Dr. Charles Wolfe was an integral part of all Spring Fed Records productions. His insight, humor and generosity are greatly missed.
In Memory
Dr. Charles Wolfe
1943-2006
Charles Keith Wolfe was born in Sedalia, Missouri on August 14, 1943,
the first of two boys born to Orville and Dilla Wolfe. Charles grew up
in a musically diverse family and displayed his love of music in many
ways in his adolescence including playing the saxophone in a high school
garage band.
While working on his Bachelor of Arts in English at Southwest Missouri
University in Springfield Charles met his future wife Mary Dean at Springfield
Hospital where she was a nurse and she was employed as an orderly. Charles
and Mary Dean wed on August 21, 1966. After completing his Bachelor of
Arts Degree, Charles attended the University of Kansas where he earned
his Master of Arts Degree in 1967 followed by his Ph.D. in English also
from the University of Kansas where he was an instructor in the English
Department from 1967-1970.
In 1970 Charles and Mary Dean Wolfe moved from Lawrence, Kansas to Murfreesboro,
Tennessee where Charles accepted a position as Assistant Professor of
English at Middle Tennessee State University. Charles and Mary Dean welcomed
their first daughter Marian Stacey in 1970 with another daughter Cynthia
Dean to follow in 1976. Charles was made a full professor of English at
MTSU in 1982.
In addition to his instruction duties at MTSU, Charles wrote numerous
articles for copious scholarly journals and music industry magazines such
as the Journal of Country Music and Black Music Studies while also acting
as the editor of the Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin. Although well
versed in all areas of music scholarship, Dr. Wolfe authored or edited
more than twenty books focusing mainly on Country and Bluegrass music
including Tennessee Strings, Kentucky Country, The Life and Legend of
Leadbelly, Country Music Goes to War, A Good Natured Riot: The Birth of
the Grand Ole Opry and the forthcoming The Music of Bill Monroe. Charles
was honored with three nominations for Grammy Awards, several lifetime
achievement awards for music scholarship and was presented the Governor’s
Award in the Arts in 1988 for lifetime achievement in preserving Tennessee’s
folk heritage.
Charles became a grandfather for the first time in 2004 when his granddaughter
Katie was born to his younger daughter Cindy and her husband Mark. Another
grandchild, Aidan Charles followed in December of 2005. Dr. Wolfe retired
from MTSU in 2005 after 35 years of service and was soon thereafter awarded
Professor Emeritus Status by University President Sydney McPhee. Charles
Keith Wolfe was a devoted husband, a loving father, a doting grandfather,
a respected colleague and friend whose time on earth ended much too quickly
on February 9, 2006 surrounded by his family. He shall be sorely missed
on earth but will always remain in our hearts and minds.
Publishing Highlights
The Music of Bill Monroe. University of Illinois Press, 2005.
With Neil Rosenberg.
The Bristol Sessions. MacFadden Press, 2005. With Ted Olsen.
Country Music Goes to War. The University Press of Kentucky, 2005. With
James Akenson.
Uncle Dave Macon. BFSX Press, 2004.
The Women of Country Music. The University Press of Kentucky. With James
Akenson.
Country Music Annual 2002. The University Press of Kentucky. With James
Akenson.
The Carter Family: In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain. BFSX Press, 2001.
Classic Country: Legends of Country Music. Rutledge, 2001.
A Good Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry Vanderbilt University
Press, 1999.
The Devil’s Box: Masters of Southern Fiddling. Vanderbilt University Press,
1997
In Close Harmony: The Story of the Louvin Brothers. University Press of
Mississippi, 1996
The Life and Legend of Leadbelly. Harper Collins, 1996. With Kip Lornell.
DeFord Bailey: A Black Star in Early Country Muasic. University of Tennessee
Press, 1991.
The Civil War Music. Time-Life Books, 1991.
Mahalia Jackson, Gospel Singer. Chelsea House, 1990.
Everybody’s Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind the Mike. University of Tennessee
Press, 1984. With Louis Marshall Jones.
Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music in Kentucky. University Press
of Kentucky, 1982.
Tennessee Strings: The Story of Country Music in Tennessee. University
of Tennessee Press, 1976.
Planets and Dimensions: The Collected Essays of Clark Ashton Smith. Mirage
Press, 1971.