Hylo Brown

Bluegrass singer with a wide vocal range

Frank Brown (Hylo Brown), bluegrass singer: born River, Kentucky 20 April 1922; married (one son, four daughters); died Mechanicsburg, Ohio 17 January 2003.

Hylo Brown played a significant role in the development of bluegrass and country music and was one of the first artists to appeal to both sets of fans.

Brown's radio appearances were syndicated all over the US. "Lost to a Stranger", one of his first recordings with Capitol Records in the 1950s, was included in a few pop play lists, and Brown said later, "That was really somethin' to have a bluegrass record played on a pop station." Among his best-known performances are "When It's Lamp Lightin' Time in the Valley", "Darling, Will the Angels Play Their Harps For Me?" and an extraordinary version of "The Prisoner's Song", where he employs the full range of his voice.

He was born Frank Brown Jnr in River, Kentucky, in 1922 and loved the Appalachian music he heard around him. One of his first songs, "Grand Ole Opry Song", was recorded by Jimmy Martin and then, in 1950, he worked both on the road and in recording sessions with Bradley Kincaid. Because of his ability to reach both high and low notes, he became known as Hylo Brown and he was given a contract with Capitol Records in 1954.

In 1957 Brown joined Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and became the featured vocalist with their group, the Foggy Mountain Boys, but he soon left and recorded the album Hylo Brown and the Timberliners (1958), a bluegrass classic. Over the years, the Timberliners included such stalwart performers as Norman Blake (dobro) and Billy Edwards (banjo).

Although Brown continued to work with Flatt and Scruggs from time to time, he was largely known as a solo artist, releasing many albums including Bluegrass Balladeer (1961), Bluegrass Goes to College (1962), Hylo Brown Meets the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (1963) and Folk Songs of Rural America (1967).

Ill-health forced him to retire in the 1970s, but a two-CD compilation, Hylo Brown and the Timberliners, 1954-1960, was released in 1992.

Spencer Leigh