By Steve Flairty
Kentucky by Heart
My parents were country music fans back in the 1960s. I recall, on at least one occasion, that they attended a Grand Ole Opry show in Nashville.
A young teenager, I wasn’t at all interested in that “twangy stuff,” but being a voracious reader even then, I paged through a souvenir show program they brought home from the show. I recall being fascinated by two of the profiled performers, probably because of their novelty appeal. Their show biz names were “Grandpa Jones” and the other, simply “Stringbean.”
With further research recently, I discovered that they often performed together and became neighbors and friends in real life. Sadly, one had the misfortune of finding the other and his wife murdered by a couple of robbers and later testified in court to bring the killers to justice.
Both were Kentucky natives, not unusual for Opry stars. Grandpa, whose real name was Louis Marshall Jones, looked like a grandfather who played banjo and sang. Stringbean, or David Akeman, had a strange stage presence. He wore what might be characterized as the original “sagging pants” one sees in hip and skate culture, with blue jeans set way below his waist. He appeared with a very long-tailed shirt tucked into his jeans, and he always wore a hat.
Both used comedy in their acts; they were regulars later in their careers on the CBS comedy variety show, Hee Haw. Each produced a great number of record albums still available today. Grandpa Jones, born in 1913, was the youngest of ten and son of a sharecropper in Kentucky’s Henderson County. He was lucky to have an accomplished banjo player as his father and his mother sang ballads. He would marry Ramona Riggins, a talented mandolin player, and they collaborated musically for over 30 years. And where did he get “Grandpa” as his nickname? Reports are that he tended to be grumpy doing morning radio shows at station WBZ in Boston, Massachusetts, and later adopted the moniker as his stage name.
Here’s more on Grandpa Jones:
• Born on October 20, 1913, in the small Kentucky community of Niagara, in Henderson County.
• First played music in public at age 11.
• In 1931, he joined the Pine Ridge String Band, playing background music for the popular radio comedy program, Lum and Abner.
• Served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946.
• Learned the “clawhammer” style of banjo while in West Virginia.
• His instruments were the guitar and banjo; he yodeled and sang old-time ballads.
• Joined the radio station WLW, Cincinnati, in 1942, where he met future country music star Merle Travis.
• Joined Hee Haw cast in 1968.
• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1978.
• In 1984, published his autobiography, Everybody’s Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind the Mike
Stringbean enjoyed a momentous year in 1945. He married Estell Stanfill, formed a comedy duet and they were invited to appear at the Grand Ole Opry. He soon began appearing with Grandpa Jones on the show. Some more of the life of Stringbean looks like this:
• Born David Akeman in Kentucky’s Annville community, Jackson County, on June 17, 1915.
• Like Grandpa Jones, Stringbean’s father played a banjo and performed locally.
• Received his first banjo as a twelve-year-old when he traded with someone for a couple of bantam chickens.
• Though he gained a good reputation playing music at local dances, the income was sparse, and he joined the government program, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
• Won a talent contest and was invited to join Asa Martin’s band. When Martin introduced him but forgot his name, he simply called him “Stringbean” because of his thin, lanky build. Obviously, the name stuck.
• Started career as a musician only, but once when another performer didn’t show up, he subbed as a singer and comic. That became his act, and for which he gained much success. In the late 1930s, he played with several groups, including WLAP-AM, in Lexington.
• From 1943 to 1945, played banjo with the iconic Bill Monroe’s band. Interestingly, the two met while playing semi-pro baseball.
• Like Grandpa Jones, mastered the clawhammer banjo style.
• Joined Hee Haw in 1969, continuing his long performing partnership with Jones.
A tragedy ended the life of David “Stringbean” Akeman and his wife on the night of November 10, 1973, when they were murdered by robbers at their home near Ridgetop, Tennessee. The two men, cousins, waited for them after Stringbean appeared on the Grand Ole Opry that night, shooting them and driving away in Akeman’s car. Ironically, the person who found them dead the next morning was none other than Grandpa Jones, friend, neighbor, and colleague for many years.
It had to be a gut-wrenching experience for Jones when he uncovered the sad truth about his friends. He later testified at the trial, recognizing one of the stolen guns taken from the household as being one Jones had given Akeman as a gift. Regarding the perpetrators of the crime, one of the cousins later died while incarcerated in the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. The other, identified as the gunman, was granted parole after serving 41 years of a 198-year sentence.
The lives of Jones and Akeman show that hard work and determination, along with a sizeable portion of natural talent, are ingredients leading to overcoming odds and attaining great success. That has certainly applied to many Kentuckians over the years. It’s sad that Stringbean and his wife’s lives ended in such a way.
This coming week, on June 20-23, the “Stringbean Memorial Bluegrass Festival” will be held in Tyner, Kentucky.
Two websites add more information about each, along with recorded music:
Grandpa Jones – Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum