Don't Give Your Heart to a Rambler: My Life with Jimmy Martin, the King of Bluegrass (Music in American Life)

Bluegrass music fans are gently, but constantly, reminded that theirs is a niche interest. This, however, does not stop the devoted from mining the veins of bluegrass artists, old and new, to create a narrative for a style of music that started in the Appalachian and Mountain, but burst forward as a new genre in the 1940’s, thanks to Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys. Given the short time span of its existence, and the powerful personalities which formed the bluegrass tale, discussion of early bluegrass artists often falls into the arena of hagiography. Monroe was the founder; Flat and Scruggs expanded the sound, and others came along the muddy river of bluegrass.. Jimmy Martin was there at the beginning, or close to it, and played with all of them. The King of Bluegrass (which was Martin’s own name for himself) gets a casual mention here or there but never gets his due. Nor did he during his lifetime. He never became part of the Grand Ole Opry (more about that in a bit) and bounced around drawing old-time crowds, but never gaining the revered status of Earl, or Bill (or even Ricky or Sam). Martin died in 2005. Along comes Barbara Martin Stephens, to write “Don’t Give Your Heart To A Rambler”. Keen-eyed readers will see that she must have been some sort of relation to Jimmy Martin, but even that is murky. Ms. Stephens is the mother of several, four by best count, of Jimmy Martin’s children, but they never married. They lived as husband and wife, off and on, and generally disagreed. Or in Ms. Stephens’ telling, she seldom agreed with Martin. “Don’t Give” can best be viewed as an exercise in score-settling, and Ms. Stephens has a few. In her telling, Jimmy Martin was a drunk, a womanizer, tight with money, and generally a skunk. Her explanation for how or why she remained in his orbit may have as much to do with the times and their financial circumstance as it does with his personal gifts. The danger in score-settling is that the score-settler has to explain why all these terrible things happened to her at Jimmy Martin’s hands (literally and figuratively). The sheer number of abusive or dismissive tales told by Ms. Stephens begs the question of how she let it all happen, repeatedly, over a decade or more. The retelling of these stories reflects as much on the teller, as it does on Martin. Jimmy Martin was a phlegmatic, paranoid womanizer who grew up dirt poor and never broke the cycle of ignorance. Ms. Stephens folded nicely into this world and lived to tell the story. Perhaps that’s the lesson of a book like this: she who lives longer gets to torch memories of the past. The story of Jimmy Martin and the Grand Ole Opry encapsulates this distemperance. By all accounts, including Ms. Stephens’, Jimmy Martin coveted membership in The Grand Ole Opry above all else. Bill Monroe (who himself was a notorious scorekeeper and settler) was the gatekeeper at the Opry and none could join without Monroe’s blessing. The problem was that, early on, Jimmy took up with one of Monroe’s daughters, and Mr. Monroe was not pleased. The relationship occurred in and around various other romantic entanglements featuring Martin (not the least of which was his continued and increasing role as the father of some of Stephens’ children). Jimmy kept up with Monroe’s daughter, even after Mr. Monroe had made his negative position on the matter quite clear. The result was that Mr. Martin never was asked to join the Opry, despite trying for decades. Unlike many retrospectives of famous people by someone close to them, Ms. Stephens appears to have written “Don’t Give Your Heart To A Rambler” without a ghost writer. The resulting prose is direct, but riddled with asides about how wonderfully one or another forgotten musician treated her. Special mention is made of Bobby Osborne, of The Osborne Brothers. The brothers roomed with Martin and Stephens in Detroit for a while and Bobby seems to have had a special interest in and from Ms. Stephens for some time. In the end, there’s no clear hero in “Don’t Give Your Heart To A Rambler”. And, there are villains, including the main subject of the book, Jimmy Martin. Ms. Stephens is justifiably proud of being the first female booker of national bluegrass acts (Louise Scruggs is often held up as the exemplar in this category), and endless stories of good and bad gigs have some appeal. However, when they are wrapped up in an abusive cycle of misanthropy and acceptance, the tale may not be worth telling.

This is a good honest, well written book, even if it is a personal memoir. There is a lot of stuff about why Jimmie Martin never made it on the Opry and a lot of stuff about him and the CMA Hall of fame, but much of the background of it is explained here in his sadly abusive behavior to his wife, his children, fellow musicians, and ultimately himself. No dobut Jimmie belongs in the HOF for his musical achievements, and no doubt his filandering is not not much different from that of other musicians, including the one who put the black list on him Bill Monroe for the married Martin's affair with Monroe's daughter, but the cruelty inflicted on this woman and her family and his growing public debauchery is rarely mentioned among those who whine about Martin. This is interesting book in which the reader is always waiting to see what will happen next. Despite the cruelty Martin dished out to his wife and her children and others, Barbara Martin Stephens maintains a complete respect and admiration for his musical genius and bility and is not ashamed to explain the passion she held for him despite his unredeemable behavior to her and her children. If I had never played or written about blueghrass and had not listened tp and admired Martin's music for 5 decades, I would still find this a moving book about both Barbara Martin's struggle and her struggling first husband.

Beautiful and super book on Jimmy Martin, and many of his contemporary greats, and his brilliant collections of many of the great hits that we all revere from Jimmy Martin even to this day. I join thousands of others, even today in the opinion he was a real genius in the story that Bluegrass could tell, stories of Real Life in all its joy, and sadness– yet we all figure out how to overcome, rise above, and keep on keepin on. And Barbara Martin Stephens, you are a brilliant writer – great detail, as if I the reader was right there. I urge everyone who may have heard of Jimmy Martin, buy this book. Real stories of a real person - in here. And Amazon has a great price on it. This book should fly off the shelves.And Thank You Barbara for your arduous task in undertaking this; and Barbara – keep active and keep working if you can. From your careful analysis in here, I can see how you can do excellent legal work such as a paralegal, and keep doing that. And stay involved.And Thank You Murphy Hicks Henry for your careful and Insightful Forward.Bruce LloydComment: For those who might enjoy a Jimmy Martin ""fix", a number of his greatest hits can be seen and heard now on You Tube..

I was interested in a woman's perspective on the country/bluegrass music business of the era. I find the author's honesty to be refreshing. She gives you the truth as she sees it and does not try to hide her own quirks and shortcomings or justify her own behavior, which to me adds to her credibility. As she describes her relationship with the legendary Jimmy Martin, she exposes some rather dark secrets, but never comes off as vindictive of spiteful. She seems to have had strong feelings feeling for Jimmy and in the end, empathy and compassion for a rather self destructive and mercurial personality. As you read the book, you can see how develops into a strong and modern woman. This is a great book for women. Having said that, if a person is a big fan of Jimmy Martin with a degree of idolization, you will not want to read this.

Any true Bluegrass fan of the music of the great Jimmy Martin has to read this brilliant but at times, alarming book. Jimmy was great entertainer and musician, yet his personnel life was a shock to read. Recommended, great book from a very charming lady.JRC