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Charlie Waller passes - THE Country Gentleman

August 19, 2004

Oh boy.....

I just listened to his new CD 2 days ago. I will never forget a private conversation I had with him in the 70's, well before I got into the radio biz. I was at a festival in Shade Gap, Pa and Waller was in his prime. No one came close to his voice. He told me about a woman he had met in China during a tour who he wanted to marry. Who the heck was I that he opened up to me at a water fountain? I was so flattered. He was one of my heroes. Along with John Duffey, now 2/3 of the original Country Gentleman harmony is gone. Six years later at another festival in Geneva , Ohio, of all places, Eddie Adcock, now the lone original member, told me how the three of them would match inflections in intricate detail without ever talking about it in advance. Adcock looked me in the eye and swore that they were experiencing a psychic connection on stage, changing their trios on the spot at many performances. Call it what you like, the results were magic. Charlie Waller was a legend.

Posted by Jim Blum at August 19, 2004 1:32 PM


Comments

I never had the privilege of meeting any of the Country Gentlemen or even seeing them on stage, although I did have the joy of seeing an offspring, the Seldom Scene, in concert in Boston too many years ago. Now from this discussion I find that yet another bluegrass/folk great (John Duffey, is this true?) went away some time before this and I was too far from the world of news and the like to know at the time ... another loss to grieve.

Please give us a Country Gentlemen retrospective sometime soon, it seems fitting...

Posted by: Lelani Arris at August 23, 2004 2:14 AM

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