chuckv97 You can tell how much Allen loved playing music, everyone I've ever talked to who knew Allen said he was always smiling. I'm considering working on a biography about him, his story deserves to be told in print. Pete Wernick interviewed Allen for the Masters of the 5 String Banjo book, but you don't see a lot of articles about Allen like you should.

I've also done a large volume of transcriptions of Allen's that I think is viable to the younger generation, I hope to publish them in the future. It's a passion project that I would like to accomplish.

There's a lot more where that came from. 

My first exposure to bluegrass music before I ever knew that's what it was called was when he played with Jim and Jesse on a local television station in SE Alabama sponsored by Martha White Flour and may have picked up other sponsors after them such as Jim Walter Homes . I think they made a circuit of television stations in  pretty close proximity of NW Florida, SW Georgia, and SE Alabama.  Was called old timey music way back then.

Bobby

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Originally posted by FatManMary

There's a lot more where that came from. 

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Thanks for that link 

Oh this is just a treasure. The IBMM should have a huge library of stuff like this, capturing WHAT IT WAS LIKE in the early days. Breaking banjo heads that cost almost 1/4 of a new banjo. Live radio from 5:45 AM to midnight. WORKING as a kid. Understanding radio station power. Finding music stores!

Allen is a good interviewee. Eddie is an excellent interviewer -- rarely interrupting, staying focused on an issue "long enough", then moving along, and knowledgeable.

I just love this kind of stuff.

I remember when the Opry was broadcast frequently on PBS and TNN, after a Jim & Jesse performance, Roy Acuff hollered at Allen "What are you grinnin' at Shelton!??!"

The person who conjured up the hoax that is the phrase "pickin' n' grinin" must have had Allen Shelton in mind. The reality is that most Bluegrass banjo players have always exhibited a stoic demeanor during their performances. Shelton was the exception. He could actually play the banjo and smile at the same time.