Nelson Young

Nelson Young (1927-2014) was born near Richmond, KY, He came north to Cincinnati, OH and worked the bars, including the Old Chatter Box in Cincinnati and the Blacksmith Shop in McGonigle, OH. In the late 1950s and early 1960s Young performed with Don Boone & his Sandy Valley Boys, appearing on WCPO-TV and WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, WNOP radio in Newport, KY, and WPFB radio in Middletown, OH. Young played most of the bluegrass instruments but usually the fiddle or bass. In 1963 Young took the Sandy Valley Boys name and moved to Florida, eventually ending up at Walt Disney World as the Country Bears. In 1958 Nelson had a hit on the small Cincinnati label, Lucky, with “Rock Old Sputnick.” He also recorded on area labels Ruby, Enola, Big 6, Madison, and Ark, and on the national label Starday. As the Sandy Valley Boys, a single for Grassroots Unlimited was cut, along with albums for Briar International, Vetco, Lamon and Eagle.