Paul Warren

Musician · 1918–1978 · Lyles, Tennessee

Best known for Fiddle Lead Vocals

Paul Warren was the definitive fiddler of classic Flatt and Scruggs — a master of the old-time Arthur Smith style who joined the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1954 and stayed for the rest of the band's 15-year run, then continued with Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass through his death in 1978. His long-bow fiddling, breakdown tunes, and rare 29-years-without-missing-a-show dedication made him a model bluegrass sideman and a fiddler cited by Andrea Zonn, Roland White, and many others as a formative influence.

Born in Lyles, Tennessee in Hickman County. Father played guitar and banjo; mother played clawhammer banjo. Heavily influenced in his teens by Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, with whom he played extensively offstage before Smith's death.
Rode his bicycle 40 miles each way from home to perform on WSIX, Nashville in 1938 — one of the few early country musicians to graduate high school, then immediately enter professional music.
Joined Johnnie Wright and the Happy Roving Cowboys (later the Tennessee Hillbillies) in 1938. Served 29 months as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II after being captured in combat.
Returned from the war and joined Johnnie and Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys 1946–1954, performing regularly on the Grand Ole Opry. Recorded 76 tracks with Johnnie and Jack and 37 with Kitty Wells — including her breakthrough “It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” (1952), which kicked off the modern country-singer-woman era, and “Release Me.”
Swapped jobs with fiddler Benny Martin at the start of 1954. Martin went to Johnnie and Jack; Warren joined Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys — a move that defined the rest of his life.
Appeared on all 250 recordings Flatt and Scruggs made for Columbia Records 1954–1969 — including Foggy Mountain Banjo, Carnegie Hall, Live at Vanderbilt, and Strictly Instrumental (with Doc Watson).
Pioneered fiddle-and-banjo duets with Earl Scruggs as a concert feature — a practice that resonated with older audiences who remembered fiddle and banjo as the core instruments of country dance music. Examples include “Earl's Breakdown,” “Flint Hill Special,” and “Dear Old Dixie.”
Played on the 1962 recording of “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” — the Beverly Hillbillies theme — a #1 country hit and the highest-charting bluegrass record in history at that time.
Was also one of the few true bass singers in bluegrass, heard on the Foggy Mountain Quartet gospel recordings.
When Flatt and Scruggs split in February 1969, Warren chose to stay with Lester Flatt and joined the Nashville Grass. Recorded over 100 tracks with the Nashville Grass through 1977.
Never missed a showdate with the Foggy Mountain Boys or Nashville Grass except for a few days off for surgery in 1972 — a roughly 24-year streak of professional reliability nearly unmatched in country music.
Never recorded a solo fiddle album during his lifetime due to his employers' policies; CMH Records released a posthumous collection, America's Greatest Breakdown Fiddler, credited to Paul Warren with Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass, in 1978.
BMI credits him with one published composition, “Fiddle and Banjo” (a version of the tune known variously as “Buck Creek Gal,” “Wild Horse,” “Stoney Point,” or “Pigtown Fling”).
Son Johnny Warren continues his fiddle repertoire; recorded A Tribute to Fiddlin' Paul Warren Vols. 1 and 2 (2009, 2011) with noted bluegrass guests.
Died in Nashville on January 12, 1978, at age 59. Inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

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Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys
Played on recordings with Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys
Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass
Played on recordings with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass
Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman
Played on recordings with Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman
Lester Flatt
Played on recordings with Lester Flatt
Curly Seckler and the Nashville Grass
Played on recording with Curly Seckler and the Nashville Grass

Paul Warren

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