Curly Seckler article - born/died December 25

[Mandolin Cafe]

This came up in the Cafe's This Day in History: early bluegrass legend Curly Seckler was born December 25, 1919, passed away December 25, 2017. He was the subject of an article we published in 2007 most of you likely never read. Just re-read and enjoyed the story of how David Grisman reunited Curly with his old F-2. Great story.

Curly Seckler's Mandolin Reunion, by Bill Graham.

[BrianWilliam]

Dawg is the man!

Nice photobomb from Chad Manning

[Timbofood]

Thanks Scott! What a great article!

[EvanElk]

Sweet story!

[Jacob]

Curly Seckler Store
(nfi)

[allenhopkins]

Foggy Mountain Troubadour, excellent Seckler bio, well worth reading.

Here's what I posted after his death:

Just finished reading his biography, Foggy Mountain Troubadour; The Life and Music of Curly Seckler by Penny Parsons. Sad that I guess the last of the Foggy Mountain Boys (well, Mac Wiseman played with them for a while, but I don't consider him one of the main members) has left us.

I recommend the book, if only to show what the reality of playing country and bluegrass music was, between World War II and the recent past. Seckler was a musical gypsy, starting in a band with his brothers, working with Charlie Monroe, who called him "Smilin' Bill" to suggest an heir to Bill Monroe's role, then playing in band after band, roaming around from radio station to radio station in the upper South. When his first wife deserted him, and he was left with their children, he had to leave them, first with relatives, then in an orphanage, while he tried to make a living through music. Though he worked constantly, he was never able to afford to settle down and buy a house, until he took a "day job" as a truck driver, delivering mobile homes. His years with Flatt & Scruggs were some of the more stable ones, and he garnered praise both among fellow bluegrass musicians, and from the fans, for his singing -- but he was never more than a few paychecks from insolvency. His second wife, with a long history of mental illness, ended up a suicide; he finally found a home with fiddler Paul Warren's widow, and continued to front versions of the Nashville Grass after Flatt's death. It struck me deeply when Parsons described Seckler's series of retrospective awards and honors from the bluegrass community, while he was still only able to afford a trailer as a home.

A long and distinguished career, that offered limited material rewards, and little stability. Parsons' book portrays an affable, modest man, with many stories to tell of the musicians with whom he worked, and the ups and downs of a life spent following his music wherever he needed to go. None of the bitterness or defensiveness we can read in others' late-career memoirs; however, the objective facts of Seckler's life might well have pushed another person into feeling victimized or disrespected (cf. Jimmie Martin).

So long, Curly, and glad you got a chance to tell your story in your 90's. Another of the first bluegrass generation leaves us.