Jim McReynolds, 75; Played Bluegrass With Brother Jesse
Jim McReynolds, 75, half of the guitar-and-mandolin bluegrass duo Jim and Jesse, died of thyroid cancer Tuesday in Gallatin, Tenn.
Born in Carfax, Va., on Feb. 13, 1927, the guitar-playing McReynolds and his younger, mandolin-playing brother learned to play stringed instruments on their family farm.
Their grandfather was country recording artist Charles McReynolds.
They formed their first band in the early 1940s, and made their local radio debut in 1947 as the McReynolds Brothers and the Cumberland Mountain Boys.
The brothers and their band, by then renamed the Virginia Boys, signed with Capitol Records in 1952.
Over the years, their hits included “Cotton Mill Man,” “Are You Missing Me?” and “Paradise.”
Their final album, “ ‘Tis Sweet to Be Remembered,” will be released in March.
Jim and Jesse, who became Grand Ole Opry regulars in 1964, were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Assn.’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
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