Oswald & Charlie - Silent Night (December 26, 1998)

Although Roy Acuff never recorded and very seldom performed any Christmas music, for many years dating back to at least the 1950s, the Smoky Mountain Boys' most regular musical contribution to the Christmas season was "Silent Night" as featured on the dobro by Pete Kirby, known professionally for over 60 years as "Bashful Brother Oswald". After Acuff's death in 1992, Oswald and fellow Smokey Mountain Boy Charlie Collins continued to perform on the Opry (with Oswald becoming an "official" member in January 1995) and would continue to occasionally feature "Silent Night" during the Christmas season. This recording was made on December 26, 1998 (Oswald's 87th birthday) and would be his last Christmas to perform on the Grand Ole Opry, as health problems would force his retirement from public performing in early 1999. There are technical flaws in this recording, which is exactly as it was heard on my radio in Alabama on that December night, but they are hopefully made up for by the rarity of the content. Oswald & Charlie were scheduled on all three Opry shows that Christmas weekend and my notes do not say whether this recording was made from their Saturday night appearance at 7:00 or at 9:30, but they are backed by their regular Opry accompanists during this period: Eddie Stubbs (fiddle) and Billy Linneman (bass). Oswald & Charlie were most often guests on Porter Wagoner's Opry segments, and it was Porter who hosted all three portions they appeared on that weekend. Oswald was one of Wagoner's oldest friends at the Opry, having performed together on the show at this time for over 40 years, and having actually first met 15 years prior to that when Wagoner was a teenager. By his 87th birthday, arthritis and age had started to show effects on Oswald's revolutionary dobro playing that had a half-century earlier practically single-handedly saved the instrument from extinction in country and bluegrass music and had been a major influence on an entire generation of dobro players, but the beautiful approach and tone is still plain in this, one of the final performances of the original "Smoky Mountain sound" (as it was often referred to in Wagoner's introductions).

Видео Oswald & Charlie - Silent Night (December 26, 1998) канала Robert Montgomery