Living:
Wilma Lee Cooper & Stoney Cooper
Phyllis Curtin
Robert Drasnin
The Lilly Brothers & Don Stover
Charlie McCoy

Deceased:
Ann Baker
Maceo Pinkard
Red Sovine
Frankie Yankovic

BIOS:

Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper

Wilma Lee Cooper. Born 1921. Valley Head, Randolph County

Dale T. "Stoney" Cooper (1918-1977). Harman, Randolph County

Alternately called bluegrass, mountain music, hillbilly, and country, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, a champion fiddler, first achieved prominence in the 1940s. Growing up as Wilma Leigh Leary, she worked as a member of West Virginia's regionally famed performing Leary Family, developing her celebrated delivery of gospel and devotional songs at the same time. For 40 years the two performed as one of country music's most popular duos. Their decade-long stints on the "Wheeling Jamboree" and the "Grand Ole Opry" led to recording contracts with both Columbia and Decca. Wilma Lee, a skillful banjoist, guitarist and organist, wrote or co-wrote several of their most successful compositions including "Cheated Too," "Loving You," "I Tell My Heart" and "Heartbreak Street." The duo's rousing, old-style jubilee hits of the '50s and '60s included "There's a Big Wheel," "This Old House" and "Big Midnight Special." After Stoney's death in 1977, she continued performing with her group the Clinch Mountain Clan and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry regularly until 2001, when she had a stroke onstage. Although doctors said she would never walk again, in February 2005, during an Opry set hosted by Emmylou Harris, Wilma Lee Cooper walked onto the stage of the Ryman Auditorium to a standing ovation. The Smithsonian Institution honored Wilma Lee as the "First Lady of Bluegrass" in 1974.

Phyllis Curtin
Born 1921. Clarksburg, Harrison County

Esteemed American soprano and teacher, Phyllis Curtin is one of WV's few representatives to the Metropolitan Opera. Curtin studied at Wellesley College and the New England Conservatory. In 1946, Curtin made her operatic debut as Lisa in "The Queen of Spades" with the New England Opera Theatre in Boston. Her recital debut followed in 1950 at New York's Town Hall. In October, 1953, she made her first appearance with the NYC Opera as Fraulein Burstner in Gottfried von Einem's "The Trial" where she remained on the roster until 1960, then returned in 1962, 1964 and 1975-6. She also made appearances at the Teatro Colon in Buenas Aires (1959), the Glyndebourne Festival (1959), the Vienna State Opera (1960-1) and at La Scala in Milan (1962). In November, 1961, she made her Metropolitan opera debut in New York as Fiordiligi, remaining on its roster for the season. She returned for the 1966-70 and 1972-73 seasons. Her tours as a soloist with orchestras and as a recitalist took her all over the globe until her retirement in 1984. Curtin taught at the Aspen (CO) School of Music and the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood. After serving as professor of voice at the Yale University School of Music (1974-83), she was professor of voice and dean of the school of arts at Boston University (from 1983). In 1992, she retired as its dean but continued to teach there. Curtin became well know for such roles as Mozart's Countess, Donna Anna, Rosalinde, Eva, Violetta, Alice Ford, Salome and Ellen Orford. She also created Floyd's Susannah (1955) and Cathy in "Wuthering Heights" (1958).

She has taught in the Beijing Conservatory, the Moscow Conservatory and in Tbilisi. While she no longer performs, she continues to teach a Master Class at the Tanglewood Music Center, summer home of the Boston Symphony. She also teaches at the Music School in Boston University's College of Fine Arts where she serves as Dean Emerita of the College and artistic adviser to the Opera Institute.

Robert Drasnin
Born 1927. Charleston, Kanawha County

Few musicians have the opportunity and skill to cover as much ground as Robert Drasnin. His credits include stints in classic combos and big bands like Red Norvo, Skinny Ennis, Tommy Dorsey and Les Brown while his recordings, notably his 1959 release "Voodoo," remains a classic of the "exotica" genre and was re-released to critical acclaim in 1996. Drasnin also arranged Martin Denny's "Latin Village" LP. Born in Charleston, Drasin was raised in Los Angeles. Starting out an alto sax player, he later switched to flute. After the early 1950s, he worked primarily as a studio musician and arranger. He earned a Master's in composition at UCLA and became an associate conductor of the UCLA Symphony. In 1966, he scored CBS Playhouse's "Death of a Salesman" which was produced by David Suskind. During that period he also scored 26 made for TV movies, John Huston's "The Kremlin Letter" and an early Jack Nicholson western, "Ride in the Whirlwind." He eventually became musical director for CBS television where he scored shows including "Lost in Space," "The Wild, Wild West" and "Mission: Impossible." He and Gerald Fried handled most of the scoring work on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." after Lalo Schifrin left. In the mid-'90s, he began touring with guitarist/archivist/arranger Skip Heller and, along with Heller and ex-X drummer D.J. Bonebrake, recorded an album of standards in a film noir style under the title of "The Blue Dahlias" in 1997. He issued "Voodoo II" in 2007 and supported the release with select live shows around the country. Drasnin continues to teach film and music composition at UCLA.

