ROOTS of Country Music

The Life and Work of Drifting Cowboys Fiddler, Jerry Rivers

(Aug. 25 1928 – Oct. 4, 1996)

Jerry Rivers played fiddle with the "original" Drifting Cowboys band that included steel guitarist Don Helms, bassist Hillous Butrum and guitarist Bob McNett, whose work will be forever associated with their "front-man," the legendary Hank Williams.

Jerry Rivers was born in Miami, Florida, but raised in Nashville, in a house that would later serve as an office for Atlantic Records, Jerry took up the fiddle as a teenager and was, by the mid-forties, playing it semi- professionally. In 1948, he turned professional and briefly toured with the Short Brothers and then found himself back in Nashville working with Big Jeff Bess, husband of Hattie Louise "Tootsie" Bess, owner of the famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Music City's Lower Broadway. While working with Bess, Rivers was first approached by Williams.

Although Hank had performed with groups from the mid-1930s on, it was only following his successful early appearances on the Grand Ole Opry in 1949 that he began to see the merits of a permanent backing band.

Despite Williams' status as a rising star, Rivers was not impressed with the financial terms on offer and initially declined. Later, encouraged by his friend, steel guitarist Don Helms, he had second thoughts and accepted the position. Rivers cut his first discs with Williams in January 1950. The session produced classics such as "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," "Why Don't You Love Me" and "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy." Jerry performed on all of Hank's major recording sessions that followed. Rivers and Williams struck up a friendship and Hank appointed Rivers as his personal manager.

At the suggestion of Williams' mentor, the producer and publisher Fred Rose, he adopted a characteristic double-stop style of bowing: playing the melody and harmony simultaneously on two strings. It was a style that Hank dismissed as "garden seed" fiddle, but one which served Rivers well on many of Williams' greatest recordings, among them were, "Moanin' The Blues" (No. 1, 1950), "Cold, Cold Heart" (No. 1, 1951), "I Can't Help It" (No. 2, 1951), "Hey Good Lookin'" (No.1, 1951) and "Jambalaya" (No. 1, 1952).

On New Year's Day, 1953, Rivers was scheduled to play in the Canton, Ohio show with Ray Price, while Helms, was to play with Williams. The weather was so bad however, that Rivers was forced to turn back when he reached Louisville, Kentucky. He never made it to the show. Neither did Hank Williams. Following Williams' death in the early hours of New Year's Day 1953, Rivers and the other Drifting Cowboys had few problems finding work, making valuable contributions to the music of Ray Price and Ferlin Husky, Marty Robbins and, eventually, Hank Williams Jr.

In the early 1960s, Rivers cut a now rare solo album for Starday, Fantastic Fiddlin' and Tall Tales, on which he both explains and demonstrates the evolution of various country fiddle styles and in 1964 his biography of Williams, From Life To Legend, was published.

In 1976, the Drifting Cowboys reformed for a series of radio shows with the country comic Whitey Ford and enjoyed renewed popularity, especially on the Opry stage and in Britain where they performed at the Wembley Festival. Together, they cut a series of albums that included, A Song For Us All (1979), A Tribute To Hank Williams (1980), Live! (1981) and Classic Instrumentals (1981).

In the 1990s, Rivers and Don Helms toured with Jett Williams, Hank Williams' daughter by Bobbie Jett. He also worked as an agent and talent scout for the powerhouse Buddy Lee Attractions. Rivers died on October 4, 1996, of cancer. ~ RJB: Country Music Historian, 10/2010.

"But in 1977, the Drifting Cowboys and I decided to put our band back together after we had been apart 25 years. We felt like that there were some people who would like to hear us play some of the same music we played for Hank Williams. But time had already started taking its toll on the cowboys. Cedric Rainwater had already passed away. But the rest of us decided to take what we could and do the best we could with it. In 1984 Hillous Butrum retired from the group, and again we took what we had left and continued to do the best we could. In 1988, Sammy Pruett passed away. So, we took what was left, and was going to do our very best with it.

Then in 1995, Bob McNett passed away. Jerry Rivers at that time decided we'd take what we had left and continue to do the best we could; but in 1996, Jerry Rivers passed away. So I guess I'm what's left; and this old Gibson double neck guitar is what I've got left. If I can play one or two notes that will make you think of Hank Williams, then that'll be the best that we can do." ~ Don Helms

---------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched and written by Richard bell, Roots of Country Music, Oct. 17, 2010.