Pete Pike Biography

Pete was born November 30, 1929 in a tenant house in Amelia County, Virginia and was raised on the family seventy-acre. Raising cattle, and farming grain and tobacco were the money crops and was hard work and a good life.
When he was about twelve years old his Dad gave him and his brother, Frank, and him their own little half-acre of tobacco and from the profits earned from the sales, purchased a Gibson J 200 guitar for himself and a Gibson F5 mandolin for Frank. Pete learned to play guitar on a Sears and Roebuck guitar and an Ernest Tubb songbook.
Pete began to practice and soon wrote his first song, Virginia Lou. When he was about fifteen, Pete hooked up with a musician about his same age named Buck Austin. Buck played the five-string banjo in the Earl Scruggs style and they began playing together and became lifetime buddies. Pete's first band consisted of Buck on the banjo and singing tenor, Franklin on the mandolin, and Pete on the guitar … and had the makings of a fine little "hillbilly" band.
At first, Pete was inspired by Vernon Dalhart, The Carter Family, The Delmore Brothers, then came Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe. One day Pete heard Bill and Charlie Monroe on a radio station out of Greensboro North Carolina, before the two brothers split up, and he just couldn't get enough of this 'Hillbilly' music.
Pete, Buck, and Franklin began playing on Wednesday nights at a little theater in the Village of Amelia, and when Pete was sixteen, his dad started letting them play some with him and his uncle (who was also the state champion fiddle player in the 1930's). This gave them a lot of experience onstage and soon they were playing a lot of dances in and around the Eastern Virginia area.
In 1947, the band played for the opening of the WKLV radio station in Blackstone, Virginia. The manager, Eddie Silverman liked their music and wanted them to play a radio show for the station every Saturday. Then, in the Spring, he wanted to do the show out on the lawn and bring in a 'big star'. The first star he brought in was Little Jimmy Dickens and he called the show The Virginia Music Festival. It was very successful and one Saturday, while in the studio, Eddie said he would like to do this every year and began talking about what name it should be called. In those days, there was a program that came over the Mutual Network called The Renfro Valley Gang that sang a lot of the old folk songs and, with everyone's approval, decided to call it the Virginia Folk Music Association. The VFMA is still going on and the VFMA Festival which has moved from Blackstone, VA. to Chesterfield, Va., gets bigger and better each year with venues which include some of the top names in the Bluegrass world, as well as the new up and coming local artists.
	Pete's dad played the French harp and guitar as well as the Autoharp (as shown in picture). Pete's brother, Franklin, is on the mandolin, Buck Austin on the five-string banjo. Pete's cousin, Herbert and Pete are playing the guitar. Pete was not involved with the Virginia Folk Music Association after this time.

During this same time, Buzz Busby, Curley Irvin, and Pete took a job at a place called The Pine Tavern in DC. They had played The Pine Tavern for about two months when WRC TV Channel 4, in Washington DC, called them to play a five-day-a week television show and wanted to come down to The Pine Tavern to check them out. Buzz and Pete put their heads together and decided they needed a couple more members and a band name before they came down to hear them.
Lee Cole had taken Curley's place on the bass because his son, Smitty had returned from service and he had gone back to North Carolina to play with him. Pete got on the phone and hired Donnie Bryant on the five-string banjo and Johnny Hall on the fiddle.
Neither Pete nor Buzz had a full band before this time so they came up with the band name of Pete Pike and Buzz Busby and the Bayou Boys and then made an appointment for the TV guys to come down to view their show on a Friday night two weeks later.
There was a big music contest in Warrenton, Virginia on the weekend before that appointment and since Pete already had a hit record on the charts, he and Buzz wanted to enter it. They got matching uniforms and entered in the contest down in Warrenton. Somehow the word got out that they were going to be there and twelve thousand screaming fans turned out for the show. When they walked out on that stage you could not hear one thing they said or played.
They had entered each category and won every event. The judges got with them after the show and asked if we would be willing to share some of the prizes with other groups, which they agreed to do. Pete took first place for the vocal category and gave up the award for the guitar competition. Buzz Busby took second place for vocals and gave up the award for mandolin. Donnie Bryant took first place in the banjo and Johnny Hall took first place in the fiddle categories. The greatest part of that weekend for them was the next Monday morning when the Washington Post and Times Herald did a full-page layout on Pete and the band.
	Pine Tavern, Washington DC 1954 Johnny Hall, Don Stover, Lee Cole, & Pete

The guys from WRC TV came down the next weekend for the review and they were looking for a hillbilly band, and The Bayou Boys fit the bill … a real hillbilly band and they were hired for the TV show, The Hayloft Hoedown.

They called them down to the station and told them that in order for them to play on the TV show, they would have to join the Musician's and Actor's Unions which was going to cost each one of the band members about four hundred dollars.

