Richard Greene accumulated hundreds of session credits on violin while performing across dozens of groups, yet his greatest visibility came in the 1960s through work with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and Seatrain. Born November 9, 1942, in Los Angeles, he began classical violin lessons at age five. By high school he had redirected his energies to folk music. He enrolled at the University of California-Berkeley in 1960, performing first with the Coast Mountain Ramblers and later with the Dry City Scat Band. After graduation Greene accepted a real-estate position but continued playing with the Pine Valley Boys in San Francisco. A 1964 visit to New York brought an introduction to Bill Keith of the Blue Grass Boys, an encounter that helped shape Monroe's choice to hire the young musician two years later. Greene appeared with Monroe at the Grand Ole Opry and contributed to the Decca album Bluegrass Time.
After a single year with the Blue Grass Boys he moved to the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, whose members also included Keith plus Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and recorded on the group's 1968 release Garden of Joy. Restless after another year, he returned to California and joined the Blues Project, which soon became Seatrain. Greene remained more than three years, appearing on the band's self-titled 1969 A&M album, its second self-titled LP for Capitol in 1971, and 1972's Marblehead Messenger. Together with Eric Weissberg, Jim Rooney, and longtime associate Keith he next formed the Blue Velvet Band, which issued only the album Sweet Moments.
During the balance of the 1970s Greene performed with James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, Rod Stewart, Muleskinner, Taj Mahal, David Grisman, and Loggins & Messina while also cutting three solo albums backed by his band the Zone. Duets (1977) and Ramblin' (1979) came out on Rounder, followed by Blue Rondo on Sierra in 1980. An early-1980s Japanese tour with Tony Trischka and Peter Rowan was captured on the Nippon label releases Bluegrass Album and Hiroshima Mon-Amour, both from 1980.
