Buddy Jones (bluegrass musician)
Shelby Gene "Buddy" Jones (February 2, 1937 – August 13, 2014) was an American bluegrass musician and songwriter, and music recorder and distributor. He is best known for his performance work with the bluegrass band, Rainbow Valley Boys. He was also the founder of former recording, radio promotion, and record distribution companies B.J. Promotions, Tapes Unlimited, and Northern Music Distribution.
Shelby Gene Jones was born on February 2, 1937 in West Virginia (it is disputed whether Montcoal or Beckley was the town of birth) to Bert and Ethel Jones (née Queener) (born 1902 and 1903 respectively). His paternal grandfather was a Shawnee Native American. He was the youngest of 6 children in the household. He had three step-siblings from his father's previous marriage, Orin; Herbert, Kenneth, and Dolly; and two related siblings; Ralph and Wannita. All of his siblings had been born in Newark, Ohio, but his family had moved to Beckley shortly before he was born. His family, which was quite poor as a result of raising 6 children during Depression Era conditions, lived on a farm until he was 9, at which time the family moved into another house in the same area. Jones attended the, then relatively new, Woodrow Wilson High School in fall 1949, and went to school there for only three years, with only his sisters as his brothers were already almost adults when he began secondary education. At the age of 11, Jones' mother, taught him and his brothers Ralph and Kenny, songs and how to play some instruments, mainly the guitar. This led to Buddy, Ralph, and some other schoolmates forming their first band the same year.
In 1953, Jones left the Beckly area and traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee where he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during the end of the Korean War. He served on the USS Wren (DD-568) from 1954 to 1957, when he was discharged. During Buddy's time on the USS Wren, he contracted a severe case of Scarlet fever that went untreated for a time, eventually causing long-term effects including excessive hair loss.
After the war, Jones continued what he had started in 1949, and began pursuing a music career again. He recorded, sang, played guitar, and eventually produced for and promoted clients. He and his brother Ralph both became songwriters, and had hits that were on the charts during the same time. While he and his brother did not always actually record their own songs, their music has also been recorded and reproduced by various artists such as: Kitty Wells, Marty Robbins, Janie Fricke, Hank Lockin, and Patsy Cline. Jones also played with various artists such as; Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell, Earl Scruggs & Lester Flatt, Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves, and George Jones.
In 1958 he joined the bands Toby Stroud & Jane and The Blue Mountain Boys, and also did performances with affiliated musicians Wilma Lee and Stony Cooper. He made a deal with bluegrass music distributor and entrepreneur Caz Walker in Fitchburg, and from 1959 into the 1980s he frequently traveled from his home in Fitchburg to places across New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic regions, down to Tennessee and the Carolinas.
