Vernon Derrick

Vernon Derrick (November 7 1933 – January 4 2008) was an American musician and entertainer. Derrick was born in Grant, Alabama, in 1933 and was a resident of Arab, Alabama, since 1941. Derrick may best be remembered as a fiddle and mandolin player of Hank Williams Jr's Bama Band in the 1980s and played both fiddle and mandolin on the original sessions of such hits as "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down" and "A Country Boy Can Survive". He has been recognized by The Alabama Music Hall of Fame as an Achiever. Derrick began his professional career in music as a teenager, touring with such groups as Flatt and Scruggs and after serving his country in the United States Army, recorded and toured with the Stanley Brothers. He was also a longtime member of Jimmy Martin's bluegrass band. While working with the Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys, Derrick wrote "The Arab Bounce" and "Big Country", two classic bluegrass favorites. Many country and bluegrass fans and musicians believe that Vernon Derrick was a musical stylist who was ahead of his time in the field of bluegrass music. Derrick passed away from heart and renal failure at Marshall Medical Center North, Marshall County, AL on January 4, 2008 and was interred at Mount Oak Cemetery, near Arab, Alabama.