James McReynolds dies of cancer at 75:

Backed by their band, "The Virginia Boys," their first single "The Flame of Love," backed by "Gosh I Miss You All the Time," spent weeks on the national charts. Other songs regarded as Jim & Jesse classics are "Cotton Mill Man," "Diesel on My Tail," "Are You Missing Me" and "Paradise."

Jim's enhanced high tenor and guitar playing combined with Jesse's deep-voiced singing and unique mandolin style to produce their distinctive sound. Jesse developed a cross-picking technique and "split-string" style few could duplicate.

The brothers' performing career was interrupted by service in both World War II and the Korean War.

They joined the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in 1964, and their numerous honors included induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame's "Walkway of Stars" and the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Honor. [Reuters]

James Monroe McReynolds was born Feb. 13, 1927, in Carfax, Va. His brother, Jesse Lester, arrived two years later. The brothers' grandfather, Charles McReynolds, was a fiddler who recorded with the Bull Mountain Moonshiners for Victor Records on the famed Bristol sessions that launched the recording careers of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.

In 1947, after serving a two-year term in the Army, McReynolds returned to his home state and, with his brother, secured a daily 15-minute radio show on WNVA in Norton, Va. Over the next five years, they worked at stations in Johnson City, Tenn.; Charleston, W.Va.; Augusta, Ga.; Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Wichita, Kan.; and Middletown, Ohio.

The McReynolds, joined by singer Larry Roll, made their first records in 1951 in Middletown, performing as the Virginia Trio. The next year, they began recording for Capitol Records, backed by a studio band that included James Loden who would soon go on to solo fame as Sonny James. One of their early cuts for Capitol was "Are You Missing Me." While the song did not chart, it went on to become a bluegrass classic and a staple in their stage shows. In October 2002, remastered versions of these recordings were released under the title First Sounds: The Capitol Years.

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