The Osborne Brothers performing at Sangamon Park in Mahomet IL, June 9, 1968. Photo by Dan Tackett.

In a phone conversation over the weekend I was privileged to talk to Sonny Osborne for the second time in my life. I wanted to check on some details of any Monkees’ recollections he had. Sonny was gracious enough to oblige me.

But I got more than I bargained for and was extremely thrilled.

Sonny continued to tell me how the Monkees’ sessions were the most idiotic he ever experienced. He mentioned that Mike Nesmith’s mom invented Liquid Paper. It was quite evident Nesmith came from money, with many of the stories Sonny heard him tell.

To me, this was the first tones of how down-to-earth Sonny Osborne is as a performer and a man. Here is a gentleman who has very little patience for any kind of pretension.

Sonny mentioned that while he was in the studio with Nesmith, he never saw him play a note. Most of the time was spent in the control room, occasionally disappearing from there to vanish to who knows where. This was the beginning of a serious loathing that Sonny gained for session work.

He worked doing sessions for about a 6-month period. During this time, he would do 2 or 3 sessions a day. His final session work was during a Jerry Reed recording. The powers that be asked Sonny to play a chromatic riff on his banjo and he insisted that he didn’t play that way. The assembly ended with Sonny packing up and saying so long to session work.

He recalled a recording with Wade Ray and Floyd Cramer, where Cramer ended up beating on the piano several times, frustrated with the music industry and what a hard life it was.

Several times during my conversation with Sonny, he insisted it was incredibly difficult to put up with the various entertainers’ egos. He stated the trouble began when they would read their glowing press clippings and started to believe the accolades that were being heaped upon them. He felt many of these entertainers would have preferred if you would have bowed before them, much as you would with royalty.

At one point, I told Sonny I grew up in the rock-and-roll era but had a Dad who loved country. Ironically, one of our joint favorites was the Osborne Brothers. When I mentioned this to Sonny, he seemed to very much appreciate it. Sonny said, “We were 25 years ahead of our time. We laid the groundwork for many of the new bluegrass bands who are out there now.”

Our talk came around to Sonny’s health. He has not picked up a banjo since 2003. Last year, he suffered a stroke and when asked how he was feeling, he mentioned he was doing OK. I told him how much I missed seeing him out there on the road and he said, “I sure don’t miss it.”

“Nobody is a legend, we all put our pants on one leg at a time.” - Sonny Osborne

During our phone conversation, he told me a great story that had just happened. During a breakfast conversation with his wife that morning, they discussed something which had happened the night before. Sonny ventured out to see Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen play at the Station Inn in Nashville.

After the show they all sat around and talked, Sonny told his wife they made me feel like a legend. It is evident, Sonny is thoroughly uncomfortable with this term. He mused that perhaps he shouldn’t have gone to the event. Sonny acknowledged, “Nobody is a legend, we all put our pants on one leg at a time.” He said he just did his job as well as he could. This was a thought he affirmed several times throughout our conversation.

Sonny Osborne let me know that he didn’t do interviews anymore. When I told him I felt privileged with the time he had taken with me, he stated this very well could be the last interview he’ll ever do.

This is a man who appears to not have a pretentious bone in his own body and along with that, abhors anyone who acts as though they are more important or special than warranted. He feels many in the music business are phony. His attitude is, if you want to get along with these super-egos, you have to play the games with those particular individuals.

“These people read the accolades heaped upon themselves and they start believing them as well. We all put our pants on the same,” he said. He grew increasingly tired of playing the games.

Sonny took great pride in the Osborne Brothers being just “down-home boys.” Returning back to the story about Hillman and Pedersen treating him as a legend he says, “I don’t look like a legend.”

I asked him to tell me some of the talent he personally has looked up to in the business. Sonny first mentioned Bill Anderson and was quick to point out that Anderson had made a great deal of money in his life, but was still a down-home boy. He also liked Jim Ed Brown, Ricky Skaggs, the Whites, Faron Young, Merle Haggard, and believe it or not, Jerry Lee Lewis.

Sonny stated Lewis had a little wild side but was still a pretty good guy.

The Osborne Brothers “Live in Germany” (Pinecastle)

The talk also came around to a discussion of the new CD and DVD set of “The Osborne Brothers: Live in Germany.” Sonny told the story about how that video was illegally recorded and was to be sold to whoever wanted it for distribution.

Sonny decided he wanted it done right, so the Pinecastle label bought the video and they worked for a year on piecing it together.

I admire Sonny Osborne. The two times I’ve talked to him and the moments I have been lucky enough to see him perform are incredibly special to me. This is a man who speaks his mind. Sonny is honest and has a problem with phoniness in people and in the music industry. He grew tired of it and who can blame him for that?

After I got off the phone with Sonny, I thought what if this is the last interview he’ll ever do. God forbid if that is true. Then I thought about how much I miss seeing him perform.

Sonny Osborne was and is a unique, one-of-a-kind banjo picker, who in my mind will always be a legend. It is his destiny that this legend status will forever be affixed to him. And finally I miss seeing that wonderful smile of Sonny’s. This is a smile that like the man is bigger than life.

Gosh Sonny, we miss your kind out there.

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