Dale Potter, (28 April 1929* - 14 March 1996) was once called “the greatest fiddle player who ever lived”. His Nashville studio work tended to prove that: Fondly known as “Mr. Double Stop,” he was one of the most-demanded studio fiddlers during the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s.
He was born on a farm in Puxico, Missouri. He grew up as a child prodigy playing the family mandolin at age 4 and mastering the guitar by the age of 6. His father John Potter was his teacher and first musical influence. He learned about ten hoedowns in only two weeks not just through his father’s teaching but by listening to Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys performing each day at noon on the KVOO radio station out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hearing the fiddle captured Dale’s attention that led him on a mission to master that beautiful sound of the fiddle harmony.Unaware of Bob Wills having more than one fiddler, Dale worked and soon created that harmony with his one fiddle using double stops. This was unheard of. Dale was so far ahead of his time. The popular western swing style included twin and triple fiddles. Dale remarkably captured that sound with double stops taking fiddling to a new level. His sophisticated fiddling won him many fiddling contests.
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At 16 years old Dale got special permission to leave school early to play from 3:30-4:00 on the KWOC radio station with Slim Dortch and The Ozark Jamboree. He stayed busy playing his fiddle locally. Soon he landed another radio job playing with Donald Howard and The Smiling Hillbillies on KLCN. Dale’s first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry was January 29, 1948 when he was just 18 years old. He played “Cattle Call” for the captive audience. This was the beginning of his many appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.
At 16 years old Dale got special permission to leave school early to play from 3:30-4:00 on the KWOC radio station with Slim Dortch and The Ozark Jamboree. He stayed busy playing his fiddle locally. Soon he landed another radio job playing with Donald Howard and The Smiling Hillbillies on KLCN. Dale’s first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry was January 29, 1948 when he was just 18 years old. He played “Cattle Call” for the captive audience. This was the beginning of his many appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.His characteristic heavy bowing style adorns many of the finest tracks cut in Nashville from the late Forties to the late Fifties, and has proved highly influential. Double Stops are an essential feature of Western Swing fiddling, with the sixth note of the chord often highlighted. Dale Potter is credited by many as the originator of double stopping and the instant creation of harmony fiddle lines. He also deliberately mimicked the riffs produced by the unusual tuning of the pedal steel.
Here's "Maidens Prayer" from above album.
In March 1949 he played alongside the electric guitarist Zeb Turner, steel guitarist Don Davis and the rhythm guitarist Jack Shook on two Hank Williams sessions. Among the numbers cut were Leon Payne's "Lost Highway", and three songs by Hank Williams, "May You Never Be Alone", "Mind Your Own Business" and "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)". He subsequently became an in-demand session player, working on Red Foley’s Top 10 hit, ‘Sugarfoot Rag’, and a series of hits by Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells, Ray Price, Johnny Paycheck and Faron Young. Although Potter's musical career was interrupted by military service in Korea, it easily resumed when he returned to Nashville.
He recorded extensively with Webb Pierce and Carl Smith and at the end of the Fifties even performed with "the father of Bluegrass Music", Bill Monroe. In 1952 he joined Homer and Jethro, Chet Atkins and the steel guitarist Jerry Byrd to cut an album as the Country All-Stars. He was married to Anita Carter (June Carter Cash's sister) in 1950 and was divorced from her in 1953. Potter also appeared on the very first Everly Brothers recording session in 1955.Over the years Dale stayed busy playing in Las Vegas, Nevada with The Judy Lynn Show, Honolulu, Hawaii with a band he formed and Dallas, Texas with The Sons Of The West. Later in life Dale realized he had played his fiddle in every state except Alaska.
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There was however, to be one last flowering of his talent as he cut three albums for R.M Stone's Houston-based label, Stoneway: The Unique Fiddle Style of Dale Potter and Country Waltz Time and Super Fiddle (1979).
Dale Potter was a major influence of many great fiddlers like Bobby Hicks, Vassar Clements and Buddy Spicher. He was known for his gentle attitude and kind heart. He never hesitated to show a fiddler anything they wanted to learn and he readily shared new ideas. Dale Potter died March 13, 1996.
Dale Potter was inducted into The National Fiddler Hall of Fame in 2014.
(Edited from The Independent & AllMusic & The National Fiddler Hall of Fame) (* some sources give birth year as 1930)