113:. He changed his mind when he heard them sing and immediately signed them to a recording contract. A discussion arose concerning what they should call themselves. Since they couldn't use the previous name "the Blue Ridge Hillbillies" - it had been taken by Homer Sherrill when the brothers left WGST - they decided to use "Blue Sky Boys" as their name. Their choice of name came from the nickname of western
175:, and during a trip to California to perform at the UCLA Folk Festival, the brothers spent two days in the studio recording an album for Capitol Records. But by the end of the 1960s they had decided to call it quits again.
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circuit. Between 1941 and 1946 both brothers served in the military; after their discharges they returned to
Atlanta and resumed recording with RCA. Some of their sides featured fiddle playing from
132:" became an instant success. It sold so fast the brothers were dubbed "The New Hillbilly Kings. Between 1937 and 1941 the group recorded about 100 songs for RCA to considerable success on the
182:, and another round of folk and bluegrass circuit touring ensued. Following this, Bill moved back to his birthplace and lived in Longview, North Carolina, while Earl retired to
74:. Eventually, they decided to switch instruments and Bill chose the mandolin while Earl concentrated on the guitar. They made their radio debut in 1935 at local radio station
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of the "Crazy
Hickory Nuts" they formed the "Good Coffee Boys" in the late 1935. Six months later, in June 1936, the Bolick brothers moved to
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46:, as the fourth and fifth siblings in a family of six children. Their parents, who were deeply religious and belonged to the First
140:, Sam "Curly" Parker, Joe Tyson and Richard Hicks. They enjoyed a number of hits just after the war, but disliked the burgeoning
94:. Because they were sponsored by the "Crazy Water Crystal", they had to perform using the name "(Crazy) Blue Ridge Hillbillies".
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of their radio recordings in 1962, they decided to reunite and record again. Two LPs of new material followed, one secular (
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In the 1990s, Copper Creek
Records issued a series of four albums with live radio transcriptions from the 1940s.
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as part of the "Crazy
Hickory Nuts". Sponsored by the "J. F. Goodson Coffee Company and together with
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man, was reluctant to hear the brothers sing, accusing them of copying the
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Bogdanov, Vladimir - Woodstra, Chris - Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2003)
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Once more, in 1975, they were convinced to record again, this time for
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Bill became a postal clerk in his birth state and Earl took a job at
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style and refused to record it. When RCA asked them to play with an
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The Blue Sky Boys: The Very Best of
Classic Country Remastered
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The
Original and Great: Early Authentic Country Recordings
398:Hillbilly: A Cultural History of An American Icon
309:Bogdanov, Woodstra, Erlewine 2003, p. 70.
66:while Earl on the other hand learned to play
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271:(5-CD box set, 2007 (JSP Records JSP7782).
263:A Treasury of Rare Song Gems From The Past
42:The brothers were born and raised in West
30:(November 16, 1919 – April 19, 1998) and
445:Country music groups from North Carolina
257:Farm & Fun Time Favorites Vol. 1 - 2
97:In Atlanta, the Bolick brothers went to
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404:Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music
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259:(2 volumes), 1996 (Copper Creek)
465:American bluegrass music groups
455:American bluegrass mandolinists
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26:duo consisting of the brothers
416:Country Music: The Rough Guide
265:(Compilation CD), 2007 (Gusto)
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217:Presenting the Blue Sky Boys
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101:for an audition. At first,
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386:All Music Guide To Country
155:Aircraft in Atlanta. When
117:: "Land of the Blue Sky".
16:American country music duo
408:Wolfe, Charles K. (2001)
353:Harkins 2005, p. 92.
344:Erbsen 2003, p. 109.
130:Where the Soul Never Dies
122:Charlotte, North Carolina
80:Asheville, North Carolina
396:Harkins, Anthony (2005)
392:Rural Roots of Bluegrass
291:McNeil 2005, p. 41.
371:Wolfe 2001, p. 98.
362:Wolfe 2001, p. 97.
323:Wolfe 2001, p. 99.
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332:Wolff 2000, p. 9.
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167:) and one religious (
249:(4 volumes), 1993 (
247:On Radio Vol. 1 - 4
213:, 1964 (RCA Camden)
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128:" coupled with "
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193:Discography
99:RCA Records
32:Bill Bolick
28:Earl Bolick
434:Categories
379:References
142:honky tonk
276:Footnotes
107:A & R
38:Biography
425:Allmusic
153:Lockheed
68:mandolin
105:, the
72:guitar
60:guitar
64:banjo
52:hymns
92:WGST
76:WWNC
70:and
62:and
54:and
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161:LP
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