Description

Ralph Whited (1919-1994) was a farmer who lived his entire life in Oneonta, AL, in the foothills of the southern Appalachian Mountains, below Sand Mountain and north of Birmingham. When he was 18, Ralph heard someone playing the fiddle. “I just thought, ‘I wish I could do that,’ and I ordered a fiddle from Sears and Roebuck. I believe it was $4.85.” Ralph learned many tunes from local fiddlers such as Roy and Luther Sanders, Hugh Allgood, Desso Baker, and Howard Stansberry, and he was a big fan of Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith, too. In the 1980s, several friends and I hosted a traditional music show, “Homespun,” on WLRH public radio in Huntsville. Our friend Tom Jackson urged us to visit Mr. Whited, who “really puts a whole lot of fine fiddling in his tunes!” So, down to Mr. Whited’s house we went and recorded Ralph’s great fiddling! – Bob White

Additional Notes: Ralph Whited: Oneonta, Alabama (1919-1994) – Bio and Memoir by Joyce Cauthen