Herbert Mayfield
Encyclopedia
Herbert Earl Mayfield was a bluegrass music
ian and a member of the Mayfield Brothers band
of West Texas
. Playing the mandolin
and the guitar
, Mayfield played alongside his brothers, Thomas Edd Mayfield
and Arlie V. "Smokey" Mayfield
.
In the late 1940s, the Mayfield Brothers were warmup musician
s in Lubbock
and Amarillo
for Tennessee Ernie Ford
, Maddox Brothers and Rose
, Hank Snow
, and other Country
groups.
After World War II
, the trio went on the circuit playing Bluegrass until Edd left the band to join Bill Monroe
and the Bluegrass Boys.
in Beckham County
in southwestern Oklahoma
to William Fletcher Mayfield (died 1952), and the former Penelope Drake (died 1937). In January 1931, he moved with his family to Dimmitt
, the seat of Castro County near Lubbock. He graduated from Dimmitt High School and was awarded a basketball
scholarship to college
. During World War II, Mayfield served in the United States Army Air Corps
, the forerunner to the Air Force
. He participated in troop movements during the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge
, in which his brother Smokey also fought.
All of the Mayfield family played musical instruments, beginning with the mandolin
. Herbert Mayfield recalled rushing from his ranch
chores to devote time to practicing music.
in Castro County. Active in community affairs, he was a former president of the Dimmitt Rodeo
Association and was a member of the Fair Board. He was also affiliated with the Panhandle Blue Grass Association. He was Baptist
. Two weeks prior to Mayfield's death, the International Blue Grass Museum in Owensboro
, Kentucky
, interviewed him in Dimmitt in preparation for a forthcoming documentary
on the Mayfield musical family.
For much of his adult life, Mayfield was a welder
for cattle
feedlot
s. He and his wife supported student scholarship
s for those pursuing the study of Bluegrass music at South Plains College
in Levelland
west of Lubbock. South Plains honored Herbert and Smokey Mayfield in a special ceremony in 1989 as pioneers of Bluegrass music. Susan Dailey, the recipient of a Mayfield scholarship in 1993, recalled Mayfield as "an inspiration to me as a mandolin student.... The stories of his early musical years on the [Green Valley] ranch
also fascinated me as a musician and as a visual artist
.... I feel fortunate to have been acquainted with Herb. He was a wonderful man.... "
. Months later, his brother Smokey died of a heart attack, a complication from neuropathy. Edd Mayfield died of leukemia
in 1958 at the age of thirty-two in Bluefield
, West Virginia
, while he was on tour with Bill Monroe. Services for Herb Mayfield were held on June 1, 2008, at the First Baptist Church of Dimmitt. Burial was in Hart Cemetery in Hart.
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
ian and a member of the Mayfield Brothers band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
of West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
. Playing the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Mayfield played alongside his brothers, Thomas Edd Mayfield
Thomas Edd Mayfield
Thomas Edward "Edd" Mayfield was a Bluegrass singer and guitarist, mostly known for being a member of the Bill Monroe and Bluegrass Boys band during the 1950s. Edd Mayfield and two of his Texas brothers, Smokey Mayfield of Spearman and Herbert E...
and Arlie V. "Smokey" Mayfield
Smokey Mayfield
Arlie Vincent Mayfield, I, known as Smokey Mayfield , was a ranch supervisor in the Texas Panhandle and a bluegrass musician...
.
In the late 1940s, the Mayfield Brothers were warmup musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s in Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
and Amarillo
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
for Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
, Maddox Brothers and Rose
Maddox Brothers and Rose
The Maddox Brothers and Rose, known as America’s Most Colorful Hillbilly Band from the 1930s to the 1950s, consisted of four brothers, Fred, Cal, Cliff and Don Maddox, along with their sister Rose. Cliff died in 1949 and was replaced by brother Henry...
, Hank Snow
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
, and other Country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
groups.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the trio went on the circuit playing Bluegrass until Edd left the band to join Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
and the Bluegrass Boys.
Early life
Mayfield was born in ErickErick, Oklahoma
Erick is a city in Beckham County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,052 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Erick is located at , elevation 2,060 feet ....
in Beckham County
Beckham County, Oklahoma
Beckham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 19,799. Its county seat is Sayre.Founded upon statehood in 1907, Beckham County was named for J. C. W...
in southwestern Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
to William Fletcher Mayfield (died 1952), and the former Penelope Drake (died 1937). In January 1931, he moved with his family to Dimmitt
Dimmitt, Texas
Dimmitt is a city in Castro County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,375 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Castro County. It is located on the old Ozark Trail, a road system from St. Louis, Missouri, to El Paso, Texas...
, the seat of Castro County near Lubbock. He graduated from Dimmitt High School and was awarded a basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
scholarship to college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
. During World War II, Mayfield served in the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
, the forerunner to the Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. He participated in troop movements during the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, in which his brother Smokey also fought.
All of the Mayfield family played musical instruments, beginning with the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
. Herbert Mayfield recalled rushing from his ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
chores to devote time to practicing music.
Marriage and later life
In 1951, Mayfield married the former Dorothy McLain in HartHart, Texas
Hart is a city in Castro County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,198 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hart is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
in Castro County. Active in community affairs, he was a former president of the Dimmitt Rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
Association and was a member of the Fair Board. He was also affiliated with the Panhandle Blue Grass Association. He was Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
. Two weeks prior to Mayfield's death, the International Blue Grass Museum in Owensboro
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, interviewed him in Dimmitt in preparation for a forthcoming documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on the Mayfield musical family.
For much of his adult life, Mayfield was a welder
Welder
A welder is a tradesman who specializes in welding materials together. The materials to be joined can be metals or varieties of plastic or polymer...
for cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
feedlot
Feedlot
A feedlot or feedyard is a type of animal feeding operation which is used in factory farming for finishing livestock, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations . They...
s. He and his wife supported student scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s for those pursuing the study of Bluegrass music at South Plains College
South Plains College
South Plains College is a community college located in Levelland, Texas. It operates satellite branches in Plainview and at the Reese Technology Center, formerly Reese Air Force Base, in Lubbock. SPC also has many classes in the Byron Martin Advanced Technology Center in Lubbock, as part of a...
in Levelland
Levelland, Texas
Levelland is a city in Hockley County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,542. It is the county seat of Hockley County. It is located on the Llano Estacado, west of Lubbock. Major industries include cotton farming and petroleum production...
west of Lubbock. South Plains honored Herbert and Smokey Mayfield in a special ceremony in 1989 as pioneers of Bluegrass music. Susan Dailey, the recipient of a Mayfield scholarship in 1993, recalled Mayfield as "an inspiration to me as a mandolin student.... The stories of his early musical years on the [Green Valley] ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
also fascinated me as a musician and as a visual artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
.... I feel fortunate to have been acquainted with Herb. He was a wonderful man.... "
Death
Mayfield died of renal failure in an Amarillo hospitalHospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
. Months later, his brother Smokey died of a heart attack, a complication from neuropathy. Edd Mayfield died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
in 1958 at the age of thirty-two in Bluefield
Bluefield, West Virginia
Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 10,447 at the 2010 census. It is also the core city of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,342.-Geography & Climate:...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, while he was on tour with Bill Monroe. Services for Herb Mayfield were held on June 1, 2008, at the First Baptist Church of Dimmitt. Burial was in Hart Cemetery in Hart.