The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover

Everett Lilly. Born 1924. Clear Creek, Raleigh County

Michael Burt "B" Lilly (1921-2005). Clear Creek, Raleigh County

Don Stover (1928-1996). Clear Creek, Raleigh County

Steeped in the brother-duet tradition of the early 1930s, "B" and Everett Lilly began performing professionally in 1938, over Beckley radio station WJLS. With B on guitar and singing lead, Everett played mandolin and usually sang the high tenor part. Everett later took up the fiddle. The pair was soon joined by neighbor and banjo player Don Stover, and their band became popular locally and throughout the South. Highlighting distinctive and energetic versions of songs initially made popular by the Carter Family and the Monroe Brothers, the trio later played over WCHS radio in Charleston and WWVA in Wheeling. In the early 1950's, Everett spent two years playing mandolin and singing tenor with Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs. Then, in 1952, the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover, together with fiddler Tex Logan, accepted an offer in Boston, MA, where they stayed for the next 18 years. Known as the Confederate Mountaineers, they performed as many as seven nights a week in local bars and honky tonks, including the infamous Hillbilly Ranch, as well as the Hayloft Jamboree and the Boston Jamboree. In 1970, the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover introduced bluegrass music to Japan. They were an immediate sensation and spent several years touring and promoting bluegrass music throughout Japan, where bluegrass and old-time music remain popular today. The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover retired from professional music in the late 1970s but continued to perform at festivals, concerts, and local events. The Lilly Brothers were inducted into the Massachusetts Country Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and Don Stover was inducted the following year. In 2002, the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Don Stover passed away in 1996, at age 68. B Lilly passed away in 2005, at age 83. Everett Lilly, now 84, continues to play and perform with his sons in a band called Everett Lilly and the Lilly Mountaineers.

Charlie McCoy
Born 1941. Oak Hill, Raleigh County

The undisputed king of bluegrass and country harmonica, McCoy has been a studio mainstay in Nashville for 39 years - often working as many as 400 sessions a year. He has released 34 albums, and recorded and/or performed with Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Ween, the Steve Miller Band and virtually every classic country artist from George Jones and Johnny Cash to Dolly Parton and Alabama. A versatile multi-instrumentalist, his work on harmonica, guitar and horns, can be heard on seminal Dylan LPs including "John Wesley Harding,' "Highway 61 Revisited," "Blond on Blond" and "Nashville Skyline." McCoy also served as musical director for the TV show "Hee-Haw" for 19 years. He has won a Grammy Award, two Country Music Association Awards, eight Academy of Country Music Awards and has charted more country instrumentals than any artist. Additionally, he has won numerous awards provided by the three music industry trade publications, Billboard, Cash Box and Record World. In addition to his long list of sessions and his own releases, McCoy was a member of two legendary Nashville bands, Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. He has toured Europe and Japan regularly since 1989.

Ann Baker
(1915-1999). Charleston, Kanawha County

Known as "Charleston's First Lady of Jazz," Ann Baker grew up in Washington, PA, and got her start singing in Pittsburgh jazz clubs alongside such notables as Harry and Jerome Betters and Bernie Crenshaw. By 1941, she'd been discovered by Louis Armstrong, and made her Broadway debut with his band. She later joined big bands led by Lionel Hampton and Count Basie before taking on her signature gig. Baker replaced Sarah Vaughan in Billy Eckstine's band. Known by many as "The Dream Band," it featured a lineup that included Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis and Art Blakey. During her tenure with Eckstine, Baker was featured in the 1946 film "Rhythm in a Riff" in which she sang "I Cried For You." As big bands went out of vogue toward the end of the '40s, Baker retired from the road and married Charleston tennis star and restaurateur Delaney "Wag" Wagner, who owned Wag's Barbecue, a downtown hot spot. While in Charleston, Baker continued to perform, backed by local combos like The Earl Tate Trio, The Francis Taylor Trio, and the Billy J Trio, which featured Hubert "Rabbit" Jones on bass. The couple also started a West Side club called The Shalamar. There, Baker sat in with a succession of big names from Nat King Cole to Hampton to pianist Errol Garner. Before integration, the club attracted lawyers, doctors, politicians - clientele from among the elite of Charleston. Baker was a regular at the old West Virginia Jazz Festival, and later had a jazz series at Charleston's Multifest named in her honor.

