Name	Banjo
Image capt	A modern 5-string banjo
Background	string
Hornbostel sachs	321.322-5
Hornbostel sachs desc	Composite chordophone sounded by the bare fingers
Developed	18th century
Range
Midi	105/106

The banjo is a stringed instrument with, typically, four or five strings, which vibrate a membrane of plastic material or animal hide stretched over a circular frame. Simpler forms of the instrument were fashioned by enslaved Africans in Colonial America, adapted from several African instruments of the same basic design. There are several theories concerning the origin of the name banjo. It may derive from the Kimbundu term mbanza. Some etymologists believe it comes from a dialectal pronunciation of the Portuguese "bandore" or from an early anglicisation of the Spanish word "bandurria", though other research suggests that it may come from a Senegambian term for a bamboo stick formerly used for the instrument's neck.

History

Enslaved Africans, living in Appalachia, fashioned gourd-bodied instruments like those they knew in Africa. 18th and early 19th century writers transcribed the name of these instruments variously as bangie, banza, banjer and banjar. Instruments similar to the banjo (e.g., the Japanese shamisen, Persian tar and Morroccon Sintir) have been played in many countries. Another likely ancestor of the banjo is the akonting, a spike folk lute played by the Jola tribe of Senegambia and the 'ubaw-akwala' of the Igbo. Similar instruments include the xalam of Senegal and the ngoni of the Wassoulou region including parts of Mali, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast. The modern banjo was popularized by the American minstrel performer Joel Sweeney in the 1830s. Banjos were introduced in Britain in the 1840s by Sweeney's group, the American Virginia Minstrels, and became very popular in music halls.

Modern forms

The modern banjo comes in a variety of forms, including four- and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similar to a guitar, has gained popularity. In almost all of its forms, the banjo's playing is characterized by a fast arpeggiated plucking, although there are many different playing styles.

The body, or "pot", of a modern banjo typically consists of a circular rim (generally made of wood), a metal tone ring, and a tensioned head, similar to a drum head. Traditionally the head was made from animal skin, but is often made of various synthetic materials today. Some banjos have a separate resonator plate on the back of the pot, while others have an open back. There are also electric banjos.

The banjo is usually tuned with tuning pegs or planetary gear tuners, rather than the worm gear machine head used on guitars.

Use

Today, the banjo is commonly associated with Dixieland, country, folk, Irish traditional music and bluegrass music. Historically, however, the banjo occupied a central place in African American traditional music, as well as in the minstrel shows of the 19th century. In fact, African Americans exerted a strong, early influence on the development of both country and bluegrass both through the introduction of the banjo, and through the innovation of musical techniques in the playing of both the banjo and fiddle. Recently, the banjo has enjoyed inclusion in a wide variety of musical genres, including pop crossover music, indie rock (see Modest Mouse and Sufjan Stevens), and Celtic punk.

" without and with drone notes "Drone notes are quick little notes [typically eighth notes] that are always played on the 1st string and are used to fill in around the melody notes [typically eighth notes]..." These techniques are both idiomatic to the banjo in all styles, and their sound is characteristic of bluegrass.

== Five-string banjo == The instrument is available in many forms. The five-string banjo was popularized by Joel Walker Sweeney, an American minstrel performer from Appomattox Court House, Virginia. In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the crude gourd body of the banjar 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 banjo came to be tuned g'cgbd'. This is not quite a straight transposition of the e'aeg#b' tuning of the banjar; the B string of the banjo has the lowest pitch (a straight transposition would be g'c'gbd'').

The banjo can be played in several styles and is used in various forms of music. American old-time music typically uses the five-string open back banjo. It is played in a number of different styles (classic banjo), the most common being clawhammer or frailing, characterized by the use of a downward rather than upward motion when striking the strings with a fingernail. Frailing techniques use the thumb to catch the fifth string for a drone after each strum or twice in each action ("double thumbing"), or to pick out additional melody notes in what is known as "drop-thumb." Pete Seeger popularised a folk style by combining clawhammer with "up picking", usually without the use of fingerpicks. Bluegrass music, which uses the five-string resonator banjo almost exclusively, is played in several common styles. These include Scruggs style, named after Earl Scruggs; melodic, or Keith style, named for Bill Keith; and three-finger style with single string work, also called Reno style after Don Reno. In these styles the emphasis is on arpeggiated figures played in a continuous eighth-note rhythm. All of these styles are typically played with fingerpicks.

Many tunings are used for the five-string banjo. Probably the most common, particularly in bluegrass, is the open G tuning (g'dgbd'). In earlier times, the tuning g'cgbd' was commonly used instead. Other tunings common in old-time music include double C (g'cgc'd'), sawmill or mountain minor (g'dgc'd') also called Modal or Mountain Modal, old-time D (a'dad'e') a step up from double C, often played with a violin accompaniment, and open D (f#'df#ad'). These tunings are often taken up a tone, either by tuning up or using a capo.

The fifth string is the same gauge as the first, but starts from the fifth fret, three quarters the length of the other strings. (The long-necked Vega Pete Seeger model starts the fifth string from the eighth fret.) This lets the string be tuned to a higher open pitch that possible for the full-length strings. The short fifth string means that, unlike many string instruments, strings pitches on a five string banjo do not go in order from lowest to highest across the fingerboard. Instead, from low to high, they go fourth, third, second, first, and fifth.

The short fifth string presents special problems for a capo. For small changes (going up or down one or two semitones, for example) it is possible simply to re-tune the fifth string. Otherwise, various devices called fifth string capos can effectively shorten the string. Many banjo players use model railroad spikes or titanium spikes (usually installed at the seventh fret and sometimes at others), that they hook the string under to press it down on the fret.

The five-string banjo has been used in classical music since the turn of the 20th century. contemporary and modern works have been written for the instrument by Béla Fleck, Tony Trischka, Steve Martin, Tim Lake, George Crumb, Modest Mouse, Jo Kondo, Paul Elwood, Hans Werner Henze (notably in his Sixth Symphony), Daniel Mason of Hank Williams III's Damn Band, Beck, J.P. Pickens, Peggy Honeywell, Norfolk & Western, Putnam Smith, Iron & Wine, Sean T. Everett, The Avett Brothers, and Sufjan Stevens.

Along with four string banjos, five string banjos are sometimes used in musical theater. Musicals that feature a 5-string banjo include: Big River, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Assassins.

While the size of the five string banjo is largely standardized, smaller and larger sizes are available, including the 'long neck' or 'Seeger neck' variation discussed above. Petite variations on the 5-string banjo have been available since the 1890s. S.S. Stewart introduced the banjeaurine, tuned one fourth above a standard five-string. Piccolo banjos are smaller, and tuned one octave above a standard banjo. There is also an 'A-Scale Banjo', which is two frets shorter and usually tuned one note above standard tunings.

Four-string banjos

The plectrum banjo is a standard banjo without the short drone string. It usually has 22 frets on the neck and a scale length of 26 to 28 inches, and was originally tuned cgbd'. It can also be tuned like the top four strings of a guitar, which is known as "Chicago tuning." As the name suggests, it is usually played with a guitar-style pick (that is, a single one held between thumb and forefinger), unlike the five-string banjo, which is either played with a thumbpick and two fingerpicks, or with bare fingers. The plectrum banjo evolved out of the five-string banjo, to cater to styles of music involving strummed chords. The plectrum is also featured in many early jazz recordings and arrangements.

The shorter-necked, tenor banjo is also typically played with a plectrum. It became a popular instrument after about 1910. Early models used for melodic picking typically had 17 frets on the neck and a scale length of 19½ to 21½ inches. By the mid-1920s, when the instrument was used primarily for strummed chordal accompaniment, 19-fret necks with a scale length of 21¾ to 23 inches became standard. The usual tuning is cgd'a', like a viola or mandola, but some players (particularly in Irish traditional music) tune it Gdae′ like an octave mandolin, which lets the banjoist duplicate fiddle and mandolin fingering. The invention and/or popularisation of this tuning is usually attributed to Barney McKenna, banjoist with The Dubliners.

The tenor banjo was a common rhythm instrument in early 20th-century dance bands. Its volume and timbre suited early jazz (and jazz-influenced popular music styles) and could both compete with other instruments (such as brass instruments and saxophones) and be heard clearly on acoustic recordings. George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, in Ferde Grofe's original jazz orchestra arrangement, includes tenor banjo, with widely-spaced chords not easily playable on plectrum banjo in its conventional tuning(s). With development of the archtop and electric guitar, the tenor banjo largely disappeared from jazz and popular music, though keeping its place in traditional "Dixieland" jazz.

Rarer than either the tenor or plectrum banjo is the cello banjo. It's normally tuned CGda, one octave below the tenor banjo like the cello and mandocello. It played a role in banjo orchestras in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Bass banjos have been produced in both upright bass formats and with standard, horizontally-carried banjo bodies.

Four-string banjos, both plectrum and tenor, can be used strictly for chordal accompaniment (as in early jazz), strictly for single string melody playing (as in Irish traditional music), in "chord melody" style (a succession of chords are played in which the highest notes carry the melody), in tremolo style (both on chords and single strings) and a mixed technique called duo style, which combines single string tremolo and rhythm chords. Fingerstyle opportunities of tenor banjo retuned to open G tuning dgd'g' or lower open D tuning Adad' (three finger picking, frailing) are explored by Mirek Patek.

Eddie Peabody was the greatest proponent of the plectrum banjo in the early to mid twentieth century. Johnny Baier, Bill Lowrey, Steve Peterson, and Buddy Wachter are prominent contemporary four-string banjoists currently working professionally. Harry Reser, who also played plectrum banjo, was arguably the best tenor banjoist of the same era and wrote a large number of works for tenor banjo as well as instructional material. He was well known in the banjo player community up until his passing in 1965. His single string and "chord melody" technique and ability arguably set the "high mark" that many subsequent tenor players endeavor to attain. Other prominent professional tenor performers were Mike Pingitore and Roy Smeck. Smeck was an influential performer on many fretted instruments, including the four-string banjo. He also wrote a number of solos and instructional books. Prominent contemporary tenor players are Don Vappie, Ken Aoki, Steve Di Bonaventura, David Bandrowski, the late Narvin Kimball of Preservation Hall Jazz Band fame, and Charlie Tagawa. Tagawa has been the music director of the Peninsula Banjo Band, one of the most prominent banjo bands in the U.S., since 1966. He was a student and devotee of Harry Reser. In the United Kingdom, Frank Lawes was one of the most prolific composers of four string banjo music.

The four-string banjo is used from time to time in musical theater. Examples include: Hello, Dolly!, Mame, Chicago, Cabaret, Oklahoma!, Half a Sixpence, Annie, Barnum, The Threepenny Opera, Monty Python's Spamalot, and countless others. Joe Raposo had used it variably. in the imaginative 7-piece orchestration for the long-running TV show Sesame Street, and has sometimes had it overdubbed with itself or an electric guitar. The banjo is still (albeit rarely) in use in the show's arrangement currently.

