Sarah Price

Family/Spouse: James Bowman. James was born about 1816 in Monroe County, , , Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Samuel married Nancy Caroline Price on 12 Jan 1872 in Carter County, , , Tennessee. Nancy was born about 1856; died about 1935. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gladys Barnes. Gladys was born on 8 Oct 1904; died on 15 Feb 1975 in Washintgon County, , , Tennessee; was buried in Gray Community Cemetery, , Washington County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

When he died Sunday at 60, Billy Marshall Bowman was a warehouse manager and weekend musician. But for much of his life, he was recognized as one of America's pre-eminent steel guitar players.

During the 1950s Bowman toured the country with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and in the decade before that he performed with Johnny Wright and country singer Kitty Wells. Along the way there were gigs with other Western swing and country bands, from the Arkansas Cottonpickers to a local band called the McCoy Brothers.

"It may be born in you," Bowman said in a 1982 interview with The State. "I was born pattin' my foot. You pat your foot with Western swing. I always looked out, and if I saw somebody pattin' their foot, I said, 'Well, we're gonna do all right.' If I didn't, I said, 'Uh-oh. We're in trouble.' "

Born in Washington, Tenn., he was a son of the late Elbert S. and Gladys Barnes Bowman.

Bowman was 12 when he first heard Bob Wills with his San Antonio Rose Band and dreamed that one day he would play with "the best Western swing band" he had ever heard.
"I used to get my brother's guitar and put a dinner knife under it to raise the strings and use a Listerine bottle (as a slide)," he said. "I just liked the sound of it -- the sound of steel."

During the Texas Playboys' 1950s heyday, the band drew huge crowds and was well paid. "You make pretty good money and you spend a lot of money."

Bowman remembered a time when Wills parked his car in a lot and couldn't find it, "so he just went out and bought another car."

Times changed, however, and rock 'n' roll knocked Western Swing off center stage. "When Elvis Presley came around," he said, "there wasn't nobody around who wanted to hear steel guitar."

Bowman settled in West Columbia 22 years ago with his wife, Betty.

While he admitted he could not read music, he did compose the popular "B Bowman Hop," played by country singer Barbara Mandrell on her syndicated television show and recorded by the Steel Guitar Hall of Famers. Another one of his songs, "Billy's Bounce," was featured on Late Night with David Letterman.

Although the instrument he played changed over the years -- pedals were not part of his steel guitar until 1968 -- his talent was recognized continually. During Labor Day weekend he is scheduled to be inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame in California and into the International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.

He was a Korean conflict special services veteran, a warehouse supervisor with Edco Chemical Corp. and a member of the American Legion.

Notes:

Dr. James D. Bowman died January 12, 2020. He was a native of Gray, TN and one of 12 children born to Elbert S. Bowman, Sr. and Martha Gladys Barnes Bowman.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Helen Mays Bowman; sons, Brad Bowman, and Phil Bowman; and granddaughter Heaven Aziz.

Other survivors include his sister, Joann (Darrell Lee) Jones; three brothers and their wives; Ray (Dorothy Jo), Tony (Kathy), and the Rev. Robert (Lorraine), and his sister-in-law Lou Bowman as well as numerous nephews, nieces, and cousins.

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In addition to his parents, Jim was predeceased by two sisters, Nancy Carolyn Bowman and Wanda (Edgar) Church; and five brothers: Dalton “Buddy,” Alan J. “Jake,” Elbert S. “Junior,” Billy M., and the Rev. Weldon Bowman.

Dr. Bowman was a retired educator, having been a special instructor at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Andrews Air Force Base. He taught in the Tennessee school systems of Sullivan and Washington Counties as well as Kingsport and Johnson City. He was a professor at Lincoln Memorial University, Prince George’s Community College, Milligan College, and for 33 years at East Tennessee State University where he served on the Faculty Senate and as a faculty advisor for the Student Tennessee Education Association. He founded ETSU’s Summer Reading Workshop, served on the editorial board of the International Reading Association, and was the 1990 recipient of the Tennessee Distinguished Classroom Teacher in Higher Education.

A graduate of Science Hill High School, he received his undergraduate and his Master’s degrees from ETSU. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland in 1975.

Dr. Bowman served as charter president of the Traditional Appalachian Musical Heritage Association. He also worked bringing distinction to the Bowman family’s contributions to the birth of country music as well as western swing.

Jim served in the U.S. Army Reserves as a surgical technician in the Medical Corps as well as an instructor and a signalman for the Transportation Corps.

For seventeen years, Jim was involved in music ministries for several East Tennessee churches. As a member of Central Baptist Church in Johnson City since 1979, Jim enjoyed singing with their chancel choir and serving in several leadership roles.

A memorial service for Dr. Bowman will be held on Thursday January 16th at 2:00 PM in the sanctuary of Central Baptist Church in Johnson City with Gene Elliott and Tim Tapp officiating. Music will be provided by the Bowman Brothers. The family will greet visitors following the memorial service in the church’s Welcome Corridor.