Published: August 22, 2009 08:21 pm      

Road to Bluegrass Hall of Fame lined with memorable tales

BLUEFIELD — At some point in the 1930s when the nation was just starting to get back on its feet, a pair of Mingo County coal miners from Gilbert Creek — Cline brothers, Ezra and Curly Ray — traded in their pick and shovel for a fiddle and a bass, left their bank clothes behind, bought cowboy shirts and hats and hit the road with lots of twists and turns that ultimately led them to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

The International Bluegrass Music Association announced, last week, that the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, a group that three Cline brothers — Ezra, “Curly” Ray and Ireland “Lazy Ned” Cline — formed in 1938 with WHIS radio pitchman Gordon Jennings, who was an accomplished singer/guitarist in his own right, and all the personnel who worked with the band through the years, will be inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Nashville on Oct. 1.

“Dad was a showman,” Scotty Cline said last week during a telephone interview from his home in Lexington, Ky. “We lived on Raleigh Street in Bluefield. Dad was on the radio every morning and he also played shows every Sunday out at Glenwood Park. To look back at it now, people wouldn’t believe the people who came through here and played at dad’s shows in Glenwood Park. The Sons of the Pioneers were out there, Little Jimmy Dickens — everybody in bluegrass music stopped by to see dad at one time or another.

The road to superstardom on the bluegrass highway wasn’t paved with greenbacks and gold. Rather, Cousin Ezra and his Lonesome Pine Fiddlers had to struggle every hour of every day, week, month and year just to make ends meet.

“They didn’t have CDs that they could sell at their shows to make money,” Scotty Cline, 65, said. “They used to play what dad called ‘candy shows.’ They would go to a store and pick up some gummy candy that came in boxes about the size of a Cracker Jacks box. Dad would also buy a $7 watch and stuff a certificate for the watch in one of the boxes.

“They would drive into a town early in the day, pulling a flat bed trailer behind their car,” Scotty Cline continued. “They would put advertising posters out all around town advertising the show, then set the trailer up to serve as their stage. The show would start what ever time it was supposed to start, and when they took their first break, the fellows in the band would go out among the crowd selling boxes of candy for a quarter a box — all the while, dad would be explaining that there is a certificate in one of the boxes for a brand new wristwatch.

“He called those shows his ballyhoos,” Scotty Cline said. “They used to do pretty good at it too. I asked Melvin Goins what they got paid for those shows, and he told me that all the musicians received $5 each except for Curly Ray who got $8. They did that for a good long time.”

The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers underwent many incarnations through the years. Gordon Jennings left during the World War II years to join another group, the St. Louis-based Carson Cowboys, while Ireland Cline made the supreme sacrifice for his country during the June 6, 1944 Normandy invasion. “I am named for my Uncle Ireland,” Scotty Ireland Cline said. “That’s my middle name.” Scotty and his older sister, Patsy, are the children of Ezra and Margaret Cline. Curly Ray even left for a time to work with Ralph Stanley.

Charlie Cline, who replaced Ireland, eventually went to play and record with Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. Others who were in the group included Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers fame, Larry Richardson, Ray Morgan, Paul Williams, Ray Goins, Melvin Goins, Sammy Willis and others. The group went from Bluefield to Oak Hill for a time then on to Detroit where they worked for a period of time with the Davis Sisters, and also on WJR radio. One of the sisters, Skeeter Davis, gained success as a solo act.

Eventually, “Cousin” Ezra brought his Lonesome Pine Fiddlers to Pikeville, Ky., where he worked on WLSI radio and performed at dances. Through the years, he and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Scotty said that during one show, the great Patsy Cline introduced herself to him, and told him that every where she went, people asked her if she was Ezra Cline’s daughter. During another show, a young performer came up and introduced himself to Cline.

“When he walked away, dad asked: ‘Who was that greasy-haired fellow?’ Curly told him it was Elvis Presley, and they went out and did their show,” Scotty Cline said. “Dad didn’t know how big he and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers were. They were offered the Martha White show on WSM radio in Nashville, but turned it down. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs took the job, and it turned out to be a good decision for them.”

When he retired, Ezra Cline opened “Cousin Ezra’s Restaurant’ in Pikeville,” Scotty Cline said. The restaurant was located between a hotel on one side and a public swimming pool on the other side and had a take-out window that opened to the side of the pool.

“I was interested in rock & roll at the time and worked my way through college playing drums in a rock band,” Scotty Cline said. “Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys — all of the big name bluegrass groups of the time stopped at dad’s restaurant and visited for a while. Looking back, I wish I would have played closer attention.”

Scotty Cline said he is honored and humbled by all of the attention that the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers are now receiving. While the IBMA is honoring the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers this year, four of the former members of the group including Bobby Osborne, Jimmy Martin, Charlie Cline and Curly Ray Cline are already in the hall of fame by virtue of their work with other bluegrass groups.

Scotty Cline earned his degree at Pikeville College in the medical technology field and worked in that field until his recent retirement. His wife, Penny, is also retired, but still works part-time as a nurse. They live in Lexington, Ky.

But Scotty Cline still remembers the excitement of living on Raleigh Street in Bluefield and being “a little guy” watching the pioneering giants of bluegrass music visit with his family and stay long enough to play a few tunes. Scotty Cline attended first grade in Bluefield, he added, with pride.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com