Banjo variants

The 6-string banjo began as a British innovation by William Temlet, one of England's earliest banjo makers. He opened a shop in London in 1846, and sold banjos with closed backs and up to 7 strings. He marketed these as "zither" Banjos from his 1869 patent. American Alfred Davis Cammeyer (1862–1949), a young violinist-turned banjo concert player, devised the 5/6-string Zither banjo around 1880. It had a wood resonator and metal "wire" strings (the 1st and 2nd melody strings and 5th "thumb" string. The 3rd melody string was gut and the 4th was silk covered) as well as frets and guitar-style tuning machines. A Zither banjo usually has a closed back and sides with the drum body (usually metal) and skin tensioning system suspended inside the wooden rim/back, the neck and string tailpiece was mounted on the wooden outer rim, the short string usually led through a tube in the neck so that the tuning peg could be mounted on the peg head. They were often made by builders who used guitar tuners that came in banks of three and so if 5 stringed had a redundant tuner. The banjos could also be somewhat easily converted over to a six string banjo. British opera diva Adelina Patti advised Cammeyer that the zither-banjo might be popular with English audiences (which was certainly true as it was invented there), and Cammeyer went to London in 1888. Due to his virtuoso playing he helped show that banjos could be used for more sophisticated music than was normally played by blackface minstrels, he was soon performing for London society, where he met Sir Arthur Sullivan, who recommended that Cammeyer progress from writing banjo arrangements of music to composing his own music. (Interesting to note that, supposedly unbeknownst to Cammeyer, William Temlett had patented a 7-string closed back banjo in 1869, and was already marketing it as a "zither-banjo.") In the late 1890s Banjo maker F.C Wilkes developed a 6-string version of the banjo with the 6th string "tunnelled" through the neck. It is arguable that Arthur O. Windsor had much influence in creating and perfecting the Zither banjo and creating the open-back banjo along with other modifications to the banjo type instruments, such as the non-solid attached resonator that banjos' today have (Gibson lays claim to this modification on the American Continent). Windsor claims to be the first in creating the hollow neck banjo with a truss rod, and he buried the 5th string in the neck after the 5th fret so to put the tuning peg on the peg-head rather than in the neck. Gibson lays claim to perfecting the banjo with the tone rings.

The first 5-string electric solid-body banjo was developed by Charles (Buck) Wilburn Trent, Harold "Shot" Jackson, and David Jackson in 1960.

The six-string or guitar-banjo was the instrument of the early jazz great Johnny St. Cyr, as well as of jazzmen Django Reinhardt, Danny Barker, Papa Charlie Jackson and Clancy Hayes, as well as the blues and gospel singer The Reverend Gary Davis. Nowadays, it sometimes appears under such names as guitanjo, guitjo, ganjo, banjitar, or bantar. Today, musicians as diverse as Keith Urban, Rod Stewart, Taj Mahal, Joe Satriani, David Hidalgo and Doc Watson play the 6-String banjo.

A number of hybrid instruments exist, crossing the banjo with other stringed instruments. Most of these use the body of a banjo, often with a resonator, and the neck of the other instrument. Examples include the banjo mandolin, the Banjolin, and the banjo ukulele or banjolele, most famously played by the English comedian George Formby. These were especially popular in the early decades of the twentieth century, and were probably a result of a desire either to allow players of other instruments to jump on the banjo bandwagon at the height of its popularity, or to get the natural amplification benefits of the banjo resonator in an age before electric amplification.

Instruments using the five-string banjo neck on a wooden body (for example, that of a bouzouki or resonator guitar) have also been made, such as the banjola. A 20th-Century Turkish instrument very similar to the banjo is called cümbüs.

Rhythm guitarist Dave Day of 1960's proto-punks The Monks replaced his guitar with a six-string, gut-strung banjo on which he played guitar chords. This instrument sounds much more metallic, scratchy and wiry than a standard electric guitar, due to its amplification via a small microphone stuck inside the banjo's body.

See also

African American music

List of banjo bands (worldwide)

List of banjo players

Bluegrass music

Country music

Prewar Gibson banjo

Double-neck guitjo

Stringed instrument tunings

Irish Music

Banjo (samba)

Banjo roll

Benju

Bulbul tarang

Further reading

Banjo history

Conway, Cecelia (1995). African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions, University of Tennessee Press. Paper: ISBN 0-87049-893-2; cloth: ISBN 0-87049-892-4. A study of the influence of African Americans on banjo playing throughout U.S. history.

Gura, Philip F. and James F. Bollman (1999). America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2484-4. The definitive history of the banjo, focusing on the instrument's development in the 1800s.

Katonah Museum of Art (2003). The Birth of the Banjo. Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York. ISBN 0-915171-64-3.

Linn, Karen (1994). That Half-Barbaric Twang: The Banjo in American Popular Culture. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06433-X. Scholarly cultural history of the banjo, focusing on how its image has evolved over the years.

Tsumura, Akira (1984). Banjos: The Tsumura Collection. Kodansha International Ltd. ISBN 0-87011-605-3. An illustrated history of the banjo featuring the world's premier collection.

Webb, Robert Lloyd (1996). Ring the Banjar!. 2nd edition. Centerstream Publishing. ISBN 1-57424-016-1. A short history of the banjo, with pictures from an exhibition at the MIT Museum.

External links

Frailing banjo instuction

Banjo Music & Theory

Old-Time Banjo Music from Rural America

To Hear Your Banjo Play, 1947 Alan Lomax film (16 minutes)

Old Time Banjo (e-book) by Patrick Costello

Fingerstyle Tenor Banjo

Tony Trischka School of Banjo (TTSB)

Banjo Newsletter

Banjo Hangout

Dr Joan Dickerson, Sparky Rucker, and George Gibson with host Michael Johnathon explore the African-American History of the Banjo through conversation and music on show 350 of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour. Both audio and video are provided.

