{{short description|American singer-songwriter}}
'''Clyde Leonard Moody''' (September 19, 1915 – April 7, 1989),<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=1739}}</ref> also known as the "Hillbilly Waltz King" and sometimes as "The Genial Gentleman of Country Music" was one of the great founders of American Bluegrass music.
== Early life and career == Born in Cherokee, North Carolina, United States,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Moody got his start in the late 1930s in the string band J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In September 1940 he joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys on the Grand Ole Opry.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Moody's guitar style was unique, with him finger picking with his thumb and index finger.<ref>Rosenberg, Neil(1985). "Bluegrass," University of Illinois Press. {{ISBN|0252002652}}</ref> Moody also had a mellow voice that was a good contrast to Bill Monroe's voice. He appeared on Monroe's first solo recording session for RCA Victor's Bluebird label on October 7 of that year, playing guitar and singing lead vocals and bass on the Blue Grass Quartet's first recording ("Cryin' Holy Unto My Lord").<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He was featured on that session singing "Six White Horses", a blues-based original.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He also has the rare distinction of having played mandolin on a Blue Grass Boys session, as he provided the rhythm chops on "Mule Skinner Blues" and "Dog House Blues", while Monroe played guitar - the only instance where a Blue Grass Boy other than Monroe played mandolin at a Bill Monroe recording session.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/801116-Clyde-Moody|title=Clyde Moody|website=Discogs.com|accessdate=January 9, 2020}}</ref> Upon his departure from the Blue Grass Boys in 1944, he remained at WSM and the Opry for several years as a solo artist.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1952, he recorded as a member of the Brown's Ferry Four with The Delmore Brothers on King Records. He later played at the first Bluegrass Festival at Fincastle, Virginia, in 1965. His nephew, Bruce Moody (March 14, 1940 – February 21, 2009) was also a popular bluegrass musician and toured with him from 1962–1969.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blueridgeheritage.com/artist/bruce-moody/|title=Bruce Moody – Blue Ridge National Heritage Area|website=Blueridgeheritage.com|accessdate=January 9, 2020}}</ref>
Some of his career highlights include appearing in the White House three times and writing and recording the million-seller "Shenandoah Waltz" in 1947. He sang with a young Elvis Presley in 1955 when Tom Parker paired them for a six-week tour. Moody was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=2011 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2011-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|accessdate=September 10, 2012}}</ref>
He died in 1989 in Nashville, Tennessee.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>
==Discography== {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="3" |Clyde Moody's early recordings |- !Band !year !instrument |- |Steve Ledford and the Mountaineers |1938 |guitar and vocals |- |Mainer's Mountaineers |1939 |guitar and vocals |- |Happy Go Lucky Boys |1940 |guitar, vocals, mandolin |- |Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys |1940 |guitar, vocals, mandolin |- |Arthur Smith |1940 |guitar |} <ref>Russell, Tony(2008). Country Music Records: A Discography 1921-1942. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0195366212}}.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p24612|label=Clyde Moody}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Clyde}} Category:1915 births Category:1989 deaths Category:Bluegrass musicians from North Carolina Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:King Records artists Category:Starday Records artists Category:People from Cherokee, North Carolina Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters Category:Singer-songwriters from North Carolina Category:Country musicians from North Carolina Category:Blue Grass Boys members