Masters
Hall of Honor Inductees
Jimmy Martin - Born August 10, 1927
A self-described "poor boy from Sneedville, Tennessee" in references to his early years, Jimmy (James H.) Martin was dubbed "The King of Bluegrass Music" during the 1970s. A major force in defining and establishing the music's so- called "high lonesome sound," he began as lead singer/guitarist with the Blue Grass Boys in October, 1949. In 1955 he formed his Sunny Mountain Boys and became a headline artist on both the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport (1957-1959) and the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree (1959-1962). Jimmy Martin recorded 138 titles for a major record company, many of which, including "Ocean Of Diamonds," "Sophronie," "Widow Maker" and "Sunny Side Of The Mountain," did well in the country music charts of the 1950s-1970s. Virtually all of the songs he popularized came to be regarded as standards. A colorful and consummate entertainer and musician, Jimmy Martin produced profound and enduring influences on the idiom during its critical formative years and throughout the remainder of bluegrass music's first half century.
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