Fiddler Country US né Howard Wilson Forrester, le 31 Mars 1922 à Vernon, Hickman County  (Tennessee). Howdy Forrester a fait parti des "Bluegrass Boys" de Bill Monroe en 1942. Il est décédé le 1^er Août 1987.

US Country fiddler born Howard Wilson Forrester, 31 March 1922, Vernon, Hickman County, Tennessee, d. 1 August 1987, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. In 1933, the youngest of four Forrester boys, he was struck down by rheumatic fever and during eight months’ convalescing, he learned to play a fiddle that his grandfather had acquired during service in the Civil War. Both his father (who died in an accident on an unmanned rail crossing in 1927) and an uncle were competent fiddlers and he learned much from his Uncle Bob. In the early 30s, he and brothers Clyde (guitar) and Joe (guitar, bass) began to play for local square dances. In 1936, after the family had relocated to Nashville, he played with a group on a local station. In 1938, he and Joe were playing on the Grand Ole Opry, as members of Harold Goodman’s Tennessee Valley Boys. It was Goodman, a founder of theOpry singing trio the Vagabonds, who nicknamed him Howdy. Greatly influenced by Opry star Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith, he left the Opry and played with various groups in Oklahoma and Texas where, in 1940, he met and married Billie Russell, a multi-instrumentalist and singer, who worked under the name of Sally Ann. They returned to Nashville, where between 1940 and 1943, he worked with Bill Monroe, until called for service with the US Navy in World War II (his wife continued to work with Monroe during the time he was away). When discharged in 1964, he moved to Texas, where he played with various bands and on WRLD Dallas. He recorded some Mercury Records sides and worked with fiddler Georgia Slim (b. Robert Rutland, 1916, d. 1969), whom he knew from his late 30s days on theOpry, on theTexas Roundup. In 1949, he returned to Nashville, where he worked on the Opry with Cowboy Copas, until he became a member of Roy Acuff’s Smoky Mountain Boys, in 1951. This marked the start of a long association with Acuff that lasted until his death. He continued to play the Opry but stopped touring with Acuff in 1963 and from 1964-67, he worked as a booking agent and, later, on other administrative duties for Acuff-Rose Music. In 1967, he announced that he would not play professionally again but within three months, he was once again with Acuff on the Opry. In the middle of 1983, continuing chest pains gave rise for concern because of the rheumatic fever he had suffered as a boy and he retired from all but his Opry appearances with Acuff. In late 1986, he had major surgery for the removal of his stomach when he was found to have cancer. To everyone’s amazement, he was soon playing again, and continued to play the Opry with Acuff until mid-June 1987, finally passing away at his home on 1 August that year. He is justifiably rated one of country music’s finest fiddlers and is especially remembered for his exceptional ability to perfect twin fiddle technics, which he first played with Georgia Slim but later developed further on recordings with Kenny Baker and Chubby Wise. Apart from his countless recordings with Acuff, he made solo recordings for several labels including Hickory, Stoneway, Capitol and MGM Records.

http://doodah.net/bgb/HowardHowdyForrester.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howdy_Forrester

Talents : Fiddle

Style musical : Bluegrass, Texas Swing, Old Time

Rutland's Reel (1960) Pretty Polly Ann (1963)

Years in activity :

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles

Albums

01/1960	LP 12" CUB 8008 (US)		FANCY FIDDLIN' - COUNTRY STYLE - Rutland's Reel / Iddler's Waltz / Leather Breeches / Dog In The Rye Straw / Brilliance / Strictly Forrester / High Level Horn Pipe / Sally Goodin' Say Old Man / Cruel Willie / Clarinet Polka / Gray Eagle Horn Pipe
1962	LP 12" MGM E-4035 (US)		FANCY FIDDLIN' COUNTRY STYLE - Rutland's Reel / Iddler's Waltz / Leather Breeches / Dog In The Rye Straw / Brilliance / Strictly Forrester / High Level Horn Pipe / Sally Goodin' Say Old Man / Cruel Willie / Clarinet Polka / Gray Eagle Horn Pipe
1/1963	LP 12" UNITED ARTISTS UAL-3295 (mono) / UAS-6295 (stereo) (US)		FIDDLIN' COUNTRY STYLE - Grandmammy Look At Uncle Sam / Town And Country Fiddler / Memory Waltz / Howdy In Hinckman County / Apple Blossom Polka / Pretty Polly Ann / Doc Harris Hornpipe / The Weaping Heart / Wild Fiddler Rag / Cathy With The Raven Black Eyes / The Last Waltz / Cluckin' Hen
1969	LP 12" KANAWHA 601 (US)		TWIN FIDLING COUNTRY STYLE  - Georgia Slim Ruhland - Howdy FORRESTER - Flop-Eared Mule / Devil's Dream / Alabama Jubilee / Ida Red / Mocking Bird / Fire On The Mountain / Katy Hill / Dusty Miller / Polly Put The Kettle On / Cindy / Beaumont Rag / Rickett's Hornpipe
03/1973	LP 12" STONEWAY STY-127 (US)		HOWDY'S FIDDLE AND HOWDY'S TOO! - Topeka Polka / Grey Eagle / Black And White Rag / Run Johnny Run / Cruel Willie / Durang's Hornpipe / Sally Goodin / Fiddler's Waltz / Trombone Rag / Bully Of The Town / Brown Skin Gal / Build A Little Boat
01/1974	LP 12" STONEWAY STY-136 (US)		BIG HOWDY - Clarinet Polka / Over The Waves / Dill Pickle Rag / Indian Creek / Trot Along My Honey / Uncle Bob / Say Old Man / Beaumont Rag / Liberty / Apple Blossom Polka / Ragtime Annie / Howdy Waltz
09/1975	LP 12" STONEWAY STY-149 (US)		FIDDLE TRADITION - Chubby WISE - Howdy FORRESTER - Cindy / Convict And The Rose / Liberty / In The Pines / Whispering Hope / The Waltz You Saved For Me / A Kind Of Love I Can't Forget / Red River Valley / I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry / Grandfather's Clock / Bottle In The Hand / Over The Wave
09/1975	LP 12" STONEWAY STY-150 (US)		LEATHER BRITCHES - Blackberry Blossom / Old Grey Bonnet / St. Anne's Reel / Rye Bread / The Howdy Polka / Hollow Poplar / Memphis Blues / I Saw The Light / Rose Of Sharon / Red Apple Rag / Leather Britches / Eigth Of January
04/1978	LP 12" STONEWAY STY-168 (US)		STYLISH FIDDLING - Willow Springs / The Blue Danube / Golden Eagle Hornpipe / Legend In My Time / I Love You Because / Ida Red / Gypsy Lament / Slippin' Around / Springtime Polka / Evening Shades / Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
1983	LP 12" COUNTY LP-784 (US)		RED APPLE RAG - Kenny BAKER & Howdy FORRESTER - Little Biddy Acorn In A Great Big Tree / Sugar Tree Stomp / Paris Waltz / Smith's Reel / Little Brown Hand / Dusty Miller / East Tennessee Blues / Red Apple Rag / Little Nancy Roland / Snow Deer / Rinky Dinky Do / Fiddler's Dream / Smith's Rag
09/2010	CD Spring Fed SFR 105 (US)		THE MGM RECORDINGS - Howard "Howdy" FORRESTER - Rutland's Reel / Fiddler's Waltz / Leather Britches / Dog In The Rye Straw / Brilliancy / Strictly Forrester / High Level Hornpipe / Sally Goodin' / Say Old Man / Cruel Willie / Clarinet Polka / Grey Eagle Hornpipe

© Rocky Productions 2/11/2013