Joe Meadows
Musician · 1934–2003 · Basin, West Virginia
Best known for
Fiddle
Joe Meadows was a West Virginia fiddler whose half-century career took him from the Stanley Brothers' Mercury sessions in the mid-1950s through stints with Bill Monroe, Jim & Jesse, and the Lilly Brothers, all the way to a second life on Senator Robert C. Byrd's Capitol Hill staff.
Assisted by AI.
Spot something off? Help us fix it.
- Born Ralph Meadows on December 31, 1934 in Basin, West Virginia; raised in Camp Creek, Mercer County.
- Took the stage name "Joe" while with the Stanley Brothers because the band already had a Ralph; his birth certificate read Ralph.
- Joined the Goins Brothers in summer 1953, then the Stanley Brothers' Clinch Mountain Boys that fall on Curly Ray Cline's recommendation.
- Recorded roughly 30 sides with the Stanley Brothers on Mercury (1953–1955).
- Joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in 1956–1957, and later worked extended stints with Jim & Jesse (late 1950s and 1974–1980).
- Sideman credits also include the Lilly Brothers, Buddy Starcher, Bill & Mary Reid, Carl Story, Larry Sparks, Dave Evans, and the DC-area band Appalachian Reign.
- Moved to Washington, D.C. in 1982 and worked on staff for U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, with whom he occasionally performed.
- Cut roughly ten solo fiddle albums; recognized as a Bluegrass Pioneer by the IBMA. Died in February 2003; Senator Byrd eulogized him on the Senate floor.
-
Larry Sparks and the Lonesome RamblersPlayed on recordings with Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers
-
Jim & JessePlayed on recordings with Jim & Jesse
-
The Stanley BrothersPlayed on recordings with The Stanley Brothers
-
Bill Emerson and Pete GoblePlayed on recordings with Bill Emerson and Pete Goble
-
James KingPlayed on recordings with James King
