Vernon Derrick
Musician · 1933–2008 · Grant, Alabama
Best known for
Bass
Mandolin
Vernon Derrick was a self-taught fiddler and mandolinist from north Alabama whose four-decade career bridged hard-traditional bluegrass and mainstream country, anchoring Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys in the 1960s and playing on Hank Williams Jr.'s outlaw-country breakthrough recordings of the early 1980s.
- Born November 7, 1933 in Grant, Alabama; grew up in Arab, Alabama, where he lived for the rest of his life. Self-taught and credited with perfect pitch.
- Played briefly with Flatt & Scruggs as a teenager before US Army service; toured and recorded with the Stanley Brothers in the late 1950s after his discharge.
- Joined Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys in 1964 and remained a regular through 1970, recording across Martin's Decca-era catalog.
- Played fiddle and mandolin on Hank Williams Jr.'s Bama Band, including the original sessions for "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down" and "A Country Boy Can Survive."
- Joined Hank Williams III's Damn Band from 1995 to 1999.
- Released the solo fiddle instrumental album Grass Country (Revonah, 1972) with James Monroe, David Dougherty, Buck White, and Cheryl White; his original "The Arab Bounce" became a bluegrass standard.
- Recognized by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame as an Achiever.
- Died January 4, 2008 at age 74 of heart and kidney failure.
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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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The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain BoysPlayed on recordings with The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys
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Jimmy Martin and Ralph StanleyPlayed on recordings with Jimmy Martin and Ralph Stanley