Maceo Pinkard
(1897-1962). Bluefield, Mercer County

Maceo Pinkard, the songwriter who made "Sweet Georgia Brown" a popular standard for decades after its composition, was born in Bluefield, WV, in 1897. He graduated from the Bluefield Colored Institute in 1914 and wrote his first major song, "I'm Goin' Back Home," one year later. Among Pinkard's other compositions were "Sugar, That Sugar Baby of Mine" and "Them There Eyes," which was popularized by Billie Holiday. Maceo Pinkard toured with his own orchestra, wrote the all-black revue, "Liza," in 1922, and ran a theatrical agency before moving to New York and becoming the first African-American to own a music publishing business. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1984. His most famous song, "Sweet Georgia Brown" was co-written with bandleader Ben Bernie and Ken Casey and was introduced by Bernie's orchestra soon after it was composed in 1925. But it became best known as the theme song for the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. "Sweet Georgia Brown" has been recorded by a staggering array of artists including: Jimmy Smith, The Beatles, Nancy Sinatra, Ray Charles, Boots Randolph, Doc Watson, Joe Pass, Sarah Vaughan, Django Reinhardt, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Al Hirt, Chet Atkins, Ethel Waters, Pearl Bailey, Charlie Parker, Glenn Miller, Bob Wills, Mel Torme, Mills Brothers, Boots Randolph, Joe Venuti, Bucky & John Pizzareli, Dizzy Gillespie and Harry Connick. "Them There Eyes" has been covered by Diana Ross, Stan Kenton, Louis Prima and Chaka Kahn. Maceo Pinkard died in New York City 1962.

Red Sovine
(1918-1980). Charleston, Kanawha County

Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine, best known for sentimental talking numbers like "Giddy-up Go" and "Teddy Bear," was born in Charleston in 1917. Inspired by the legendary WCHS radio show and local artists like Buddy Starcher, Sovine appeared on WCHS in Charleston and Wheeling's WWVA. In 1948, he formed the Echo Valley Boys, moved to Shreveport, LA, and began performing on KWKH's "Louisiana Hayride." Fellow Hayride performer Hank Williams helped land Sovine a deal with MGM Records. After releasing 28 singles, another Hayride pal, Webb Pierce, steered Sovine to Decca Records in 1954. Two years later, his first No. 1 hit, a duet with Pierce on a version of George Jones' "Why Baby Why," led to Sovine joining the Grand Ole Opry. But it was in the mid-'70s that Sovine scored his biggest sides, trucker-themed recitations "Phantom 309," "Truck Driver's Prayer," "Teddy Bear" and "Giddy-Up Go." Sovine died in Nashville in 1980 after suffering a heart attack.

Frankie Yankovic
(1915-1998). Davis, Tucker County

America's undisputed Polka King, Frankie Yankovic did more to popularize polka music than any other single performer and remains the yardstick by which all other polka artists are measured. He was the first to score a million-selling single, the first to perform on TV, and the first to win a Grammy for "Best Polka Album." Yankovic was born to Slovenian immigrants in the small logging town of Davis. After his father was caught bootlegging liquor, the family abruptly moved to Cleveland where at age nine Frankie began taking button accordion lessons. By the age of 16, he switched to the more challenging piano accordion and soon formed his own polka band making regular appearances on a local Slovenian radio show. After being turned down by both Columbia and RCA, Yankovic put out a 78 rpm record on his own Yankee label which became a local hit and prompted another self-released and self-distributed follow-up in 1939. In 1941, he opened his own bar which allowed his band to play closer to home. Yankovic enlisted in 1943, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and returned home to find Columbia had reconsidered its earlier rejection and offered him a contract. In 1948, he was first crowned "America's Polka King" at a contest in Milwaukee (where he later won a battle of the bands against Duke Ellington) and went on to score a major national hit with "Just Because," a gold selling cover of a relatively obscure country song. His 1949 follow-up, "Blue Skirt Waltz," was another big seller. Yankovic brought his band to Hollywood in the early-'50s where they recorded with Doris Day and made several short films for Universal that showcased his band. He continued to perform through the '50s and '60s, waxing many of the genre's best-known songs including "Beer Barrel Polka," "Who Stole the Keeshka," "Too Fat to Polka," and "In Heaven There Is No Beer."