They went to work on getting the money together and joining the unions, got it done, and did the first show. Pete had also brought Don Stover in from Beckley, West Virginia to play five-string banjo because Donnie Bryant had gone back to school and could not do the show.

The Hayloft Hoedown show was a big hit; something a lot of those people had never seen before … a real Hillbilly show. Acts included a lot of the same type comedy as sweeping up after the mule train and a lot of trick camera work. Pete and Buzz formed a comedy act called Ham and Scram.

The Ham and Scram act required frequent changing of clothes, which was accomplished in about twenty seconds and the audience could not figure out who they were. Pete and Buzz had a great time including a comedy act in the show.

In the last couple months of the show they performed a verse and chorus whatever was on the Billboard Top Ten every Friday.

The Hayloft Hoedown was a fast-paced job. They were required to be at the station at 10am to rehearse the show for three hours, and then run through the show. After that they did the live broadcast from 2:00pm until 2:30pm.

The third day they were on, John Miller called and wanted them to play a Sunday show at Watermelon Park, down in Berryville,Va. and Pete told him they would only have one day to advertise and was afraid that they could not draw a crowd with that short notice. John told them that it was a daytime show and that he would pay them anyway with a crowd or not and on the day of the show seven thousand people showed up.

Pete and Buzz worked together off and on until 1963 and finally went separate ways due to Buzz's problems with substance abuse and would not work together until 1976 and in again 1985.

Pete enjoyed helping Buzz record his records and considers Buzz to be one of his best friends. To this day, Pete considers him to be one of the best musicians that ever picked up a mandolin.

Washington DC was the Hillbilly Capitol City and Pete and Buzz did an awful lot to further 'hillbilly bluegrass' music that was so poplular. They had some of the best bluegrass pickers in the country playing with us at times.

Bill Emerson, as Pete recalls one night in a small club, played with them and did a Bill Monroe song, I hear a Sweet Voice Calling, and when they finished the song, Bill turned to Pete and said, "I have never heard anyone sing that song that good before." He said, "I've got chill bumps." Bill was singing the baritone with Pete and they performed in perfect pitch.

Charlie Waller would also come and sit in with them on nights off and sing some Hank Snow songs. He frequently would work together with Pete from time to time.

Scotty Stoneman was another great musician that graced the stage with them. "He's just one of the best", says Pete. "Listen to him play on the record Lonesome Wind Blues, and you will agree."

Scotty helped Pete on most of his records. Some of the other artists in the area in the 50's were Jimmy Dean, Smitty Irvin, and Billy Grammar.

Buzz Busby, Pete, Donnie Bryant, Lee Cole

WGAY Radio - Wheaton, MD - 1947

Buzz and Pete did their next recording session in 1955. The songs: I'm Walking Alone, Yellow Leaves, Don't Take Her Love for Granted, and I'm burning all your Letters. In 1956 Pete recorded Just Between Us Two, At my Side, No Peace of Mind, and Friend of the Bride.
In 1957 Buzz and Pete did Lost, Lonesome Wind Blue, Mandolin Twist and Pete did I Don't Mind (also with Buzz's help) and All Because of My Jealous Heart. These were all recorded in the Ben Adleman Studios on Cedar Street in Washington DC. In the House of the Lord was cut on the first session and released on the flip side of the first record. After this they didn't record any records for Starday Record Company until 1960 and those were done for Rebel Recording Co. Pete also recorded In the Jailhouse Now with help from The Woodward Brothers (steel and electric guitar) and was recorded in a studio off one of the circles in downtown DC.
In 1958, Pete cut a session with Buzz, Bill Emerson, and John Hall and recorded Banjo Whiz, Windy Strings, and Mandolin Tango. This was also recorded in Ben's studio on Cedar Street in Washington. Don't Come Running Back to Me was also recorded in DC and not in Takoma Park, Md as has been previously been printed.
	Ham and Sram The comedy act of Pete Pike & Buzz Busby

When the Hayloft Hoedown show came to an end, Pete received a call from the Pentagon asking him to consider taking a band overseas to the Far East to entertain the troops. They told him he would be paid and would be the first group ever paid to go overseas to entertain. The USO had a contract with the government to provide free entertainment the USO would be paid one hundred thousand dollars to let them go. Pete's record, I Can SeeAn Angel Walking was still in the charts at that time, so Pete took Johnny Hall from the TV Show, Ray Loy on electric Guitar, and Stoney Edwards on the bass, to make up the band. They also had a five-girl and five-boy clogging group and a three-month contract with a three-month option.
	Pete's USO Show 6 month tour to Far East - 1955-56
Pete started recording for the Rebel Record Company in 1960 and was the first recording artist for Rebel. He re-recorded his first record (I Can SeeAn Angel Walking) and another song he had written five years earlier called Napanee. On this same session, he also recorded Alone and Forsaken and Blues on my Mind. This session was done at the Owyn Bradley Studios in Nashville, Tenn. The musicians were Floyd Cramer on piano, Chet Adkins on Guitar, and Pete Drake on steel guitar.
Pete did a Christmas session for Four Star Records in 1956 with the same musicians. They recorded Happy Birthday Dear Jesus and An Old Fashion Christmas. Those were released during the Christmas Season in 1956.
He also recorded Making Love to a Stranger, Cold Grey Dawn, and a couple of songs with Buzz for Starday Records.

