Things
were about to get rougher. Following the Bayou Boys’
gig on July 3, 1957, Buzz, Eddie (who was filling in on guitar
that night) and a couple of others decided to go to North
Beach, Maryland, as Bill Emerson puts it, “to drink and
have some . . . revelry. They asked me to go and I thought,
‘You know, it’s a long drive and I’m not in
the mood, so I’ll just go home.’ I’m glad I
did.”
On
the way back from North Beach, in the early morning hours
of July 4, the driver of the vehicle fell asleep and crashed
into a large utility pole, seriously injuring all the occupants.
Determined to hold on to the Admiral Grill job until Buzz
and the others recovered, Bill launched into one of his greatest
improvisations. He hurriedly enlisted the aid of mandolinist
John Duffey, guitarist Charlie Waller and bassist Larry Leahy
to perform that evening’s show. “John lived about
a mile from me—he’s the guy that really got me started
playing the banjo,” Bill explains. “I also knew
Charlie. We all hung out at the same places. We had performed
informally with each other before, but never as a band.”
That
night, however, the quartet made the crowd temporarily forget
all about the Bayou Boys. “We played the traditional
standards. Songs like ‘Love and Wealth,’ Stanley
Brothers material and Bill Monroe songs,” Bill recalls,
admitting none of them had any inkling of the greatness to
come.
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