The unpleasant infighting among the children of Jimmy Martin over his estate, an open secret for years within the bluegrass community, has hit the mainstream media.

The Tennessean, Nashville’s hometown newspaper, has published a story on the ongoing legal battle over Martin’s reputed $2 million estate, and income from future royalties. As has happened so many times, a number of surviving siblings and an ex-wife are at odds over the terms of Martin’s will.

According to the August 30 piece by Kate Howard…

The case goes on because of an addendum he made two weeks before he died: scolding his children and adding two music business friends as co-executors with his son Lee “Buddy” Martin.

His children believe that the strong-willed musician was lied to about money missing from his bank account and that he was coerced into splitting the power of executing his will.

His four children are at odds over whether someone outside the family should decide who gets what. They have different attorneys and different perspectives on how it should all end.

“This is not what my dad worked all his life for,” son Ray Martin said.

You can read the full piece online.

We ran into this buzz saw a few years ago when we tried to get approval for a charitable venture that would have involved Jimmy Martin’s likeness. The attorney who represents the estate attempted to get this cleared through the many Martin survivors, but had warned us that there was not much agreement among them.

No luck in our case.

Brian Baker, writing for CityBeat Cincinnati, recently suggested that we coronate a new King of Bluegrass.

His suggestion as to who should wear the crown? Ralph Stanley.

His reasoning for recognizing Stanley is certainly sound, but his premise is wrong.

If Monroe was the King of Bluegrass, the fact remains that the king is dead and the throne can’t remain empty, the crown unworn. Perhaps it’s time to coronate a new King of Bluegrass, and if so the only true heir is Dr. Ralph Stanley.

Two errors of understanding on Baker’s part inhabit this suggestion.

First, succession to the crown just doesn’t happen that way in the music world. No one is suggesting that because Elvis is dead we should crown someone else as the King of Rock-n-Roll. That suggestion would be met with great protest by true Rock-n-Roll fans. The crown is the King’s and he lives on in his recordings. So too in bluegrass, the King may have left us, but his music has not.

Secondly, but just as important, Monroe was never considered the King of Bluegrass. That distinction falls to Jimmy Martin. Baker has just shown his lack of familiarity with the genre, to engage in a discussion concerning the royalty of bluegrass, and mistake the King.

He does acknowledge Monroe’s rightly deserved, and highly honored, title as the Father of Bluegrass, and gives Dr. Ralph perhaps a very fitting title at the same time.

Bill Monroe is widely recognized as the Father of Bluegrass, and so, in that context, perhaps we can consider Ralph Stanley as the genre’s kindly Uncle ‚Äî the guy who teaches us about life and ourselves without inflicting the unflinching discipline and judgmental subjectivity of our old man.

Baker should have stopped there with the giving of titles. I think most of us bluegrass fans would be perfectly OK with Uncle Ralph. But then, that wouldn’t have worked with his angle: The Bluegrass of King, The King of Bluegrass.

Still, it’s not Stanley’s sizable global accomplishments that will be honored at Sunday night’s Cincinnati Entertainment Awards but his local connection to King Records on the occasion of the label’s 65th anniversary.

The recognition of King Records’ 65th anniversary, and Ralph Stanley’s connection to the label, are worth celebrating. I love Dr. Ralph’s music as much as the next trad-bluegrass fan, but let’s not be so quick to attempt the coronation of a new King. Jimmy’s music is alive and well.

All hail the King! Honor your Father! And enjoy hanging out with your Uncle!

Banjo players – and fans of Jimmy Martin – know Chris Warner for his driving style and hard hitting approach to the five string. Chris worked twice for Martin as a member of his Sunny Mountain Boys, from 1967-69, and again in the late 1980s.

During that second stint with Martin, Chris recorded two albums for Webco, All Original and Chris Warner & Friends, released as LPs and now out of print. He has recently compiled them both as a CD, Back Again, with 24 tracks featuring Warner as both banjoist and vocalist.

The tracks from All Original have Chris singing all lead vocals, with Del McCoury on tenor, and those from Chris Warner & Friends, have singing duties shared among Warner, Dudley Connell and Audie Blaylock.

But don’t think that banjo tunes get short shrift here. Chris knocks out 11 instrumentals mixed with 13 vocal tracks.

Newly minted bluegrass fans may not be aware of Warner’s top flight picking – and even long time listeners may not know him as a vocalist. Kudos to Chris for making this material available again, and to Pinecastle Records for their assistance in making it happen.

Audio samples for each track and online ordering are enabled on the Tom Adams web site, where Tom addresses the rumor that he and Chris are starting a band.

“With no official band name, no dates booked, and a disagreement over whether or not to wear matching shoes, I’d have to say yes, I believe there is a rumor that Chris and I are starting a band.”

I guess that settles that.

Veteran fiddle and mandolin player Vernon Derrick passed away on Friday morning (1/4) at the age of 74.

He performed with both The Stanley Brothers and Jimmy Martin during the 1960s after gaining some exposure during a brief stint with Flatt & Scruggs. A memorable contribution to the bluegrass repertoire is his instrumental Arab Bounce, originally recorded by Martin and The Sunny Mountain Boys in 1970, and re-cut dozens of times by other artists since.

Country music came calling as well, and Vernon spent time with artists as varied as Lefty Frizzell, Merle Travis and George Morgan to Hank Williams, Jr. It was with Hank Jr. that Derrick saw his greatest prominence, playing fiddle on #1 hits All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down and Country Boy Can Survive.

Vernon had been in poor health this past few years, and suffered from both renal and congestive heart failure. He underwent surgery in December and though he came home briefly after Christmas, he was hospitalized again earlier in the week.

Funeral arrangements can be found on The Arab Tribune web site, which also published a comprehensive overview of Vernon Derrick’s career some time ago.

Another pioneer lost…