Posts

A life touching others – Grand Ole Opry star Buck White

/in /by

Buck White

Friends often come into our lives and have an impact, some just walk through and move on while others stay and sit a spell.

These impacts can be minor or can be major and can even change your life. I have been blessed with many people stepping into my circle of life who I have described in my books as Encouragers.

Whether for a long walk or just a moment, we can change people’s lives with our walk, our words, our intervention, our gifts, and our love.

On January 13, I heard of the passing of the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry. Buck White, 94, and his family The Whites – Sharon, and Cheryl celebrated 40 years as members last March.

I have been honored to have them in my life for longer than those 40 years when Buck’s late wife Pat took an interest in my music and life. By extension that brought Buck into my life and he also became an encourager as did their family and that’s why their actions prompted me to include them in my Encouragers book series.

The Whites, collectively Buck White and daughters Sharon White-Skaggsand Cheryl White performed together as a family act since the mid-1960s, and came to Nashville to pursue a career in music in 1971. Other family members also joined in through the years.

When I made my debut for the Grand Ole Opry in 1984 with my teenage bluegrass band the same year the Whites joined the Opry.

Just a few years earlier our group had recorded one of Buck’s mandolin tunes “Fancy Dan,” which appears on our “Country Kids” release.

In the early part of the 1980s, The Whites delivered favorites like their first Top 10, “You Put The Blue In Me,” as well as “Hangin’ Around,” “Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling,” and “Pins And Needles,” – the latter all produced by Sharon’s husband, country and bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs(the two married in 1981).

A few years later, the group agreed to join me on the “In the Heat of the Night” “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” CD on my song “Let’s Live Every Day Like It Was Christmas.” While the album became a huge seller benefiting charity, the song for us made its way to be included among the top country vocal collaborations of the year. The album made the list of Top 50 Christmas Recordings in history.

The Whites, hand-picked for their involvement in the movie and soundtrack, O Brother, Where Art Thou? led to considerable industry recognition – including the greatest honor possible – a GRAMMY win in the esteemed ‘Album of the Year’ category. They also received ‘Album of the Year’ trophies from the ACM (Academy of Country Music), the Country Music Association (CMA), and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards.

Many music industry folks refer to The Whites as the “new first family of country music.” I would have to agree with that statement. They have definitely earned seats at the front of the table.

Buck and Pat were dedicated followers of Jesus Christ. They walked, talked and lived their faith. Whenever I was in Nashville through the years, they invited me to church. I was raised in church, and often performed sharing gospel songs in churches, gospel concerts and festivals. But it was at one of those church services where they brought me, that I rededicated my life to Christ. Their son-in-law Ricky Skaggs was there participating in the service and was there with me at the alter. So, Buck not only uplifted my life with encouragement, helped raise my career with his musical gifts, but he invested in me spiritually, ensuring that I would have eternal life in Christ. For all these things I am thankful, but for the latter, there is no amount of appreciation which could repay that investment in my walk towards and with Jesus.

My prayers are with his daughters Sharon, Cheryl, Rosie and Melissa and all their families and all who loved Buck. I know he was universally loved throughout of industry. The family shared this comment on social media:

“The Lord answered our prayers and took our daddy home peacefully this morning at 8:00 a.m. We are so thankful for his 94 years on this earth. He was a great Dad who taught us by example to put Jesus first always. His great loves were the Lord, our mother, his family and music. Most people will remember him not only for being a great musician and entertainer, but also for being fun-loving and full of mischief. He lived a full life and finished well.”

If you have never listened to the Whites, I encourage you to check out their unique blend of bluegrass, country, folk, gospel and Texas swing. I think their top-notch instrumental work and striking family harmony will make you want to hear them more! Thank you Buck for being my friend and encourager.

The Whites and Randall Franks backstage in Owensboro, Ky. in 2010.

A voice that soared above the pines – Curly Seckler

/in /by

Randall Franks and Curly Seckler in 1980s.