References

Category:String instruments Category:Banjo family instruments Category:Pop culture words of Bantu origin Category:Bluegrass music Category:American musical instruments Category:Celtic musical instruments Category:Irish musical instruments

Name	Steve Martin
Caption	at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
Birth name	Stephen Glenn Martin
Birth date	August 14, 1945
Birth place	Waco, Texas, United States
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, music, publishing
Nationality	American
Active	1967–present
Genre	Improvisational, sketch, slapstick
Influences	British television, Red Skelton, Jerry Lewis, Jack Benny, Laurel and Hardy, Wally Boag
Influenced	Eddie Izzard, Chris Rock, Judd Apatow, Patton Oswalt, Dane Cook, Brian Posehn, Bo Burnham, Will Forte, David Walliams, Sarah Silverman, Will Arnett, Jon Stewart, Harry Hill, Vic Reeves, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Russell Peters, Howie Mandel, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Artie Lange
Spouse	Victoria Tennant (November 20, 1986–1994) Martin was raised in Inglewood, California, and then later in Garden Grove, California, in a Baptist family. One of his earliest memories is of seeing his father, as an extra, serving drinks onstage at the Call Board Theatre on Melrose Place. During World War II, in England, Martin's father had appeared in a production of Our Town with Raymond Massey. Years later, he would write to Massey for help in Steve's fledgling career, but would receive no reply. Expressing his affection through gifts of cars, bikes, etc., Martin's father was stern, not emotionally open to his son. Martin's first job was at Disneyland, selling guidebooks on weekends and full-time during the summer school break. That lasted for three years (1955–1958). During his free time he frequented the Main Street Magic shop, where tricks were demonstrated to potential customers. In his authorized biography, close friend Morris Walker suggests that Martin could "be described most accurately as an agnostic [...] he rarely went to church and was never involved in organized religion of his own volition".
|rowspan	2| Cameo
Colspan	"5" style="font-size:90%"|"—" denotes a title that did not chart.
Name	Martin, Steve
Alternative names	Martin, Stephen Glen
Short description	Comedian, writer, and entertainer
Date of birth	August 14, 1945
Place of birth	Waco, Texas, United States

Category:1945 births Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Texas Category:American banjoists Category:American buskers Category:American comedy musicians Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American film actors Category:American memoirists Category:American screenwriters Category:American stand-up comedians Category:California State University, Long Beach alumni Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:Mark Twain Prize recipients Category:People from Waco, Texas Category:People from Garden Grove, California Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:People from Inglewood, California

Name	Tony Trischka |
Landscape	|
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist|
Birth name	Tony Trischka |
Alias	|
Born	January 16, 1949 |
Origin	Syracuse, New York, USA |
Instruments	Banjo, steel guitar |
Genre	Bluegrass, Country |
Occupation	Bluegrass musician |
Years active	1970s – present |
Label	Rounder Records |
Associated acts	|
Url	|
Current members	|
Past members	|
Notable instruments	Banjo, steel guitar |

Tony Trischka (born January 16, 1949 in Syracuse, New York) is an American five-string banjo player.

Biography

He was born in Syracuse, New York, and graduated from Syracuse University (in Syracuse, New York) with a B.A in Fine Arts, and was inspired to play the banjo in 1963, listening to the Kingston Trio's "Charlie and The MTA". Though not their first banjo player, Tony was a founding member of Syracuse's Down City Ramblers during and beyond his college years, along with such musicians as Harry "Tersh" Gilmore (aka Lou Martin), Tom Hosmer, John Cadley, John Dancks, Greg Root, Greg Johnson, and Joel Diamond. Along with Gilmore and Hosmer he was also in the trio calling itself The Inedible String Bland. Both bands primarily, and frequently, played at Syracuse's premier music club/restaurant of the sixties, Cap'n Mac's Clam Shack.

In 1971 he made his recording debut on 15 Bluegrass Instrumentals with the Ithaca, NY based Country Cooking, (Peter Wernick, Kenny Kosek, Andy Statman, John Miller, Harry "Tersh" Gilmore) and at the same time, he was also a member of Syracuse's Country Granola (Herb Feuerstein, Johno Lanford, Greg Root, Danny Weiss, etc.). In 1973, he began a two-year stint with the New York City band, Breakfast Special (Kenny Kosek, Andy Statman, Roger Mason, Stacy Phillips, Jim Tolles). (This was Trischka's "food band" period.) Between 1974 and 1975, he recorded two solo albums, Bluegrass Light and Heartlands. After another solo album in 1976, Banjoland, he became musical leader for the Broadway show, The Robber Bridegroom. Trischka toured with the show in 1978, the year he also played with the Monroe Doctrine. Beginning in 1978, he also played with artists such as Peter Rowan, Richard Greene, and Stacy Phillips.

In the early 1980s, he began recording with his new group Skyline, which recorded its first album in 1983. Subsequent albums included Robot Plane Flies over Arkansas (solo, 1983), Stranded in the Moonlight (with Skyline, 1984) and Hill Country (solo, 1985). In 1984, he performed in his first feature film, Foxfire. Three years later, he worked on the soundtrack for Driving Miss Daisy. Trischka produced the Belgian group Gold Rush's No More Angels in 1988. The following year, Skyline recorded its final album, Fire of Grace. He also recorded the theme song for Books on the Air, a popular National Public Radio Show, and continued his affiliation with the network by appearing on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, From Our Front Porch, and other radio shows.

Trischka's solo recordings include 1993's World Turning, 1995's Glory Shone Around: A Christmas Collection and 1999's Bend. New Deal, a studio album that followed in 2003, was a bluesy adaptation of bluegrass standards that included a vocal cameo by Loudon Wainwright. Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular, with an appearance by comedian Steve Martin, came out four years later.

Trischka was banjo teacher to Béla Fleck, regarded, along with Trischka, as one of the world's top banjoists.

