Eddie Peabody
Encyclopedia
Captain Edwin Ellsworth Peabody (February 19, 1902 - November 7, 1970) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musical entertainer. His career spanned five decades and he was perhaps the most famous plectrum (4 string) banjo player ever. He was also known professionally as "Little Eddie", "King of the Banjo", and "Happiness Boy".

Early career

Born in Reading, Massachusetts
Reading, Massachusetts
Reading is an affluent town situated in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, some north of central Boston. The population was 24,747 at the 2010 census.-Settlement and Independence:...

, Eddie taught himself to play the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

, at a very young age. He entered the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in March 1916 aged fourteen after lying about his age. He served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 on an S-14 submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

. It was during this period that he earned the nickname "Happiness Boy." After his discharge from the Navy in 1921 he began a long career in show business, beginning with vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

. He visited England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in the 1930s and made several recordings for the Columbia Company
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

. Whilst there he helped to promote the banjo by visiting BMG clubs (Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar clubs) which were very active in the years up to the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. When the U.S.A entered the war Eddie became a morale officer for the U.S. Navy. He already held the rank of commander and he was subsequently engaged to play shows to bring the servicemen "a touch of home". When the war finished, Eddie went about restarting his concert career. Most of the Vaudeville halls had closed down and musical tastes had changed. However, in 1948, I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
"I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" is a song from 1927, written by Mort Dixon with music by Harry M. Woods. It was a hit for Art Mooney & His Orchestra in 1948 and was largely popularized by him. In modern times the song is perhaps most associated with Merrie Melodies cartoons, as it appeared in...

, a hit from the 1920s, was resurrected by the Art Mooney
Art Mooney
Art Mooney was an American popular bandleader. His biggest hits were "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Baby Face" in 1948 and "Nuttin' For Christmas," with Barry Gordon, in 1955...

 Orchestra and created interest in both nostalgic music and the banjo. Eddie capitalized on this by signing to Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...

 and made several albums for them. He took his act around supper clubs that were popular at the time, and TV made him a household name, once again. He also produced records and appeared in films. He was, and still is, regarded as the most popular banjo player of his generation.

Later accomplishments

He developed, with the Vega Banjo Company
Vega Company
The Vega Company was one of an illustrious group of musical instrument manufacturers trading in Boston, Massachusetts at the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries. The company first took shape in 1881 under the guidance of Swedish-born Julius Nelson, his brother Carl, and a...

 of Boston, a new type of "deep resonator" for the four-stringed banjo called the Vegavox, based on the zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...

 banjo. The Vegavox has been produced mainly in four-stringed plectrum (22 frets) and tenor (19 frets) models; however, some five-stringed models were created and sold as special orders.

Eddie also developed a special type of electric banjo, first with the Fender Company and then with Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...

, called the Banjoline
Banjoline
The Banjoline is a type of electric guitar developed by Eddie Peabody in conjunction with Rickenbacker. Although its name suggests a combination of banjo and mandolin, it is technically considered to be a type of plectrum guitar, a variant of the electric guitar, resembling the banjo and mandolin...

. This instrument is tuned as a plectrum banjo but with the 3 and 4 string doubled in octaves, similar to the way a 12 string guitar is strung. The Banjoline
Banjoline
The Banjoline is a type of electric guitar developed by Eddie Peabody in conjunction with Rickenbacker. Although its name suggests a combination of banjo and mandolin, it is technically considered to be a type of plectrum guitar, a variant of the electric guitar, resembling the banjo and mandolin...

 is now a very rare and highly-priced collector's item, although very seldom used today in live performances.

At some point in the 1920s, a music critic nicknamed Peabody "The King of the Banjo" because of his frenetic playing style which involved fast triplets and cross-picking, made some listeners think he was playing two banjos at once. The nickname "King of the banjo" stuck for the rest of his life.

Eddie Peabody served in the U.S. Navy during WWII as a Lt. Commander in charge of the music/band department at the Great Lakes Training Station
Naval Station Great Lakes
Naval Station Great Lakes is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near the city of North Chicago, Illinois, in Lake County. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center and Navy Recruiting District Chicago...

 near Chicago, Illinois.

During his career Eddie played not only shows for paying concert customers, servicemen etc. but also for king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...

s, queens
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

, potentate
Potentate
Potentate is an informal term for a person with potent, usually supreme, power.-Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine:...

s, dukes, duchesses
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

, one dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...

 and president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

s. In 1968, President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 awarded him a distinguished "People to People" Award for Meritorious Service in both the military and show business.

Personal life

During the 1930s he married Maude Kelly, who was also his business manager at the time, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1939. In 1940 he married Ragna Kaupanger, a Norwegian-American nurse and flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...

 for United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...

. Eddie and Ragna had two children, Eddie Jr., and George.

Eddie continued to play live until his death in 1970 at age 68, due to a brain hemorrhage he suffered while on stage at "The Lookout House" supper club in Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...

. His wife, Ragna Peabody, died in 2002.

External links

  • People to People Int'l Eisenhower Distinguished Service Awards
  • Listen to Eddie play banjo during his Vaudeville days
  • Watch Eddie play his banjo along with Hal Kemp
    Hal Kemp
    James Harold "Hal" Kemp was a jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. He was born in Marion, Alabama and died in Madera, California following an auto accident...

    's Collegians
    The Collegians
    The Collegians were an American 1950s doo-wop group from New York City. They recorded for the Harlem-based record producer, Paul Winley.The Collegians biggest hit, "Zoom Zoom Zoom," was released in 1958...

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