Carl Story born 29 May 1916

Carl Story (May 29, 1916 – March 31, 1995 was an American bluegrass musician, and leader of his band the Rambling Mountaineers. He was dubbed "The Father of Bluegrass Gospel Music" by the governor of Oklahoma. He recorded  more than 65 gospel albums, most of them on the Starday label. 

Story was born in Lenoir, North Carolina, United States, into a musically inclined family. His mother played the guitar and his father was an old-time fiddle player who enjoyed collecting recordings of Charlie Poole, Grayson and Whitter, and others.  Carl took up the fiddle at age nine and eventually learned guitar and clawhammer banjo. In the early 1930s, after winning a fiddle contest, he joined J. E. Clark and the Lonesome Mountaineers performing at WLVA in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 1934, he formed the Rambling Mountaineers together with banjo player Johnny Whisnant and guitarists Dudley Watson and Ed McMahan. 

Within a year they played over radio station WHKY in Hickory, North Carolina. It later led to performances at WSPA in Spartanburg, South Carolina and WWNC in Asheville, North Carolina. They recorded for ARC in 1939 and Okeh Records in 1940; however, these recordings were never issued. Story played with Bill Monroe in 1942 as a fiddler - replacing Howdy Forrester who had been drafted - but eventually Story was also drafted in October 1943. 

After his discharge from the U.S. Navy in 1945, he began reforming and performing with his Rambling Mountaineers on the Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round show at WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1947, he recorded for the Mercury label. At the recording sessions of 1947, Story temporarily labelled his band the Melody Four Quartet. During the 1950s, Carl Story's Rambling Mountaineers performed on the Farm and Fun Time Show at WCYB in Bristol, Virginia and on the Cas Walker Show over WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee. His Mountaineers also appeared on radio stations WAYS in Charlotte, North Carolina, WEAS in Decatur, Georgia, and WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina. 

                          

He had a new recording contract on Columbia Records in 1953. Two years later he was back to Mercury Records. In 1957, he switched label to Starday Records, where he stayed for eighteen years. Many of Carl Story's Starday Records albums featured the talents of the Knoxville-based Brewster brothers, Bud and Willie G., along with Claude Boone. It was an extremely talented line-up of musicians. They traveled the country performing great shows and selling lots of records. In early 1957, Carl and his band stopped in Monticello, Kentucky for a show. It was there that he met his wife-to-be, Helen Guffey. In the fall of 1957, Carl returned to Monticello and was hired as a disc jockey at WFLW radio station. He re-met Helen and they started dating. 

About the time that Carl began living and working in Monticello, Mercury Records released the very first bluegrass gospel album ever: "Gospel Quartet Favorites" by Carl Story, which contained timeless classics like There's A Light At The River, Family Reunion and My Lord Keeps a Record, all of which exemplified Story’s raw-edged, “mountain style” of bluegrass singing defined by his distinctive high baritone harmony part and excellent songwriting ability. Following the album's release, Carl and Helen were married. The date was July 17, 1959. They moved to South Carolina, but returned to Monticello in November of 1960, where Carl began a second tenure at WFLW. 

Helen and Carl Story

Carl and his wife Helen left Monticello in late 1960 or early 1961 and moved to nearby Albany, Kentucky, where Carl worked for a few months at WANY radio station. Soon, Carl and Helen left Albany and moved to South Carolina. Carl Story spent the last thirty years of his life in Greer, South Carolina. 

In the 1970s, Carl recorded for several labels, most notably Atteiram Records of Marietta, Georgia, and the newly founded CMH label of Los Angeles, a joint venture involving Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith and former Starday staffer Martin Haerle.  Initial releases on CMH usually consisted of lavishly produced two-LP sets that featured re-recorded versions of past hits.  Such was the case with Carl’s The Bluegrass Gospel Collection.  Single CMH albums included Mountain Music and A Lonesome Wail From the Hills. 

Carl spent the last thirty years of his life in Greer, South Carolina, where he headquartered the Rambling Mountaineers.  As he had done throughout the earlier portions of his career, he supplemented his touring schedule by working during the week as a disc jockey.  His last DJ work was a five-year stint on WESC in nearby Greenville, South Carolina.  Carl passed away in March of 1995 from complications of heart bypass surgery. He was 78 years old.  His funeral was attended by bluegrass royalty, from Bill Monroe on down. 

He was placed in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2007. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & Bluegrass Hall Of Fame)