In the late 1990s, Trischka teamed up with David Grier, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, and Todd Phillips as "Psychograss" and formed a new band, whose debut album Bend explored yet more territory uncharted by banjo.

In January 2007 Trischka released, to critical and popular acclaim, Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular, featuring new music and performances by a stellar line-up of musicians including Earl Scruggs, Béla Fleck and the multi-talented Steve Martin. On April 26, 2007, he performed live on The Late Show With David Letterman with Steve Martin and Béla Fleck.

On October 4, 2007 Trischka won three International Bluegrass Music Awards, for Album of the Year, Recorded Event of the Year, and Banjo Player of the Year.

In 2008, Trischka released an album on Smithsonian Folkways entitled Territory, which in 2009 won the 8th annual Independent Music Awards for Best Americana Album.

Trischka resides in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Television appearances

David Letterman show, with Steve Martin, Bela Fleck, Brittany Haas, and Michael Daves, April 2007

Ellen Degeneres show, with Steve Martin, Brittany Haas, and Michael Daves, April 2007

Live at the Quick, with Bela Fleck, 2004–2006

ABC “Views”, with Béla Fleck, Summer 1997

“ABC World News Tonight” with Peter Jennings, Summer, 1996

“CBS Sunday Morning” with Charles Osgood - feature story (including Béla Fleck), 1995

“Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” (PBS), 1992

British television production of “Voice of America: History of the Banjo” , 1989

CBS “Hallmark Hall of Fame” production of “Foxfire” with Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn and John Denver, 1987

Ralph Emory’s “Frets” Awards Show, The Nashville Network, 1987

Nashville Network’s “Fire on the Mountain,” 1984, 1986

Merv Griffin Show, 1976

References

External links

Official Site

Category:American banjoists Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:People from Syracuse, New York

Name	Todd Taylor
State house	Iowa
District	34th
Term start	1994
Preceded	Robert Osterhaus
Succeeded	Incumbent
Birth date	May 21, 1966
Birth place	Ames, Iowa
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Kim
Residence	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Religion	Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Website	Taylor's website

Todd Taylor (born May 21, 1966) is the Iowa State Representative from the 34th District. He has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 1994. He received his BA from Graceland College and his BS from the University of Northern Iowa.

Taylor currently serves on several committees in the Iowa House - the Appropriations committee; the Natural Resources committee; the State Government committee; and the Labor committee, where he is vice chair. He also serves as chair of the Justice System Appropriations Subcommittee.

Taylor was re-elected in 2006 with 7,312 votes (67%), defeating Republican opponent David Gochenouer.

External links

Representative Todd Taylor official Iowa General Assembly site

Todd Taylor State Representative official constituency site

Category:Members of the Iowa House of Representatives Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:Living people Category:1966 births Category:Community of Christ members Category:Graceland University alumni Category:University of Northern Iowa alumni Category:People from Ames, Iowa Category:Iowa Democrats Category:People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa

The Osborne Brothers, Sonny Osborne (b. October 29, 1937) and Bobby Osborne (b. December 9, 1931), were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s. They are probably best known for their #33 1968 country hit song, "Rocky Top", written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and named after a mountain in Tennessee.

Biography

Although the Osbornes were born in Hyden, Kentucky, they grew up near Dayton, Ohio and had their first experiences as entertainers in southwestern Ohio. In 1952, Bobby was drafted into the military, and Sonny went to work with the "Father of Bluegrass Music" Bill Monroe. Upon Bobby's return from service in 1953, the Osbornes teamed up with Jimmy Martin, performing at radio stations WROL in Knoxville, Tennessee and WJR in Detroit, Michigan. At their only session together, on November 16, 1954 the Osbornes and Martin recorded six songs for RCA Victor. In late 1955, the Osbornes left Martin and moved to Wheeling, West Virginia , where they performed on WWVA Jamboree until Christmas, together with Charlie Bailey. They returned to Dayton in early 1956 playing the local clubs with guitarist Enos Johnson. When Johnson left, the Osbornes added guitarist Red Allen and fiddler Art Stamper to form a new group.

The Osborne Brothers and Red Allen (under the pseudonym Stanley Alpine) recorded for Gateway Records in February or March 1956 cutting eight instrumentals. In the spring of 1956, Tommy Sutton, a local disc jockey, helped the Osborne Brothers get a recording contract with MGM Records. The new group, with the Osbornes on banjo and mandolin, Allen on guitar, Ernie Newton on bass, Tommy Jackson and Art Stamper on fiddles, made their MGM recording debut on July 1, 1956. Their first released 45 RPM single for MGM containing "Ruby Are You Mad" became a huge success and led to the Osbornes being signed on as regular members of the WWVA Jamboree in October 1956. The "Jamboree version" of the group comprised Ricky Russell on dobro, Johnny Dacus on fiddle and Ray Anderson on bass. "Ruby Are You Mad" marks the first time twin banjos were used on a bluegrass recording.

Upon their breakout into the bluegrass scene, the Osborne Brothers quickly became noted for their virtuosic instrumentation and tight, melodic vocal harmonies. Their first country chart appearance in 1958 was "Once More", as a trio with Red Allen. The song featured a then-novel inverted stacked harmony: Bobby singing the lead line highest, then Sonny singing baritone, and finally the third singer (in this case Red Allen) singing the tenor as the lowest part. This placed Bobby's distinctive voice as the lead, and made the third voice a somewhat interchangeable part. As a result, the brothers could hire a series of guitarist/singers without changing their overall sound. This "high lead" vocal trio became their signature sound, used to great effect in the country market, with songs like "Blame Me", "Sweethearts Again", and a remake of the Carter Family's "Fair and Tender Ladies".