Curly Seckler

My New Year’s Eve show got me home about 3:30 a.m., and I quickly tried to get to sleep with a plan to rise early and head to Nashville. I awoke on time and aimed my burgundy Chevy Lumina towards the goal a little over two hours away. The trip had been made hundreds of times in my life, especially as my country music career was in full swing there.
I thought back to early trips which found me knocking on the door of a home off Dickerson Road when legendary bluegrass musician and singer Curly Seckler came to the door. I chose to emulate him as a child. He had done this many times and often told others especially as my star in music and TV rose of my initial youthful visit.
His door was always open to me, and he was always generous with his time, whether in person, on the phone or on the road. This trip was however not to knock on his door but to pay my respects to his family and join with his other friends and admirers as we said goodbye to the 98-year-old.
Seckler’s long career combined his talents with the majority of the genre’s first-generation legends from Charlie Monroe to “Doc” Tommy Scott, Jim and Jesse McReynolds to the Stanley Brothers.
He was most recognized by historians and fans though by his role as the tenor singer and mandolinist to Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs as part of the Foggy Mountain Boys. One of the key artists which infused bluegrass into the fabric of American culture through television, recordings and radio. It was those recordings that also drew me as a young boy, and his tenor that I tried to match as I sang.
As I walked towards the door of the Spring Hill Funeral Home the bitter cold chilled my cheeks. I followed in some of the musicians that were to be singing who made their way to the coffin storage room to practice. I said hello to one of their wives who was waiting and soon found his biographer Penny Parsons, who wrote “Foggy Mountain Troubadour” opening up the viewing room. I was the first to arrive, so after a brief visit with Penny, I was able to spend some time with my long-time friend, just he and I as all the memories flooded back. I reminisced aloud looking upon the voice “who soared above the pines.” I talked about the visits to his home, the first time I looked up at him and his Nashville Grass on stage after the death of Lester Flatt, and was mesmerized by his poise and style on stage, to later in my life when my country music fan club was hosting a Country Music Fan Fair party and in he and his future wife Eloise Warren walked in to support me as just another two of my fans. Soon I found tears rolling down my cheeks and I sucked up the emotions drying my tears. I stepped back in the hall as family members began arriving slowly, the other notable musicians, industry elites, and Foggy Mountain Boy offspring filed in and visited with the family.
As I stood talking to his son Ray at the foot of his coffin, I looked to my left and in came the musicians who had be practicing, the Grammy winning Earls of Leicester (Jerry Douglas, Shawn Camp, Charlie Cushman, Jeff White, and Johnny Warren), who continued the Flatt & Scruggs tradition. Each, all old friends, stopped and shook hands and moved closer to the coffin. In a few moments, I looked up to my left and there stood Vince Gill paying his respects to one of his heroes. We shared some Curly memories, until Sharon Skaggs came in and hugged my neck and Ricky reached over and shook my hand as he got in the viewing line.
Shortly, we all settled into the Chapel as the “Foggy Mountain Special” played and WSM Announcer Eddie Stubbs led the service sharing the pulpit with Brother Terry Clapp and Gerald McCormick.
Moving performances were shared by Ricky Skaggs and the Whites of “Gone Home,” Connie Smith with “Gathering Flowers for the Master’s Bouquet,” and the Earls of Leicester on “Who Will Sing for Me” and we watched and heard memorable TV performances by Curly with Flatt & Scruggs  “I Want to Be Loved” and “Precious Memories” and his mandolin player with the Nashville Grass – Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives with “Lord, I’m Coming Home.”
We laughed, we cried, we applauded and we paid tribute to someone we all loved as both a good man who gave his hope, his encouragement and his faith freely to all of us; and to the last link to the golden era of the Flatt and Scruggs musical legacy that will stand the test of time and outlast all of us. As we gathered in the single digit wind chill around his graveside, the Earls of Leicester delivered a song Curly loved singing – “Reunion in Heaven.” Though we were freezing, we all seemed to linger there after being dismissed holding on to the significance of the moment, shaking hands, slowly passing by his wooden coffin awaiting the day of that reunion.  Learn more at www.curlyseckler.net.