 1989. most of the 50 states and produced dozens of In the quarter-century since its formation, doesn't work all that well, but it keeps a group recordings, tapes and compact discs. the Seldom Scene built its reputation on happy longer than any other way of doing The group’s most recent album is ‘‘Dream flawless harmony, instrumental virtuosity business.'' He knew that from spending almost Scene,’’ released this fall. The Seldom Scene and a repertoire that included traditional 40 years in just two bands. played with other bluegrass bands on the bluegrass and modern popular music, rock A flamboyant performer famed for spoofs of Grammy Award-winning ‘‘Bluegrass: The tunes, swing and country, gospel and jazz. whatever needed spoofing and a general irrev- World’s Greatest Show.’’ Over the last quar- Over the years, there would be changes in erence on stage, John was modest, genial, ter-century, the group has played for the the group’s composition, but until last year, and almost shy off stage. likes of President Jimmy Carter and Vice the instrumental core remained the same: President Gore, as well as for members of Mr. Duffey on mandolin, Eldridge on banjo Like all great artists, John Duffey was aware Congress. and Auldridge on dobro. But Auldridge left of the beauty around him. He grew up in a The group was formed in 1971 by Mr. Duffey the group in December, leaving only two family with a father who was a professional and four others: Tom Gray, who worked for original members. singer, performing at one point for the Metro- National Geographic; Ben Eldridge, a mathe- In September, Mr. Duffey was inducted politan Opera. John seems to have never re- matician and computer expert; Mike along with the original Country Gentlemen jected any music that was in tune, and he had Auldridge, a graphic artist with the Wash- into the International Bluegrass Music Asso- a good ear. ington Star; and John Starling, a physician ciation’s Hall of Fame. He heard and was attracted to the music of and ear, nose and throat specialist. Survivors include his wife, Nancy L. The five men initially intended to sing and Duffey of Arlington. Appalachian migrants to the Washington area play together only occasionally, hence the from the upland South. Music is judged as name, Seldom Scene. ‘‘They started as a fun [From the Washington Post, Dec. 11, 1996] often for its social connection as its sound, thing, like a Thursday night poker game or JOHN DUFFEY: A MANDOLIN FOR ALL SEASONS a bowling night,’’ Kuykendall said. and this music had no status. But Duffey was (By Richard Harrington) not concerned about such things and he gave But the group soon progressed from occa- The National Observer once dubbed John this music a new milieu. Here was a tall man sional basement gettogethers to regular Thursday night appearances at the Red Fox Duffey ‘‘the father of modern bluegrass,’’ a with a crew cut and rapier wit performing bril- Inn in Bethesda, where they played to stand- paternity that suited the muscled, buzz-cut liant bluegrass and able to put any heckler in ing-room-only crowds, and, from there, to mandolinist and high tenor who was co- North America in his seat. the Birchmere, where they became a weekly founder of both the Country Gentlemen in Duffey loved the Appalachian sound, but he fixture. 1957 and the Seldom Scene in 1972. Those two was not from the area and did not care to pre- The Seldom Scene’s 15th-anniversary con- seminal acts not only helped popularize blue- tend that he was. So he helped enlarge the cert was held at the Kennedy Center, and it grass worldwide but made Washington the reach of the music. He chose songs from included a presidential citation from Ronald bluegrass capital of the nation in the ’60s and ’70s. modern and ancient sources; he worked on Reagan, whose press secretary, James Brady, was a regular at the Birchmere. It featured Already reeling from the recent death of vocal harmonies new to the genre. Thousands guest appearances by the likes of Linda bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe, the music of younger players were impressed. Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. and its fans may be excused for feeling or- In an interview on Washington's great Mr. Duffey, a resident of Arlington, was phaned right now. Duffey who died yesterday WAMU radio station, host Jerry Gray recently born in Washington and graduated from Be- at the age of 62 after suffering a heart attack E94 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks January 9, 1997 at his home in Arlington, was, like Monroe, 1957, what would soon be the Country Gentle- Those are the simple, immediate facts, the a towering figure, physically and histori- men played their first date, at the Admiral ones we enumerate when grief makes it dif- cally. Grill in Bailey’s Crossroads. They liked their ficult to think beyond them. John was a Duffey was also one of the most riveting sound, and decided to strike out on their commanding presence in the Washington, and riotous personas in bluegrass, as famous own. It was Duffey who came up with the D.C. area, where he was born, raised and for his (generally politically incorrect) jokes name, noting that a lot of bluegrass bands at hardly ever left. His sheer size and bulk and onstage shenanigans as for ripping off the time were calling themselves the so-and- would have made him stand out in any fiery mandolin solos and then flinging his in- so Mountain Boys. ‘‘We’re not mountain crowd. On stage, when he went to work on strument behind his back when he was boys,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re gentlemen.’’ that comparatively tiny mandolin, it never done—because, well, he was done. And scholars. At least Duffey was, spend- looked like a fair match, especially since ‘‘John was one of the half-dozen most im- ing hours at the Library of Congress’s vast John always made music look so deceptively portant players ever in this industry,’’ fellow Archive of Folk Song, looking for unmined easy. musician Dudley Connell said yesterday. ‘‘He musical treasures. Duffey was a product of John also played resonator guitar on a helped redefine how people looked at blue- the first American folk revival, which had number of early Starday singles, including grass, made it acceptable to the urban introduced urbanites to rural culture. And his notable ‘‘Traveling Dobro Blues.’’ He was masses by his choice of material and style of he in turn passed it on. ‘‘John was one of good at it too, but one can manage just so performance.’’ those people who brought rural music to the much, and John abandoned the instrument Connell, founder of the critically ac- city,’’ says Joe Wilson, head of the National early. Not so his finger-style guitar, which claimed Johnson Mountain Boys, joined the Council for the Traditional Arts. ‘‘He was has replaced or supplemented the mandolin Seldom Scene just a year ago when several of concerned with authenticity even though he in John’s arrangements many times over the that band’s longtime members left to devote didn’t share the [rural] background.’’ years. themselves to a band called Chesapeake. What came to be known as the ‘‘classic’’ John Duffey’s voice was his other superb That changeover represented a third act for Country Gentlemen lineup was settled in instrument. His father had been a profes- John Duffey, the Washington-born son of an 1959 with the addition of guitarist-singer sional singer, serving for a time in the Met- opera singer whose forceful and unusually Eddie Adcock. Duffey (high tenor), Waller ropolitan Opera chorus. John learned a few expressive voice was once described—quite (low tenor) and Adcock (baritone) created vocal secrets from him, especially the arts of accurately— as ‘‘the loudest tenor in blue- one of the finest vocal trios in bluegrass his- breathing and singing from the diaphragm. grass.’’ tory. The band’s repertoire deftly melded They served John well. His vocal agility, re- ‘‘John Duffey had such a presence onstage bluegrass, fold and country tunes in a way markable range, distinctive vocal har- you just had to watch him,’’ noted bluegrass that was both tradition-oriented and for- monies, and lovely intonation remained with and country music radio personality Katie ward-looking. And they began adapting pop- him right up to the end, and his voice was as Daley. ‘‘It wasn’t just that high tenor, ei- ular songs in the bluegrass style. instantly recognizable as any on the planet. ther. He had such flair that he made the Duffey ‘‘gave bluegrass accessibility to Many will remember John’s incredible gift music a joy to watch . . . at a time when so lawyers and accountants and people who for comedy, which grew out of the bad boy many bluegrass groups would just stand worked on Capitol Hill,’’ says Wilson. ‘‘He persona he cultivated on stage. He was a straight-faced at the mike.’’ was an interpreter in the finest sense of the child of the suburbs and his wit was hip and In terms of stubbornness and steel will, word, bringing grass-roots culture to an urbane rather than country. John’s irrever- Duffey was not unlike Bill Monroe, but elite.’’ ence never served to diminish his music, but where Monroe was a tireless proselytizer for Along with Flatt and Scruggs—a duo intro- he could and did ad-lib as skillfully as a pro- bluegrass, Duffey chose a different course duced to mass television audiences by the fessional comic. It was an attitude which had that left him far less famous. ‘‘Beverly Hillbillies’’ theme song—the Coun- been foreign to bluegrass. Before the Coun- ‘‘He was proud but didn’t want to pay any try Gentlemen probably made more blue- try Gentlemen appeared in 1957, hillbilly of the prices—interviews, travel, rehearsing, grass converts in the ’60s than Bill Monroe comedy had been the provenance of bass- recording,’’ says Gary Oelze, owner of the himself. They were criticized in traditional players who specialized in rube routines, Birchmere, the Virginia club put on the bluegrass circles for being too ‘‘progres- blackened teeth, and ill-fitting costumes. world entertainment map by virtue of the sive’’—for playing what was dismissively Their comedy at its best was crude and won- Seldom Scene’s 20-year residency there on dubbed ‘‘newgrass.’’ But on the emerging derful but it was no match for John Duffey, Thursday nights. bluegrass festival circuit and in venues as whose unrepentantly loud, tasteless clothes ‘‘He hated to rehearse, and would only pull un-Shamrock-like as Carnegie Hall, their ap- and flat-top haircut made him look like a out his mandolin when it was time to play,’’ proach made them the music’s most success- comic relic in the ’90s, much as Cousin Mort, Oelze recalled yesterday, ‘‘And he hated the ful ambassadors. Chick Stripling and Kentucky Slim appeared studio, where his theory was, ‘If I can’t do it By 1969, however, John Duffey was frus- to be rural leftovers in the ’50s. right in one take, then I can’t do it right at trated with traveling, terrified of flying, and The Country Gentlemen formed as a result all.’ He’s like Monroe in that both were set generally down on the music business. He re- of a 1957 auto accident involving the band of in their own ways. John was a big dominat- tired to an instrument-building and repair another bluegrass veteran, singer/mandolin- ing character and cantankerous old fart. It’s business in Arlington. In weekly gatherings ist Buzz Busby. Buzz’s band had contracted a hard to imagine the big guy gone.’’ at Bethesda’s tiny Red Fox Inn, he played July 4th engagement; to fill it, banjo player John Starling, a Virginia surgeon who was with other gifted musicians who didn’t want Bill Emerson engaged Charlie Waller, John for many years the Seldom Scene’s lead sing- to give up their day jobs. These sessions Duffey and a temporary bass player. The re- er, concedes that Duffey was ‘‘sometimes dif- blossomed, in 1972, into a band with a modest sult pleased everyone so much that they ficult to deal with from a professional stand- name: the Seldom Scene. gave themselves a new name and kept right point, but he was also true to himself and he The Country Gentlemen survived Duffey’s on working, even after Bill bequeathed the never changed. John was one of a kind.’’ departure, enduring 40 years around Waller, banjo chair to Pete Kuykendall, who subse- Starling first encountered Duffey while in its lone survivor. Perhaps the Seldom Scene quently turned it over to Eddie Adcock in medical school at the University of Virginia will go on, too. But John Duffey was so much 1959. Pete and John became fast friends, and in the mid-’60s; at the time, Duffey was with the focus, the showman, the entertainer— Pete continued to work behind the scenes for the Country Gentlemen and Starling would that huge man with his fingers flying over the Gentlemen, composing new songs for venture to Georgetown to catch them at the his tiny mandolin—that it’s hard to imagine them, introducing them to old ones, and pro- Shamrock on M Street. ‘‘I never dreamed the band, or bluegrass, without him. ducing their records for several years. Bass one day I’d play in the same band,’’ Starling player Tom Gray joined the group later cre- says, adding that ‘‘everything I know about [From Bluegrass Unlimited, Dec. 10, 1996] ating the Classic Country Gentlemen. the music business—especially to stay as far This unique combination of skills trans- JOHN H. DUFFEY away from it as possible—I learned from formed the band virtually overnight. Charlie John. March 4, 1934—December 10, 1996 Waller had always been at home with main- ‘‘Left to our own devices, the Seldom John Humbird Duffey died today. He was stream country music as well as bluegrass. Scene would have cleared a room in 10 min- 62. John and Bill Emerson’s knowledge extended utes without John,’’ Starling says with a I had to write that down and stare at it for to country, pop, jazz, blues and classical chuckle. ‘‘He was the entertainer, the rest of a few seconds to clear my mind and force music. The Country Gentlemen’s first us were players and singers. He did it all.’’ myself to acknowledge that unthinkable Starday release in 1958 clearly showed the Duffey’s career began with a care wreck in and, for now, unacceptable fact of life. His way: ‘‘It’s The Blues,’’ neither blues nor 1957 that injured a mandolin player, Buzz death came from a massive heart attack at bluegrass, was an experimental song which Busby, who fronted a bluegrass group. Bus- 10:20 a.m. at Arlington Hospital, after being would have then seemed challenging even to by’s banjo player, Bill Emerson, quickly taken in early this morning following some Nashville professionals. Its reverse. ‘‘Back- sought substitutes so the band could fulfill a breathing problems. Though he had a history woods Blues,’’ was a jazzy reprise of the 1920s major club date. of minor heart problems, his health had oth- pop standard ‘‘Bye Bye Blues’’ (which wasn’t Emerson found a young guitar player erwise been good—good enough for a success- blues either). named Charlie Waller and a young mandolin ful Seldom Scene performance in the New Marshall McLuhan once defined art as player named John Duffey. And so on July 4 York City area this past weekend. ‘‘anything you can get away with,’’ which January 9, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E95 precisely matched John Duffey’s attitude to- zine. Mr. Connell is lead singer in the Seldom ‘‘Sunrise’’, Bob Dylan’s ‘‘Its All Over Now wards bluegrass. John’s respect for the clas- Scene, co-founded by Mr. Duffey. Baby Blue’’, and a mandolin version of the sic Monroe model