Eddie Peabody
Edwin Ellsworth Peabody - also known as "Eddie," "little Eddie," "King of the Banjo," and "Happiness Boy" (b. 02/19/02 in Reading, Massachusetts - d. 11/07/70 in Covington, Kentucky).
Universally considered as the best banjo player of all time.
His career started during World War I (he fibbed about his age when he enlisted in the Armed Forces in March of 1916, saying he was 18 when in fact he was 14) playing violin, mandolin, guitar, and banjo for his U.S. Navy buddies, becoming known as the "Happiness Boy." He then went on to play vaudeville, where he originally started with the violin, but audiences loved when he played banjo so much that he switched.
He developed with the Vega Banjo Co. of Boston a new type of four string banjo, called the Vegavox, developing the old zither banjo. The Vegavox has been produced mainly in 4string plectrum (22 frets) and tenor (19 frets) models, therefore some 5string has been marketed on special order.
Eddie developed also another special type of electric guitar, first with Fender Co. and then with Gretsch, called the Banjoline tuned as a plectrum banjo. Nowadays the Banjoline is a very rare and highly priced collector's item, seldom used on stage.
At some point in the 1920s, a music critic nicknamed him "The King of the Banjo" because of his frenetic playing style, which made those listening think he was playing two banjos at once. The nickname stuck for his entire life.
He got into show business in 1921 after getting off the S-14 submarine, and from small venues to vaudeville, from recording contracts to "Talkies," from the 20s to 1970, he remained the most popular banjo player of his generation.
During the 1930s, he married Maude Kelly, his business manager at the time, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1939. In 1941, he married Ragna Kaupanger, a nurse and stewardess (now called Flight Attendant) for United Airlines. An American of Norwegian descent, she grew up in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Eddie and Ragna had two children, Eddie Jr., and George. They remained married until his death at age 68. Throughout his life, Eddie played for Kings, Queens, potentates, Dukes, Duchesses, Presidents (President Eisenhower gave him a distinguished "People to People" Award for meritorious service in both the military and show business), and fools like you and me.
He played until the very last moments of his life, when he died on stage in Covington, KY of a brain hemhorrage. His wife, Ragna, passed away in 2002, her husband always at the forefront of her thoughts.
Bibliography
The Eddie Peabody Story by Lowell H. Schreyer
Other useful information by: Eddie Peabody III, grandson of Eddie Peabody (the_walrus@fastmail.fm)
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