Groundhog · Take Me Home

The Stoneman name was on records long before the family band existed. Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman, born near Monarat, Virginia, in 1893, first recorded for OKeh in New York in September 1924, and “The Titanic,” cut early in 1925, became his breakthrough. Through the late 1920s he recorded for Edison, Gennett, OKeh and Victor, alone and with neighbours and kin as his Dixie Mountaineers. In July 1927 he recorded for Ralph Peer at Bristol, Tennessee, and sides made there in the autumn of 1928, with his wife Hattie singing, were billed to the Stoneman Family. His sessions for ARC in New York in January 1934 were his last before the war.

The family band grew out of the Blue Grass Champs, built around Scott Stoneman’s fiddle, Donna’s mandolin and Jim’s bass. As the Bluegrass Champs they cut “Heartaches Keep On Going” and “The Haunted House” for the Bakersfield label in 1957. In May 1959, at Rodel Studio in Washington, D.C., with Don Owens producing, Pop sang and played autoharp on “Hand Me Down My Walking Cane,” issued on Blue Ridge 504 in April 1960. In June 1962 at Starday’s studio in Nashville, Scotty (fiddle and vocals), Van (guitar), Roni (banjo), Donna and Jimmy recorded the album Bluegrass Champs, and Starday 599, “Talking Fiddle Blues” / “That Pal of Mine,” followed that July.

In 1964 the family went west. Around May, the five siblings recorded a live set at World Pacific’s studio in Hollywood with Jack Clement producing, which became the album Big Ball in Monterey (World Pacific 1828, August 1964). The single World Pacific 413 came from the same set: the traditional “Groundhog” with “Take Me Home,” credited to Clement and Reynolds.

Next came Nashville and MGM, with Clement still producing. From November 1965 they recorded at his studio on Belmont Boulevard, and MGM issued seven singles between “Tupelo County Jail” in February 1966 and “Travelin’ Man” in November 1968. The Country Music Association named the Stonemans its Vocal Group of the Year for 1967. Pop died on 14 June 1968. In February 1969 the family overdubbed his recordings for MGM’s Pop Stoneman Memorial Album, and his daughter Patsy took his place in the act. They stayed with Clement for RCA Victor in 1969 and 1970, with singles including “Tecumseh Valley” and “California Blues (Blue Yodel No. 4).” They then turned to smaller labels, among them Million in 1972 and CMH later in the decade. Roni also starred as banjo player and comedienne on Hee Haw, and Pop was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Session details drawn in part from the Bluegrass Discography.