Raised on a farm in Union County, North Carolina, Bill Price fell in love with the sound of Bill Monroe. In 1954, he got the chance to sing and play guitar with Bill. He stayed with the Blue Grass Boys for five months, then went with Jimmy Martin to WPFB in Middletown, where he played mandolin. When Jimmy moved on, Bill got a job at the Jimmie Skinner Music Center in Cincinnati. In 1955, he formed the Country Pardners with Carlos Brock, Bobby Simpson, and Benny Williams, and recorded six sides for RCA. After Carlos Brock joined the Army, Bill went with Bill Monroe again for a few months and then returned to North Carolina. He began playing both bluegrass and country and, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he recorded for “D” Records out of Houston, Texas. Although the records were straight country, one of them is very interesting from a bluegrass standpoint. It was called “Dayton, Ohio” and appeared to be autobiographical, because it referred to his days in Dayton and mentioned the Country Pardners. Another one, “Going Back To Charlotte,” talks about living in Cincinnati and wanting to go back home. Price recorded several further bluegrass albums for Folkways before his death.
PRICE, BILL (1934-2000)