Dyson, Bobby (19th May 1934-6th March 1997)

Bassist and songwriter whose early recordings include Jim Reeves’ Gentleman Jim and Connie Smith’s Cute ‘n’ Country. In 1966, he made a brief foray into film, appearing as himself in Country Boy. It was the recording studio, however, where he would make his biggest impact, purportedly performing on more than four hundred #1 country records.

Here are some of the albums he recorded on in the late ‘60s: Country Music Hall of Fame Presents a Song is Born; Instant Replay by The Monkees; Just Because I’m a Woman by Dolly Parton; The One and Only by Waylon Jennings; and, The Open Mind of John D. Loudermilk.

In 1971, he collaborated with Kris Kristofferson on The Silver Tongued Devil and I and Dolly Parton on Coat of Many Colors. He worked on at least four albums in 1973: Dick Feller Wrote…; The Legendary Lefty Frizzell; Lonesome, On’ry and Mean by Waylon Jennings; and, My Tennessee Mountain Home by Dolly Parton. He ended the year by announcing the formation of Bobby Dyson Productions.

In 1974, he featured on Mickey Gilley’s Room Full of Roses, Charlie McCoy’s The Nashville Hit Man, and Dolly Parton’s Jolene. Naturally, he made the cut on The Best of Dolly Parton in 1975, as well as reuniting with Charlie on Harpin’ the Blues. In 1976, he was the session leader on Gilley’s Smokin’, played bass on Connie Smith’s I Don’t Wanna Talk It Over Anymore, and contributed bass and vocals to Wynn Stewart’s Playboy offering, After the Storm. The new year brought new things like New Harvest… First Gathering by Dolly Parton and New Horizons by Little David Wilkins. In 1979, he assisted fellow session pro Hargus “Pig” Robbins on his album, Unbreakable Hearts.

His ‘80s releases included Blue Train by John D. Loudermilk, I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal… but I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday by Billy Joe Shaver, and Me and My R.C. by Louise Mandrell. Bobby continued to make appearances on albums well into the ‘90s, such as Ed Bruce’s Puzzles, Lefty Frizzell’s Life’s Like Poetry, Kris Kristofferson’s Singer/Songwriter, Sleepy LaBeef’s Larger Than Life and Rockin’ Decade, and Vernon Oxford’s Keeper of the Flame.

On 6^th March 1997, he passed away at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, after suffering a stroke. His legacy lives on in CD form on compilations and re-packagings, including Jerry Lee Lewis’s All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology and Dolly Parton’s Letter to Heaven: Songs of Faith and Inspiration.

Hargus “Pig” Robbins recordings
Chunky People (Jim Vest/David Chamberlain)

Here is Hargus “Pig” Robbins’ “Unbreakable Hearts” which Bobby performed on…..

Sources:

Dyson, Bobby (19th May 1934-6th March 1997)

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