There was so much comradary and respect between our parents, that I think it rolled down to our generation.  Along with comradary and respect came a lot of practical jokes. One that I recall:

Mom and Dad’s friends, Ben and Margaret Smathers had a family group called the Stoney Mountain Cloggers. Their kids, which were a part of the group, were all about my same age, and they were square dancers at the Opry.  Micky Smathers, the oldest son, was getting married, and announced that the wedding would be on stage at the Ryman Auditorium, where the Grand Ole Opry was at that time.

Hal Smathers, Micky’s brother, asked if I would give him a ride to the wedding. Now don’t get me wrong, he was a good friend, but at that time, I would much rather have been spending time with Candy or Debbie Smathers!  They were much better looking and far more appealing to me at that time!!

However, I did pick Hal up and took him to the wedding.  I parked my old white Ford Van in the lot right by the Ryman and we went inside.  The wedding and the reception was over just in time for rush hour traffic.  Rush hour traffic in Nashville is something that I still hate today.  When we rounded the corner, walking toward the van, I realized that the only thing worse than rush hour traffic, would be rush hour traffic in a van with JUST MARRIED and  FUN TONIGHT  written on the windows, while dragging cans, high heels, and other decorative things.  It even had handcuffs hanging from the antenna. 

Now, to make it worse, Hal had a full beard, as did I. The facial expressions of people passing us in traffic, was definately comical.

Judging by how hard Ben Smathers was laughing, it was clear to us that he had something to do with this practical joke, and I always wondered if Dad (Grandpa Jones) might have helped out a little!

Dad and Ben

Stoney Mountain Cloggers (Smathers Family Group)

Hal and Debbie

My first experience on the Grand Ole Opry stage was when I was fifteen years old.  I had gone down to the Opry with Mom and Dad, who were both playing that night.  I was in Earl Scruggs dressing room backstage visiting with a friend of mine, Jody Maphis, who was playing drums with Earl, when Earl turned to me and asked me to come out on stage and play with them. He wanted to be able to showcase the different styles of banjo that we played. I played the old clawhammer style and he played the finger roll style. I almost fell over. I couldn’t believe that a world renowned picker like Earl would ask me, who was just a kid to play on stage along side him. I was so excited. I framed the first dollar that I made and I still have it to this day.

A couple years later, I had begun to take guitar lessons from Ed Hyde, who was a staff musician on the Opry. He brought it to my attention that Curtis McPete, who played with the Willis Brothers, was leaving and going with Danny Davis and The Nashville Brass. The Willis Brothers had been doing the Kelloggs Corn Flakes Commercials, with Curtis on banjo. Ed Hyde asked me if I would be interested in taking Curtis’s place in the commercials.

So I immediately talked my way into a cooperative education class in my high school, that would allow me to leave school at 12:30 every day.  I used those sixteen free hours every week to practice my banjo picking.  Sixteen hours per week practice for a minute and a half commercial!

My wife asked me tonight,  “What subject are you not any good at?”  

My reply was, “All of them!”

Everyone in life gets their education in different ways.  Mine just happened to be a lot of fun!

Most of my childhood memories were centered around that entertainers of that era.  Memories of friends likes Stringbean, who was always giving me popcorn money and not taking any change back. Stringbean was dad’s best friend in those days. I remember one time going with dad and Stringbean to the Opry on an icy night. Estelle, Stringbean’s wife, usually did all the driving for String. She didn’t want to drive that night, because of the bad roads, so dad drove him.  We got out at the Opry on solid ice. String was carrying his costume bag in one hand and his banjo case in the other.  He was bent over from the hips, going across the ice. I asked him why he was walking like that and he answered,  “As tall as I am,  if I fall, it won’t hurt as bad from here.”    

For some reason that logic made a lot of sense to me.  I feel so blessed to have grown up in that era, with the role models that I had.  Check back in for more stories. Thanks for stopping by.