was exceeded by no one’s When John Duffey died on December 10, theme from the movie ‘‘Exodus’’. but the Monroe musical constraints which 1996, he left an imposing and very important John also recognized the importance of the defined classic bluegrass were only one op- forty year musical legacy. Folk Revival in the early 1960s and spent a tion for him. The Country Gentlemen’s ec- John was a big guy with commanding considerable amount of time at the Library lectic LP collections proceeded to span the stage presence. With his 1950s style flattop of Congress, researching material and gap from ancient hymns and tragic songs to hair cut, multicolored body builder paints achieving considerable success in composed Ian and Sylvia, Tom Rush, Lefty Frizzel, and and unmatching bowling shirt, he left an in- Bob Dylan pieces, woven into a broad and delible impression. When he arrived at the melodies for old poems he found during his usually scamless fabric by a versatile and in- stage with his trademark mandolin and research. Songs entering the Country Gen- spired group of musicians. home made cup holder, complete with a spe- tlemen’s repertoire in this manner include It turned out to be a perfect formula for cial clip ready to attach to an unattended the classic, ‘‘Bringing Mary Home’’ and ‘‘A those times. Mike Seeger pitched the Gents microphone stand, you knew John was ready Letter to Tom’’. In addition to collecting to Moe Asch, whose Folkways label pub- to go to work. and arranging old songs and poems, John lished four LPs by them. Those recordings His huge hands flew expertly across the composed and dedicated to his wife Nancy, quickly wound up in the hands of urban folk neck of his tiny mandolin at a speed that ‘‘The Traveler’’, and the haunting ‘‘Victim music buffs, becoming bluegrass primers for seemed impossible. He made it look so easy. to the Tomb’’, along with many others. many in northern cities and on college cam- John would occasionally invite other players But by the late 1960s John had tired of all puses. This new audience in turn was recep- in the audience to sit and play his mandolin. the traveling necessary to sustain a blue- tive to John’s adventurous music, and it They invariably found its high and tight ac- grass band. ‘‘I just got tired of saving up to helped pave the way for the Gentlemen’s tion intimidating. Akira Otsuka, a long time go on tour,’’ he said. In 1969 Duffey left the growing international following in the 1960s. Washington area player and John Duffey dis- Country Gentlemen with no intentions of ciple, once looked at me after attempting a As their career heated up, John grew tired performing again. During the 1969 to 1971, break on John’s mandolin and asked, ‘‘How of the necessary travel and retired from John operated a musical instrument repair does he play this thing?’’ music in 1969. But the hiatus proved brief; in shop. 1971 he joined Tom Gray, Mike Auldridge, John’s most remarkable instrument, how- and Ben Eldridge to form the Seldom Scene, ever, was his powerhouse tenor voice. There But in 1971 John again found himself in- whose name indicated that it was a group has never been any voice in bluegrass more volved with music business, and again, by ac- whose ambitions were limited. But lightning unmistakable or capable of such range as cident. He was joined in a informal group by struck again. With John Starling, a singer that of John Duffey’s. It seemed to ignore former Country Gentlemen bassist Tom whose abilities matched John’s, the group human bounds. His voice could range from Gray, and by Ben Eldridge, Mike Aldridge quickly achieved the status and respect pre- the soft and delicate, ‘‘Walk Through This and John Starling. This band would go on to viously accorded the Country Gentlemen. World With Me’’, to the aggressive and pow- be known as the Seldom Scene. By then, the Duffey approach had been la- erful, ‘‘Little Georgia Rose’’. Even at age 62, As the name implies, this group of musi- his voice was both challenging and inspiring beled ‘‘progressive bluegrass,’’ a label which cians did not form with the intention of to accompany. encouraged others to follow John’s example touring and playing music for a living. All John Duffey was as well known for his en- and even exceed it, with pop tunes and rock the members had day jobs and simply wanted tertaining stage swagger as for his incom- arrangements which often became tangential an outlet for their music. John said it was, to the classic models. John’s selections and parable musical abilities. He was like a loose cannon on stage. Unlike many performers ‘‘Sort of a boy’s night out, like a weekly arrangements sought to take alien material card game.’’ The group started out in a mem- and bring it towards bluegrass rather than who have been entertaining for a long period of time, John did not work from scripted ber’s basement, playing for fun, and then force bluegrass to conform to other popular moved to the small Red Fox Inn outside musics. It was the right approach; the stage patter. Anything and anybody was fair game. There were many times John would Washington, DC. The group would later move ‘‘newgrass’’ bands have come and gone while across the Potomac River to a weekly Thurs- the Seldom Scene has prospered and endured. hook onto a unsuspecting heckler in the au- dience and send the rest of the band mem- day night time slot at the Birchmere, in John Duffey wasn’t a sentimental person, Northern Virginia. and he’d probably be embarrassed by an out- bers scurrying for cover. But with that un- pouring of emotion. But it’s hard to envision predictable tension came a certain excite- Not being driven by the financial bluegrass without him, hard for those of us ment and unpredictability that was fuel for contraints to adhere to any of the rules nor- of his generation and beyond not to remem- the fire of all Seldom Scene stage shows. mally associated with a professional touring In his forty years in the bluegrass music, ber many evenings at the Crossroads, the group, the Seldom Scene did the music they John was unique and fortunate to have been Shamrock, the Cellar Door, the Red Fox and wanted to do the way they wanted to do it. the catalyst in forming two landmark bands. the Birchmere, local joints which may not John’s feeling was that ‘‘If people enjoy what The first came by accident, literally. have been up to the standard of the down- we do, fine. If they don’t, that’s okay, too.’’ On July 4th, 1957, Buzz Busby, a legendary town cocktail lounges, but where John, the With this freewheeling attitude, the group Washington area mandolin player and tenor Gents and the Scene enjoyed extended en- continued to stretch their musical reach by singer, was contracted to play a gig at a gagements over the past 40 years. That’s not recording tunes from the Eric Clapton cata- local night spot. When he was involved in an to say that John wasn’t influential beyond log, ‘‘Lay Down Sally’’ and ‘‘After Mid- automobile accident and was unable to make his home environs. He traveled when he had night’’, to long improvisational numbers the show, the group’s banjo player, Bill Em- to, to many parts of the globe, sharing the with extended jams like ‘‘Rider’’. erson, started making phone calls and ar- stage with everyone from Linda Ronstadt to ranged for Charlie Waller and John to fill in. This continuing tendancy to incorporate Bill Monroe—who uncharacteristically, rare- The resulting sound was pleasing to every- influences from outside of the traditional ly failed to crack a smile in John’s presence. one that they decided to give themselves a sources made it easier for the urban audi- John Duffey offstage was a modest and unas- new name and continue playing together. ences around Washington to identify with suming person, who nevertheless was a loyal Never one to follow trends, John felt that bluegrass. It also expanded the group’s popu- friend to many, professionals and fans alike. a band from Washington DC should choose a larity to far beyond the doors of the local DC Even those of us who weren’t close to him name that reflected its own heritage and not club scene. And the experimentation contin- can attest to the way his art touched our use a ‘‘So and So and the Mountain Boys’’ or ued. In the weeks before his death, the cur- lives and made them better. His death will be some other name that suggested they were rent band was in rehearsals for their next re- hard for the many music professionals whom from somewhere they were not. The name cording project and were working on an ar- he inspired, informed and befriended. There John chose was The Country Gentlemen, rangement to the Muddy Waters classic, hasn’t been much that’s taken place in blue- then a very urbane name for a bluegrass ‘‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’’. John Duffey and the grass since the 1950s that he hasn’t influ- band. His former colleague in that group, Seldom Scene continued to be active up to enced one way or another. Charlie Waller, continues to tour and per- the end, playing in Englewood, New Jersey, Survivors include John’s wife Nancy who, form with that band. just days before John’s death. among other things, has been a loyal, appre- Due to the interest of Bill Emerson and John Duffey’s influence on generations of ciative spouse, a daughter, Ginger Allred and John, tunes that were country, pop, blues, musicians cannot be overstated. Noted music three stepchildren: Donald Mitchell, Richard jazz, and classical became fair game for the historian, Dick Spottswood, said, ‘‘There Mitchell and Darci Holt. Country Gentlemen who became noted for hasn’t been much that’s taken place in blue- Goodbye, John, and thank you from the pushing the envelope of the existing blue- grass since the 1950s that he hasn’t influ- bottom of our hearts. Like the ads say, your grass repertoire. John said, ‘‘There were enced one way or another.’’ gifts will keep on giving. enough versions of ‘Blue Ridge Cabin Home’ and ‘Cabin in Caroline’ to go around.’’ He John Duffey is survivied by his wife Nancy [From Sing Out!] was looking for something different. Hence and daughter, Ginger Allred. He also has The following tribute to John Duffey writ- the Country Gentlemen’s song bag included three stepchildren; Donald Mitchell, Richard ten by Dudley Connell for Sing Out! maga- John’s jazzy mandolin interpretation of Mitchell, and Darci Holt.