During the 1960s, the brothers caused some controversy among Bluegrass music purists for their incorporation of electronic and percussion instruments in their live acts and studio works. In 1960, the Osborne Brothers became the first bluegrass group to perform on a college campus, at Antioch College. In 1963, they switched to Decca Records. On August 8, 1964, the Osborne Brothers were inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry. In 1973, the Osborne Brothers performed at the White House as the first bluegrass group ever.

The Osborne Brothers have the distinction of having recorded two songs that would go on to be officially voted as "state songs." The first, "Rocky Top," was named a Tennessee state song in 1982. The other, "Kentucky," was named a state song for the brothers' home state of Kentucky.

In 1994, The Osborne Brothers were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Honor. The induction is considered bluegrass music's highest honor.

Their hits

Their song "Ruby Are You Mad" came in 1956 after signing with MGM Records (1956) and began a string of hits through 1986. Among them were "Once More" (1958), "Up This Hill & Down" (1965), "Making Plans" (1965), "Rocky Top" (1967), "Tennessee Hound Dog" (1969), and "Midnight Flyer" (1972). The Osborne Brothers' final chart appearance came in late 1986 with a new version of "Rocky Top".

Current status

Sonny retired in 2005, but Bobby continues to perform with his band Rocky Top X-press.

Notable Band Members

Red Allen, guitar

Benny Birchfield, guitar/banjo

Paul Brewster, guitar

Jimmy D. Brock, bass

Shawn Camp, fiddle

Jimmy Campbell, fiddle

Shad Cobb, fiddle

Donnie Collins, guitar

David Crow, fiddle

Derek Deakins, fiddle

Dennis Digby, bass

Glen Duncan, fiddle

Boyce Edwards, fiddle

Terry Eldredge, bass/guitar

Harley Gabbard, guitar

Tim Graves, dobro

Ray Kirkland, bass

Jimmy Martin, guitar

Jimmy Mattingly, fiddle

Daryl Mosely, bass

Bobby Osborne, II, guitar

Robby Osborne, guitar/bass/drums

Wynn Osborne, banjo

Ronnie Reno, guitar/bass

Dale Sledd, guitar

Terry Smith, bass

Buddy Spicher, fiddle

Blaine Sprouse, fiddle

Steve Thomas, fiddle

Gene Wooten, dobro

Footnotes

References

Goldsmith, Thomas (2004) The Bluegrass Reader, University of Illinois Press

Ledgin, Stephanie P. (2004) Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass, Greenwood Publishing

Osborne, Sonny (1964) Bluegrass Banjo, Mel Bay Publications

Rosenberg, Neil V. (2005) Bluegrass: A History, University of Illinois Press

Tribe, Ivan M. (2006) Country: A Regional Exploration, Greenwood Publishing Group

Wolff, Kurt - Duane, Orla (2000) Country Music: The Rough Guide, Rough Guides

External links

Osborne Bros. Festival

Sonny Osborne.com

Bobby Osborne and Rocky Top X-Press

Grand Ole Opry bio

Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:American country musicians Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductees Category:Musicians from Kentucky Category:RCA Victor artists

Name	Earl Scruggs |
Landscape	|
Background	solo_singer |
Birth name	Earl Eugene Scruggs |
Alias	|
Born	January 06, 1924 |
Died	|
Origin	Shelby, North Carolina, USA |
Instrument	5-string banjo, guitar |
Genre	Bluegrass, country, gospel
Occupation	Bluegrass artist
Years active	1945–present |
Label	MCA Nashville Records
Associated acts	Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, Earl Scruggs Revue
Url	www.earlscruggs.com |
Notable instruments	A 1933/34 Gibson Granada previously owned by Don Reno and Snuffy Jenkins, and "Nellie," a 1935/36 Gibson RB-3/RB-75 flathead

Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) is a musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger style (now called Scruggs style) on the 5-string banjo that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Although other musicians had played in 3-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe to fill the banjo slot in the "Blue Grass Boys". Scruggs built on earlier styles to develop a truly new and readily identifiable style, involving: unprecedented smoothness, syncopation, and uninterrupted flow; a large vocabulary of unique and original licks; blues and jazz phrases, evident in backup and in solos such as "Foggy Mountain Special;" and an overall coherency and polish that other stylists lacked, which inspired imitation by newer generations of banjo pickers.

Biography

Scruggs was born in Flint Hill, North Carolina, to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs. Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945 and his syncopated, three-finger picking style quickly became a sensation. In 1948 Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt left Monroe's band and formed the Foggy Mountain Boys. In 1969, Flatt and Scruggs broke up and Scruggs started a new band, the Earl Scruggs Revue, featuring several of his sons.

On September 24, 1962 singer Jerry Scoggins, Flatt, and Scruggs recorded "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies which was released October 12, 1962. The theme song became an immediate country music hit and was played at the beginning and end of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs appeared in several episodes as family friends of the Clampetts in the following years. In their first appearance, season 1 episode 20, they portray themselves in the show and perform both the theme song and "Pearl Pearl Pearl".

Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in 1969 for Scruggs' instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". They were inducted together into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1989, Scruggs was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship. He was an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. In 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

In 1994, Scruggs teamed up with Randy Scruggs and Doc Watson to contribute the song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2002 Scruggs won a second Grammy award for the 2001 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", which featured artists such as Steve Martin on 2nd banjo solo (Martin played the banjo tune on his 1970s stand-up comic acts), Vince Gill and Albert Lee on electric guitar solos, Paul Shaffer on piano, Leon Russell on organ, and Marty Stuart on mandolin. The album, Earl Scruggs and Friends, also featured artists such as John Fogerty, Elton John, Sting, Johnny Cash, Don Henley, Travis Tritt, Steve Martin and Billy Bob Thornton. Earl Scruggs and Friends (MCA Nashville, 2001).

