The Country Gentlemen

The Country Gentlemen
Country Gentlemen at Carlton Haney's festival, Camp Springs, NC in 1971. L-R Bill Emerson, Doyle Lawson, Bill Yates, Charlie Waller
Background information
Origin	Washington, D.C., United States
Genres	Bluegrass, country, progressive bluegrass
Years active	1957–2004
Labels	Folkways, Smithsonian Folkways, Starday, Vanguard, Rebel, Sugar Hill, Design, Mercury, Copper Creek, Freeland, Pinecastle, Seven Seas
Associated acts	Bill Monroe, Seldom Scene, Bluegrass Album Band, The Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson, Osborne Brothers, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Past members	1st classic lineup Charlie Waller John Duffey Eddie Adcock Tom Gray 2nd classic lineup Charlie Waller Bill Emerson Doyle Lawson Bill Yates Greg Corbett list of all past members

The Country Gentlemen were a bluegrass band that originated during the 1950s in the area of Washington, D.C., United States, and recorded and toured with various members until the death in 2004 of Charlie Waller, one of the group's founders who in its later years served as the group's leader.

The classic line-up from 1960–64 consisted of co-founders Charlie Waller on guitar and John Duffey on mandolin, with Eddie Adcock on banjo and Tom Gray on bass. They were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1996.

The band started on July 4, 1957 as a replacement group for Buzz Busby and the Bayou Boys when several members of that band were injured in a car accident. The band’s original members were Charlie Waller on guitar and lead vocals, John Duffey on mandolin and tenor vocals, Bill Emerson on banjo and baritone vocals, and Larry Lahey on bass. After a few early changes, the band settled into a somewhat permanent lineup consisting of Waller, Duffey, Eddie Adcock on banjo, and Tom Gray on bass.

They toured both the bluegrass and folk circuits during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1964, Tom Gray left the group to pursue on his career as National Geographic cartographer. Until end of sixties, Ed Ferris, Ed McGlothlin and Bill Yates were the bass players for the group. In 1969, just as the band was scheduled to tour Japan, John Duffey quit, citing his fear of flying. Jimmy Gaudreau was brought in on mandolin. Doyle Lawson went to Japan and played the mandolin and sang on the live recorded album for the groups' first trip to Japan. Eddie Adcock left the band in 1970 and moved to California to create a band Clinton Special.