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"We'd Pour Out the Water
and Let the Show Roll On"
Longtime Clinch Mountain Boy, George Shuffler, is famous as the inventor of the bluegrass lead guitar cross-picking techniques. Before him, "there wasn't none," as George
himself puts it. However, George's first work with the Stanley Brothers after he joined the band in December 1950 was on the doghouse bass.
George recalls that heading down the mountains with the bass tied to the top of the sedan was not always as care free as it might have looked to the casual observer. One particular
incident stands out among George's memories as Clinch Mountain bass fiddler player. One day the Stanley Brothers and Clinch Mountain Boys were driving down the road, five of them
packed in the sedan and the bass tied to the top of the car. It was a stormy day. That didn't bother George. He told us he never worried if rain fell on his bass.
"When we got where we were going, we'd turn it upside down, pour out the water, and let the show roll on." Unfortunately, it was no mere rain shower this blustery day in the
early '50s. A gust of wind pulled George's bass fiddle right off the top of the car and blew it into a ditch.
When asked how his bass held up during the impact, George said the neck was intact, but the tumble knocked off the back. "I guess that must have stopped the show that night,"
I commented. "Oh, not at all," George assured me. "We went there to pick! I held the back on with my knee and slapped on it just as hard as I could.
Later, I took it down to a store and a guy glued the back on and put screws in. It lasted a long time that way."
Read another excerpt from the book Bluegrass Adventures...
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A Mountain Music Storybook
by Jeffrey Fox and Janice Wallen
illustrated by Nathan Bray
154 pages, paperback with illustrations
Over 50 stories by and about Appalachian musicians and their music. Nearly half of the stories involve Ralph and Carter and Clinch Mountain Boys past and present. The book also
includes a challenging trivia quiz. If you share an enthusiasm for the mountain music and storytelling, we encourage you to check it out.
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