A local DJ played Making Love to a Stranger for George Jones when he came to town on a show date, and George wanted to record it, but the record company thought it was a little too spicy at that time, even though George wanted to do it.

They rented Watermelon Park in the summer of 1958 and booked such as The Louvin Brothers, The Stanley Brothers, George Jones, and others. George had not recorded his firt big hit,White Lighting at this time and the radio staion kept him with them for a whole week to play wherever they wanted him to because he would show up a week late if they didn't. Even back then he was "No-Show Jones".

They also had a fiddler's contest with John Hall and Scotty Stoneman. They were good friends but they loved to compete against each other in contests. Pete got John and Scott together to do twin fiddles on a song that Buzz wrote called I'll Always Wonder Why. Buzz played guitar on it. This was cut in 1960.

On the same session, they did a song that Buzz and Pete wrote together called Cotton Dice. It sold great in England. Buzz played guitar on both of these. This is the same session Making Love to a Stranger and Cold Grey Dawn were recorded on. These were all recorded in Ben Alderman's Studios in Washington D.C.

They recorded the songs The Legend of the Stars and Bars and On Top of the Hill in a radio station studio in Martinsville, Va. that Jim Eanes was working for. Jim was the A&R man for the session. They were also working for the Old Dominion Barn Dance every Saturday during this time.

Hayloft Hoedown - 1954

Emcee Mike Huneycutt, Buzz Busby,

Johnny Hall, Don Stover,

Buck Austin (back) and Pete Pike

In 1963, when Buzz and Pete again decided to go separate ways, and Pete decided to take flight training lessons and got his pilots license. He bought a new Cessna Sky Hawk in 1965, and used it to do a lot of traveling until 1972.
In 1967 and 1968, Pete started a record label, VRC Records, and recorded four or five artists. He found that to be to very confining and not giving him very much free time. He also started LeRite Publishing Co., registered with BMI, and bought a 46-foot yacht and in 1967 he cut I'm Just Not Sure and Through None Stop Express, released on his label. The following year he released I Can See An Angel and a Hank Williams' number entitled Alone and Forsaken, also on this label. These were done in the Archer Moore Studio in Nashville.
In 1969, Pete recorded some songs for the John Major Studios in Waynesboro, VA which were not all released. The numbers he did then were Somewhere in Georgia, Baby Go Bye Bye, I Had to Have Her, Have Told You Lately That I Love You. The first two were released on the John Major label MRC; the last was released on Pete's label.
In 1970, with the help of Carlton Haney, Pete began holding bluegrass festivals on a 110-acre farm that he owned down in Amelia, VA.. At the time, Carlton was having festivals at Watermelon Park in Berryville, VA. He was the manager for Don Reno, Red Smiley, and The Tennessee Cutups and also ran the New Dominion Barn Dance and promoted shows up and down the East Coast. Pete worked with Carlton a lot at that time and it was his record label that Little Bitty Teardrops was released on. They had a reunion of 'The Hayloft Gang' at one of the festivals in 1970. The Hayloft Gang back together again: Don Stover, John Hall, Buzz Busby, and Pete Pike, along with Jack Stoneman on the bass for that show. After playing the festivals until 1974, they didn't do as much music as they had been, mostly just on the weekends.
In 1978, the Pike Family bought a farm equipment dealership and worked at that until 1982 then sold out and went into the timber business. On October 13, 1996, they held an auction sale and sold the timber equipment. Pete opened a restaurant in Amelia the same day they had the sale and wasn't expecting a booming business, but as it turned out, Pete employed sixteen people and I had to add 1000 square feet on to the building to accommodate customers. It became too much for Pete to keep up with so he leased the restaurant out and Namaw's Country Diner is still thriving today.
This past Spring, Pete went back into the studio in Salem, VA. and employed the musical talents of the Black Diamond band from Princeton, West Virginia to make a bluegrass recording which also includes Little Bitty Teardrops, Make Him Stop and some newly written material and is due for release in 2005. A 4-cd box set of Pete's recordings is also in the works and to also be released sometime in 2005. At age 75, Pete is proving, that he still is very much capable of producing those fine song of old and new in that days of old 'hillbilly' fashion.
	Pete Pike Flat Five Recording Studio Salem, Va. (2004)