Bill Yates
Musician · 1936–2015 · Big Rock, Virginia
Best known for
Bass
Bill Yates anchored the Country Gentlemen's bass chair through the band's longest stable era, joining at the end of 1969 and staying for nearly two decades as Charlie Waller's right-hand man through the band's most-recorded years.
- Born April 30, 1936 in Big Rock, Virginia (Buchanan County); came up through the southwestern Virginia bluegrass scene with his older brother Wayne Yates and Red Allen in the Clinch Mountain Ramblers.
- Worked early stints with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and Jimmy Martin before settling into the sideman role he became known for.
- Joined the Country Gentlemen in December 1969, succeeding the John Duffey/Tom Gray era; served as part of the second-classic lineup with Charlie Waller, Bill Emerson, and (briefly) Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs.
- Recorded with the Country Gentlemen across the band's Rebel, Vanguard, and Sugar Hill eras, including One Wide River to Cross (1971), The Award-Winning Country Gentlemen (1971), Remembrances & Forecasts (1974), and Sit Down Young Stranger (1980).
- Retired from the Country Gentlemen in 1989 after 20 years; the band was inducted into the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1996.
- Returned to performing after Charlie Waller's death in 2004; founded Bill Yates & Friends in 2005, which evolved into the Country Gentlemen Tribute Band, where he stepped out from the bass chair to lead-vocal and stage-lead duties.
- Died January 26, 2015 at age 78 from a brain hemorrhage.
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The Country GentlemenPlayed on recordings with The Country Gentlemen
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Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain BoysPlayed on recordings with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys
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Red Allen and the KentuckiansPlayed on recordings with Red Allen and the Kentuckians
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Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass BoysPlayed on recording with Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys