Who was/is The Osborne Brothers ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more

The Osborne Brothers

and Red Allen

Ruby, Are You Mad?

In our 1946 volume, we included Cousin Emmy's adaptation of an old folk melody recorded in 1930 as Reuben, Oh Reubenby Emry Arthur. It was, as noted in the 1946 volume, much the same melody as the one we came to know as Train 45.Okay, so it's ten years later. Bobby and Sonny Osborne were from Hyden, a small coal town in Kentucky. Bobby was born on December 7, 1931 and Sonny on October 29, 1937. Together and separately, they were on small radio stations and tiny labels from the late 1940s onward. There were stints with Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin (one of the singles with Martin, 20/20 Vision,is in our 1955 volume) before the Osbornes briefly joined the cast of the WWVA Jamboree.

A few months later, they were in Dayton playing local bars at night, while Bobby held down a day job at National Cash Register alongside his father. At NCR, Bobby met another Kentuckian, Red Allen, and the Osbornes together with Allen made some demos in the basement of WPFB's Tommy Sutton. One of the songs on the demo tape was Cousin Emmy's Ruby.Together, the Osbornes and Red Allen scraped together fifty dollars to send Sutton to Nashville with the tape, and Sutton went to see Wesley Rose at Acuff-Rose. Although Rose owned Hickory Records, he still did country A&R for MGM Records, just as his father, Fred, had done. By 1956, though, MGM president Frank Walker had instructed one of his relatives, Jim Vienneau, to go to Nashville to work with Rose, probably as a prelude to easing Rose out of the picture. And so, with the world rocking and rolling around them, the Osbornes and Red Allen went to the studio where Elvis had recorded Heartbreak Hotela few months earlier, and recorded four songs, including Ruby.Wesley Rose thought he owned Ruby.

When Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper recorded it in 1951 as Stoney (Are You Mad At Your Gal), they credited Cousin Emmy as composer, but placed the song with Acuff-Rose. When the Osbornes' version became a hit, Decca's publishing affiliate challenged Acuff-Rose for fifty percent.The Osbornes' version added a completely new element in bluegrass: twin banjos. They'd scheduled another Dayton area musician, Noah Crase, for the session, but Crase backed out at the last moment, meaning that Sonny and Bobby had to play the banjos (harmony and lead respectively) if they wanted to preserve their unique arrangement. The same echo that Presley had used on Heartbreak Hotelwas well in evidence on Ruby Are You Mad?  It was bluegrass but it rocked, and it earned the group a return gig on WWVA's Jamboree starting in October 1956. The Osborne Brothers made Rubyinto a standard, and it became their most popular record until Rocky Top. 

OSBORNE BROTHERS 1956-1968 (4-CD)

ead more at: https://www.bear-family.de/osborne-brothers-1956-1968-4-cd.html
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More information about The Osborne Brothers on Wikipedia.org

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1956-1968 (4-CD Deluxe Box Set)
OSBORNE BROTHERS: 1956-1968 (4-CD Deluxe Box Set) Art-Nr.: BCD15598

Ready to ship today, delivery time** appr. 1-3 workdays

The bluegrass world has never recovered from the Osborne Brothers band that walked on-stage in 1956'; wrote one commentator. Sonny and Bobby Osborne changed the rules. They came out of a rich tradition and had played with many bluegrass...
$84.82 $90.48
1968-1974 (4-CD Deluxe Box Set)
OSBORNE BROTHERS: 1968-1974 (4-CD Deluxe Box Set) Art-Nr.: BCD15748

Item has to be restocked

4-CD box (LP-size) with 24-page book, 109 tracks. Playing time approx. 285 mns. After Rocky Top , the Osbornes became the most successful act in bluegrass, and tried hard to bridge the gap to mainstream country music. The 115 songs in...
$81.43 $90.48
Country Pickin' And Hillside Singin' (Vinyl)
The Osborne Bothers & Red Allen: Country Pickin' And Hillside Singin' (Vinyl) Art-Nr.: LPHAT3129

Ready to ship today, delivery time** appr. 1-3 workdays

(Stetson) 12 tracks, rare 1980s reissue of the original 1959 MGM album. Contains some of the finest songs the trio ever recorded together.
$22.58
Rocky Top - Up This Hill And Down (7inch, 45rpm)
Osborne Brothers: Rocky Top - Up This Hill And Down (7inch, 45rpm) Art-Nr.: 45MCA53587

Item has to be restocked

(MCA Records) 2 tracks
$11.26
Brothers Osborne (CD)
Brothers Osborne: Brothers Osborne (CD) Art-Nr.: CDB003812802

only 1x still available
Ready to ship today, delivery time** appr. 1-3 workdays

(UMG Recordings) 11 tracks. Current CMA and ACM Duo Of The Year, Brothers Osborne will release their 4th studio album on September 15, 2023. This Grammy-winning duo's new album features 11 new tracks including the current Top 20 hit,...
$20.31