Over in the Gloryland

July 11, 2010 10:52 AM

Lewis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones was one heck of a banjo player and storyteller best known for his role on Hee Haw. Those Delmore Boys? Lord can they sang,sang,sang. Merle? Hell he invented a whole new way to pick. Want to learn how? Drawn together by their love of traditional gospel music, they became country music's first supergroup. The Brown's Ferry Four. Their complete recordings.
posted by timsteil (9 comments total)

What I really want to know was what was going on between him and Minnie Pearl.
posted by orange swan at 11:17 AM on July 11, 2010

My Dad was/is a big Grandpa Jones fan: "Look at him spank that banjo!" he'd remark while watching Hee Haw. My other Grandpa Jones memory is of him breaking down and crying during one of those "true crime" TV shows about the murder of David "Stringbean" Akeman. Grandpa lived across the road from Stringbean and the two were very good friends. Grandpa was the one who discovered the bodies of Stringbean and his wife (he'd noticed that they weren't up and about at their usual time and went over to their house to see if they were OK).
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:39 AM on July 11, 2010

Check the "storyteller" link Oriole. Also, FWIW I doinked the "his role" one, which should be this.
posted by timsteil at 11:42 AM on July 11, 2010

I have the Bear Family box set. It's awesome.
posted by dobbs at 12:21 PM on July 11, 2010

Related: Alton' Delmore's Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity is a pretty fascinating read.
posted by brennen at 1:47 PM on July 11, 2010

s/'//
posted by brennen at 1:49 PM on July 11, 2010

His banjo was stolen a few blocks from where I live!

(I don't have it)
posted by sourwookie at 2:36 PM on July 11, 2010

Well done, sir.
posted by fourcheesemac at 3:42 PM on July 11, 2010

Salute.
posted by vapidave at 8:53 PM on July 11, 2010