Edwin Ellsworth Peabody, known as Eddie Peabody (February 19, 1902 – November 7, 1970) was an American banjo player, instrument developer and musical entertainer whose career spanned five decades. He was the most famous plectrum banjoist of his era.

Early years

Born in

Reading, Massachusetts Reading ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 census. History Settlement and American independence Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original settler ...

,DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 212. Peabody taught himself to play the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

while very young.

Military service

In March 1916, at age 14, Peabody enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

by lying about his age, and served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on an S-14

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

. During this period he received the nicknames "Happiness Boy" (for his ebullient personality, especially when performing) and "Little Eddie" (a comic reference to his short stature).

Career

After Peabody's 1921 discharge from the Navy, he began a long career in show business, beginning with

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. His successful recordings for the Columbia Company made him a household name. Peabody's energetic playing style, which included fast triplets, glissandos and cross-picking simulating the sound of two banjoists, prompted a 1920s reviewer to nickname him "King Of The Banjo"—a sobriquet he retained the rest of his life. In the 1930s, Peabody promoted the plectrum banjo by visiting many of England's BMG (Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar) clubs which were popular in the years prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In the early 1940s, Peabody was a headliner at the

National Barn Dance ''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''National Barn Dance'' also set the stage for other ...

, broadcast on AM radio station WLS Chicago. When the U.S. entered WW II, Peabody returned to the Navy as a

morale Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...

officer with the rank of Lt. Commander. He performed in shows for servicemen and directed the music and band departments of the Great Lakes Training Station near

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. After the war, Peabody attempted to restart his concert career. By then, most Vaudeville halls had closed and musical tastes had changed. In 1948, the

Art Mooney Arthur Joseph Mooney (February 11, 1911 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer and 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 resurrected the 1920s standard ''

I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" is a song from 1927, which was written by Mort Dixon with music by Harry M. Woods. Original recordings were made during 1927 by Nick Lucas (No. 2), Ben Bernie (No. 3), and Jean Goldkette (No. 10). History ...

'' and created interest in both nostalgic music and the banjo. Capitalizing on this trend, Peabody recorded several albums for

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

and performed at the supper clubs which were popular at the time. His subsequent TV appearances made him a household name once again. He went on to produce records, appear in movies, and inspire generations of banjoists who continue to emulate his spirited style.

Later accomplishments

In partnership with the Vega Banjo Company of Boston, Peabody developed a new type of plectrum banjo called the Vegavox, featuring a resonator that rose the full height of the banjo's body. (Traditional resonators are about half as high.) This increased the banjo's interior resonation space, giving it a distinctively mellow tone. The Vegavox also featured a "top-tension" design that allowed the head's tension to be adjusted without removing the resonator. The Vegavox was produced primarily in four-stringed plectrum (22-fret) and tenor (19-fret) versions; however, some five-string models were made as special orders. Peabody also developed a special

electric banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

—first with Vega, and later with the Fender Company and

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...

—called the Banjoline. It was tuned as a plectrum banjo but with the 3rd and 4th strings doubled in octaves, as on a 12-string guitar. The Banjoline is now a highly prized collector's item, although it is seldom used in live performance. Peabody performed for national leaders around the world. In 1958,

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

awarded him a distinguished People To People Award for meritorious service in both the military and show business. According to one broadcast veteran, a radio announcer once mis-introduced Peabody by saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Eddie Playbody will now pee for you".

Personal life

In the 1920s Peabody married his business manager Maude Kelly. After making several visits to the Mission Inn in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

, the Peabodys lived in Riverside from 1928 to 1939 when they divorced. In 1940 he married Ragna Kaupanger, a

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

nurse and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

flight attendant. They had two children, Eddie Jr. and George Robert Peabody. Peabody continued to perform until his death in 1970, at age 68, due to a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

suffered while onstage at the Lookout House Supper Club in

Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, ...

. His wife, Ragna Peabody, died in 2002.

References

External links

*
Eddie Peabodys's spiritual home on the web at www.EddiePeabody.com

Eddie Peabody (1902-1970)
at Red Hot Jazz Archive. * * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, Eddie 1902 births 1970 deaths People from Reading, Massachusetts Musicians from Riverside, California American banjoists Vaudeville performers Dot Records artists United States Navy sailors United States Navy officers 20th-century American musicians Military personnel from Massachusetts