Jim Eanes born 6 December 1923

Jim Eanes (December 6, 1923 – November 21, 1995) Though never considered a major star, Smilin' Jim Eanes was an influential figure in both bluegrass and country music for over five decades. 

He was born Homer Robert Eanes, Jr. in Mountain Valley, Virginia and grew up in Martinsville. He received his first guitar at age nine from his banjo-picking father. The Eanes family

immigrated to America as a Sephardic Jewish family who settled in the Virginia and West Virginia area. Most of the Eanes family became non-observant in practice.

Eanes suffered an injury to his left hand; despite the difficulty and pain, he still managed to master rhythm guitar. He spent his early teen years playing square dances with his father's informal string band, and at age 16 joined Roy Hall's Blue Ridge Entertainers at a Roanoke radio station, and remained with the band until Hall died in 1943.Following World War II, Eanes joined Uncle Joe & the Blue Mountain Boys. He also worked briefly with Flatt & Scruggs, and in 1948, with Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys.

In 1949, he made his solo recording debut on the Capitol label together with Homer Sherrill on fiddle and Snuffy Jenkins on banjo, resulting in a poular record "Baby Blue Eyes."  Two years later, in 1951, Eanes formed "The Shenandoah Valley Boys" recording for both the Blue Ridge and Rich-R-Tone label. The Shenandoah Valley Boys performed at radio station "WWVA Wheeling Jamboree". After receiving a recording contract on Decca Records, on the proposal of the A & R man, he changed his musical style from bluegrass to country music and received good chart success with several singles such as, “I Cried Again”, “Rose Garden Waltz” and “Little Brown Hand”.

                             

The singles he released sold well enough, but they didn't make the charts. His contract with Decca expired in 1955 and Eanes, by then billing the band "Smilin' Jim & His Boys," began recording with Starday. His debut single, "Your Old Standby," became one of his signature songs. Over the next five years, he and the Shenandoah 
Valley Boys recorded albums on both Starday and Blue Ridge. Eanes wrote many of his own songs, and one of his best from this period was "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could," which became a number one hit for Ricky Skaggs in 1982.

 His band by now consisted of Roy Russell on fiddle, Allen Shelton on banjo, and Arnold Terry on bass.  Another heart touching gospel song he wrote "Not Afraid" was widely recorded by many well known artists.

Jim with Johnny Cash

During the '60s, Eanes worked as a deejay on different Virginia radio stations; he also occasionally performed and recorded songs on small independent labels. He recorded his first bluegrass album, Your Old Standby, in 1967. His next two albums, Jim Eanes and Rural Rhythms Present Jim Eanes, featured backing by Red Smiley & the Bluegrass Cut-Ups. Smiley and his band appeared regularly on WWVA's Wheeling Jamboree and when Red decided to retire, Eanes took over the band and renamed it the Shenandoah Cutups. The band cut an album in 1970 and shortly after broke up.

Eanes began hosting festivals and recording bluegrass albums for smaller labels; among them was the excellent Cool Waters Flow. His heavy touring schedule was interrupted in 1978 when he suffered a heart attack. He recovered by the next year and launched a tour of Western Europe, which he repeated in 1980 and 1982; while visiting Belgium, he cut an album with a local band, Smoketown Strut. During the rest of the '80s, he cut back on his touring but continued recording. In 1990, he celebrated his five decades in the industry with the album 50th Anniversary. By this time emphysema caused Eanes major problems but, in spite of his health issue, he continued to make some local appearances and even completed an album with his old friend Bobby Atkins for Rural Rhythm titled Heart Of The South in 1991.

In 1993 Jim was inducted into IBMA’s Hall of Fame receiving a Certificate of Merit for Lifetime Achievement. His last performance was at the Andy Griffith Theatre in Mt. Airy, NC in  August 1995. He died of congestive heart failure in the Blue Ridge Centre, Martinsville, Virginia on November 21, 1995. His fine vocals and songwriting over the years earned him the universal nickname of The Bluegrass Balladeer.

 (Edited mainly from Wikipedia & Airplay direct)

Here’s a song Jim first recorded on the 19th October 1953 with the Shenandoah Valley Boys for Decca Records. He re-recorded it in a bluegrass setting in late 1979 and it appeared on his Rebel Album "Bluegrass Ballads".  Jim Eanes - vocals and rhythm guitar with

Dennis Schut - lead guitar.