Posted on 11/10/2023 4:41:05 PM PST by OttawaFreeper
On this day fifty years ago, November 10th, 1973, Stringbean Akeman frailed his final phrases on a Vega #9 five-string banjo, did his signature hand wave and hat flip one last time, and stepped off the Opry stage and into the history books in what would come to signal a change for the Opry itself, country music as an industry, and even country music as an institution. Before the night was out, Stringbean Akeman and his wife Estelle (Stanfill) were shot by two 23-year old cousins who’d come to know of Stringbean’s habit of keeping large amounts of cash on hand.
Understanding how significant Stringbean was to the Grand Ole Opry, and to Country Music as an entity, can be difficult for those who didn’t live through it, or for those whose knowledge of the later golden years of country music is cursory at best. And it can be difficult to explain because Stringbean’s contributions to country music are oft-understated, and sometimes outright overlooked.
(Excerpt) Read more at savingcountrymusic.com ...
The cooperation music out of Nashville is really from Hollywood and New York City.
I seem to recall it was Grandpa Jones, his old friend who found the bodies and notified the police.
I think Stringbean was playing with Bill Monroe when Earl Scruggs came out of the hills and auditioned for his job, which he got, putting Stringbean out of work. Music history..
String was one of the great old-style banjo pickers. Watch him on YouTube performing HILLBILLY FEVER.
I seem to recall it was Grandpa Jones.....
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Grandpa Jones picked up the moniker “Grandpa Jones” when he was 28 years old.
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