CAMPBELL, SID (-1987)

A lead singer, guitar player, radio broadcaster, and songwriter, Sid Campbell was headquartered in Columbus for many years. Born in Gallia County, he attended Rio Grande College and taught school in Licking County. Sid may have been best known for his long stint as the deejay on WOSU’s Bluegrass Ramble, which piped bluegrass into the area in an era when it was really scarce on the radio. He also worked with Reno and Smiley, Don Reno, Red Allen, Earl Taylor, the Log Cabin Boys, and the Nu-Grass Pickers. He fronted the house band, the Dixie Gentlemen (not the Rual Yarbrough band), at Chet’s Bar and later at the Astro Inn in Columbus; that band included Sid on guitar, Robby Robinson on mandolin, John Hickman on banjo, Chuck Cordle on bass, and sometimes John Maultbay on fiddle. Frank Godbey quoted J.D. Crowe as saying about Sid: “He’s the best damn rhythm man in the country.” He wrote “This Morning At Nine” for the Country Gentlemen and “Unfaithful One” for Reno and Smiley. His version of “Teardrops Falling In the Snow” on K & B Records rivals the original by Molly O’Day. He recorded a cassette for Hamilton’s Pine Tree label: Faded Coat of Blue.

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