The Mandolin

On Saturday evening during his performance on center stage at the annual Rhythm and Roots celebration in Bristol, Tennessee, bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs talked a little bit about the mandolin he was playing. He spoke about the fact that he had owned that mandolin for many years and that he played it every day. And then he told the audience that his mandolin had Bristol roots. He had bought the Gibson mandolin from Pee Wee Lambert, a bluegrass pioneer who had played with the Stanley Brothers, who were themselves bluegrass legends. He went on to say that Pee Wee Lambert had originally bought the mandolin from a man named Roy Webb, right here in Bristol, Tennessee, sometime in the 1940's. Roy Webb happens to be my father. I'm sad to say that there wasn't one member of our family in the audience to hear Ricky Skaggs talk about the mandolin and its history, but luckily we did have a friend there (thanks, Les) who called my sister Priscilla the next day and told her all about it.  I think if Ricky Skaggs had any inkling that eighty-eight year old Roy Webb was still alive and kicking and sitting in his living room about five miles down the street (watching his beloved Vols on t.v.), he might have put in a call to him. He might have invited him to join him on stage for a number, maybe even to do a little pickin' on his old mandolin. What a shame and a missed opportunity for both of them.

This is a picture of the Tennessee Hilltoppers at WCYB radio in Bristol, Virginia, in 1947. That's Roy, second from the left, holding that very mandolin that Ricky Skaggs was playing on Saturday night. He is the only surviving member of this group, he still owns a Gibson mandolin and he still plays it every day.