Jimmy Brock
Musician · Lamar County, Alabama
Best known for
Fiddle
Jimmy Brock was an Alabama-born fiddler whose career stitched together two-and-a-half generations of bluegrass — from Carl Sauceman's Green Valley Boys in the early 1950s to a Bill Monroe fill-in seat in the late '70s, with a long stretch beside Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys in between.
- Born James Earl Brock Sr. in Lamar County, Alabama; learned old-time fiddle from his father, uncles, and Charlie Stripling.
- Joined Othel Sullivan's WVOK Birmingham radio band at age 14 around 1948.
- Spent roughly a decade with Carl Sauceman & the Green Valley Boys; recordings for Capitol, Republic, and D labels.
- Played fiddle with Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys, cutting Epic sides 1964–1966 plus Old Dominion and Double J sessions in the early 1970s.
- Released the LP "Sawdust from the Bow of Jim Brock" (1974) with Jesse McReynolds, Joe Stuart, and Vic Jordan; a second album, "Me and My Fiddle," followed in 2014.
- Filled in for Kenny Baker in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys after Baker's hand injury in July 1977, continuing on selected dates through 1978–79.
- Mentored a young Ruby Jane Smith starting around 2002.
- Son Jimmy Dale Brock played bass with Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper, Carl Jackson, and the Osborne Brothers.
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Jim and Jesse and the Virginia BoysPlayed on recordings with Jim and Jesse and the Virginia Boys
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The Osborne Brothers and Mac WisemanPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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The Osborne BrothersPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers
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Benny MartinPlayed on recording with Benny Martin