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Composed

BMI’s database credits Carl Story with 178 published compositions, arrangements, including:

  • “I Overlooked an Orchid While Searching for a Rose”
  • “Always Be Kind To Mother”
  • “I Heard My Mother Weeping”
  • “I Love The Hymns They Sang At Mother’s Grave”

Early Influences

  • Riley Puckett
  • Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers
  • G.B. Grayson and Henry Whitter
  • Uncle Dave Macon

Came to Fame With

  • Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers, 1945-1995

Performed With

  • Rambling Mountaineers, c. 1934, 1935-1942
  • J.E. Clark and the Lonesome Mountaineers, c. 1935
  • Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, 1942-1943
  • Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers, 1945-1995

By the Way

  • A broken leg resulting from a line drive ended his hopes of becoming a professional baseball player.
  • Played fiddle for the first decade of his career.
  • One of the first to record the instrumental “Feudin’ Banjos” (as Mocking Banjo”), later a hit in the movie Deliverance as “Dueling Banjos” (1972).
  • Story’s cover recording of Johnny Cash’s “Daddy Sang Bass” enjoyed brisk sales when it appeared as an alternate selection in the Capitol Record Club.

Led the Way

  • The first prominent artist to specialize in bluegrass-style gospel music, he was nicknamed the “Father of Bluegrass Gospel.”
  • Story’s career in traditional country, bluegrass, and gospel music spanned more than six decades.
  • Led one of the first bands to utilize the three-finger style of banjo playing.
  • Fostered the talents of many band members, including Red Rector, Bud and Willie G. Brewster, Bobby Thompson, and Tater Tate.
  • Released the first all-bluegrass gospel album on a major label (Gospel Quartet Favorites, 1958, Mercury Records).
  • Co-wrote “I Overlooked an Orchid,” an early country music hit for Carl Smith in 1950, revived by Mickey Gilley in 1974.
  • Bluegrass Hall of Fame, 2007

Composed

BMI’s database credits Carl Story with 178 published compositions, arrangements, including:

  • “I Overlooked an Orchid While Searching for a Rose”
  • “Always Be Kind To Mother”
  • “I Heard My Mother Weeping”
  • “I Love The Hymns They Sang At Mother’s Grave”

Early Influences

  • Riley Puckett
  • Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers
  • G.B. Grayson and Henry Whitter
  • Uncle Dave Macon

Came to Fame With

  • Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers, 1945-1995

Performed With

  • Rambling Mountaineers, c. 1934, 1935-1942
  • J.E. Clark and the Lonesome Mountaineers, c. 1935
  • Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, 1942-1943
  • Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers, 1945-1995

By the Way

  • A broken leg resulting from a line drive ended his hopes of becoming a professional baseball player.
  • Played fiddle for the first decade of his career.
  • One of the first to record the instrumental “Feudin’ Banjos” (as Mocking Banjo”), later a hit in the movie Deliverance as “Dueling Banjos” (1972).
  • Story’s cover recording of Johnny Cash’s “Daddy Sang Bass” enjoyed brisk sales when it appeared as an alternate selection in the Capitol Record Club.

Led the Way

  • The first prominent artist to specialize in bluegrass-style gospel music, he was nicknamed the “Father of Bluegrass Gospel.”
  • Story’s career in traditional country, bluegrass, and gospel music spanned more than six decades.
  • Led one of the first bands to utilize the three-finger style of banjo playing.
  • Fostered the talents of many band members, including Red Rector, Bud and Willie G. Brewster, Bobby Thompson, and Tater Tate.
  • Released the first all-bluegrass gospel album on a major label (Gospel Quartet Favorites, 1958, Mercury Records).
  • Co-wrote “I Overlooked an Orchid,” an early country music hit for Carl Smith in 1950, revived by Mickey Gilley in 1974.
  • Bluegrass Hall of Fame, 2007

From the Archives

From the Archives: Red Smiley. Bill Harrell, Birch Monroe, and Carl Story at Bean Blossom 1971. Photo by Ron Petronko.

From the Archives: Carl Story with the Rambling Mountaineers (L-R) Frank Hamilton, C.E Ward, Lee Jones, Bruce Jones and Carl Story at Garland, Texas 1971. Photo by Ron Petronko.

"It was no trouble at all to sell 20,000 song books a week."
Quoted by Don Rhodes in "Carl Story," Pickin', January 1978.
"The Release "Light at the River"/"Mocking Banjo" is probably the most important single in Carl Story's recording history."
Ivan Tribe, from "Carl Story: The Father of Bluegrass Gospel," Precious Memories, Journal of Gospel Music, September-October 1988.
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