On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year, he and Flatt were ranked #24 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.

Scruggs' wife and manager Louise Scruggs died on February 2, 2006 at the age of 78 at Nashville, Tennessee's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.

On September 13, 2006, Scruggs was honored at Turner Field in Atlanta as part of the pre-game show for an Atlanta Braves home game. Organizers (Banjo.com) set a world record for the most banjo players (239) playing one tune together (Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown").

On February 10, 2008, Scruggs was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

Legacy

As a young man, Bill Keith did a meticulous job of transcribing Scruggs' solos into both tablature and standard music notation for the book Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo, the best-selling banjo method in the world (according to Amazon.com). Keith went on to develop the more modern "melodic" style of banjo playing, laying the groundwork for Tony Trischka and Bela Fleck.

Bela Fleck names Earl Scruggs among his influences. He regards Scruggs as "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Guest singles

Music videos

DVDs

Earl Scruggs - His Family and Friends (2005)

:(Recorded 1969. Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Bill Monroe, Joan Baez et al.)

Private Sessions (2005)

The Bluegrass Legend (2006)

Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs

The Three Pickers (2003)

Flatt and Scruggs

The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 1 (2007)

The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 2 (2007)

Footnotes

References

Rosenberg, Neil V. (1998). "Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 173–4.

Willis, Barry R. "Biography of Earl Scruggs." Retrieved October 5, 2008.

Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts

External links

Official Website

Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com

at the Country Music Hall of Fame

on MCA Nashville

on Rounder Records

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Category:1924 births Category:Living people Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductees Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:American country banjoists Category:People from Shelby, North Carolina

Name	David Letterman
Caption	Speaking at the opening of the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute (September 2009)
Pseudonym	Earl Hofert
Birth name	David Michael Letterman
Birth date	April 12, 1947
Birth place	Indianapolis, Indiana
Notable work	Host of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC)Host of Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
Signature	David Letterman Autograph.svg

}} David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. Only Letterman's friend and mentor Johnny Carson has had a longer late-night hosting career. was a florist; his mother Dorothy Letterman (née Hofert, now Dorothy Mengering), a Presbyterian church secretary of German descent, is an occasional figure on the show, usually at holidays and birthdays. He has an older sister Janice and a younger sister Gretchen.

Letterman lived on the north side of Indianapolis (Broad Ripple area), not far from Speedway, IN, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000, he told an interviewer for Esquire that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be the life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at age 36, when David was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack at age 57.

Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School at the same time as Marilyn Tucker Quayle (wife of the former Vice President) who lived nearby, and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas supermarket. According to the Ball State Daily News, he originally had wanted to attend Indiana University, but his grades weren't good enough, so he decided to attend Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and he graduated from what was then the Department of Radio and Television, in 1969. A self-described average student, Letterman endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State.

Though he registered for the draft and passed his physical after graduating from College, he avoided military service in Vietnam due to receiving a draft lottery number of 352 (out of 365).

Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station—WBST—a 10-watt campus station which now is part of Indiana public radio. He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence.

Letterman credits Paul Dixon—host of the Paul Dixon Show, a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while Letterman was growing up—for inspiring his choice of career: :"I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all the sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do!"

Weatherman

Letterman began his career as a radio talk show host on WNTS (AM), and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (now called WTHR) as a local anchor and weatherman. He received some recognition for his unpredictable on-air behavior, which included congratulating a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane and predicting hail stones "the size of canned hams." (To this day he occasionally gives out canned hams on his show). He would also occasionally report the weather and the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities ("Eight inches of snow in Bingree and surrounding areas."). He also starred in a local kiddie show, made wisecracks as host of a late night TV show called "Freeze-Dried Movies" (he once acted out a scene from "Godzilla" using plastic dinosaurs), and hosted a talk show that aired early on Saturday mornings called "Clover Power," in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects.

In 1971, Letterman appeared as a pit road reporter for ABC Sports' tape-delayed coverage of the Indianapolis 500.

Move to Los Angeles

In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles, California, with hope of becoming a comedy writer. He started off by writing material for comedian Jimmie Walker. He also began performing stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store, a famed comedy club and proving ground for young comics.

Letterman appeared in the summer of 1977 on the short-lived Starland Vocal Band Show. He has since joked about how fortunate he was that nobody would ever see his performance on the program (due to its low ratings).

Letterman had a stint as a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show, Mary; a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard); and appearances on game shows such as The $20,000 Pyramid, The Gong Show, Password Plus and Liar's Club. He also hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show entitled The Riddlers that was never picked up. His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson's and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman personally credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.

NBC

Morning show

On June 23, 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC, The David Letterman Show. It was originally 90 minutes long, but was shortened to 60 minutes in August. The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards, but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled in October 1980.

Late Night with David Letterman

NBC kept Letterman under contract to try him in a different time slot. Late Night with David Letterman debuted February 1, 1982; the first guest on the first show was Bill Murray. The show ran weeknights at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time, immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It was seen as being edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an interviewer was borne out in verbal sparring matches with Cher (who even called him an asshole on the show), Shirley MacLaine, Charles Grodin, and Madonna. The show also featured inventive comedy segments and running characters, in a style heavily influenced by the 1950s and '60s programs of Steve Allen. Although Ernie Kovacs is often cited as an influence on the show, Letterman has denied this. In the final months of his first stint as host of The Tonight Show, Leno beat Letterman in the ratings by a 1.3 million viewer margin (5.2 million to 3.9 million), and Nightline and The Late Show were virtually tied. Once O'Brien took over Tonight, however, Letterman closed the gap in the ratings. O'Brien initially drove the median age of Tonight Show viewers from 55 to 45, with most older viewers opting to watch The Late Show instead.

Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning twelve times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993–2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality twelve times. Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008.

Hosting the Academy Awards

On March 27, 1995, Letterman acted as the host for the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted Letterman for what they deemed a poor hosting of the Oscars, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names (inspired by a similar joke by Woody Allen), he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then the both of them to Keanu Reeves: "Uma...Oprah! Oprah...Uma! Oprah, Uma...Keanu!" This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity garnered by Letterman's hosting caused a decline in the Late Show's ratings.

Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." He lampooned his stint in the following year, during Billy Crystal's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, The English Patient.

For years afterward, Letterman recounted his horrible hosting at the Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still holds Letterman in high regard and it has been rumored they have asked him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premier of the 14th season of The View, and confirmed the rumors.

Heart surgery hiatus

On January 14, 2000, a routine check-up revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart was severely constricted. He was rushed to emergency surgery for a quintuple bypass.

During the initial weeks of his recovery, reruns of the Late Show were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman including Drew Barrymore, including Dr. O. Wayne Isom and physician Louis Aronne, who frequently appears on the show. In a show of emotion, Letterman was nearly in tears as he thanked the health care team with the words "These are the people who saved my life!" The episode earned an Emmy nomination. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying, "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get The Tonight Show! It's a whole different thing." In a later running gag he lobbied his home state of Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis (I-465) "The David Letterman Bypass." He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, which included a clip of Dave's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network. Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, a Rolling Stone interview stated "he hosted a doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. 'These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest,' he says. 'And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends.' "

Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play "Everlong", introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During a later Foo Fighters appearance, Letterman said that Foo Fighters had been in the middle of a South American tour which they canceled to come play on his comeback episode.

Letterman again handed over the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby, Brad Garrett, Elvis Costello, John McEnroe, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Bonnie Hunt, Luke Wilson and bandleader Paul Shaffer) in February 2003, when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles. Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer—for new shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler—who had been scheduled to be the lead guest—served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus.

Re-signing with CBS

In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS neared expiration, ABC offered him the time slot for long-running news program Nightline with Ted Koppel. Letterman was interested as he believed he could never match Leno's ratings at CBS due to weaker lead-ins from the network's late local news programs, but was reluctant to replace Koppel. Letterman addressed his decision to re-sign on the air, stating that he was content at CBS and that he had great respect for Koppel.

On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that David Letterman signed a new contract to host The Late Show with David Letterman through the fall of 2010. "I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn a new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo.

"Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and the creativity and imagination that the Late Show puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.'"

According to a 2007 article in Forbes magazine, Letterman earned $40 million a year. A 2009 article in The New York Times, however, said his salary was estimated at $32 million per year.

In June 2009, Letterman and CBS reached agreement to extend his contract to host The Late Show until August 2012. His previous contract had been set to expire in 2010. thus allowing his show to come back on air on January 2, 2008. On his first episode since being off air, he surprised the viewing audience with his newly grown beard, which signified solidarity with the strike. His beard was shaved off during the show on January 7, 2008.

Letterman and Carson

NBC's decision to select Jay Leno and not Letterman to succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show was an embarrassment to Carson, who had all but promised the succession to Letterman. Letterman maintained a close relationship with Carson through his break with NBC. Three years after he left for CBS, HBO produced a made-for-television movie called The Late Shift, based on a book by New York Times reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Leno for the coveted Tonight Show hosting spot. Letterman would mock the film for months afterward, specifically on how the actor playing him, John Michael Higgins, did not resemble him in the least. ("They took a guy who looked nothing like me and with make-up and special camera angles, turned him into a guy who looked nothing like me, with red hair.")

Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance came May 13, 1994 on a Late Show episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a 'Top 10 list' segment. The audience went wild as Letterman stood up and proudly invited Carson to sit at his desk. The applause was so protracted that Carson was unable to say anything, and he finally returned backstage as the applause continued (it was later explained that Carson had laryngitis, though Carson can be heard talking to Letterman during his appearance).

In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson still kept up with current events and late-night TV right up to his death that year, and that he occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used these jokes in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Johnny Carson golf swing after delivering one of Carson's jokes. In a tribute to Carson, all of the opening monologue jokes during the first show following Carson's death were written by Carson.

Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor." Letterman also frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including "Carnac the Magnificent" (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump the Band" and the "Week in Review."

Letterman and Oprah Winfrey

On September 10, 2007, Letterman made his first appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He shared pictures of his son and live-in girlfriend. The so-called feud between Letterman and Winfrey apparently ended in 2005 when Winfrey appeared on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman on December 2, in an event Letterman jokingly referred to as "the Super Bowl of Love". Oprah had previously appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's Late Night on May 2, 1989.

Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in a Late Show promo that aired during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, with the two sitting next to each other on the couch watching the game. Since the game was played between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis-born Letterman wears a Peyton Manning jersey, while Winfrey—who tapes her show in Chicago—is in a Brian Urlacher jersey. Three years later, during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, the two appeared again, this time with Winfrey sitting on a couch between Letterman and Jay Leno. The appearance was Letterman's idea: Leno flew to New York City in an NBC corporate jet, sneaking into the Ed Sullivan Theater during the Late Show's February 4 taping wearing a disguise, meeting Winfrey and Letterman at a living room set created in the theater's balcony where they taped their promo.

Other projects

Worldwide Pants

Letterman started his own production company—Worldwide Pants Incorporated—which produced his show and several others, including Everybody Loves Raymond , The Late Late Show, and several critically-acclaimed, but short-lived television series for Bonnie Hunt. Worldwide Pants also produced the dramedy program Ed, which aired on NBC from 2000–2004. It was Letterman's first association with NBC since he left the network in 1993. During Ed's run, the star, Tom Cavanagh, appeared as a guest on The Late Show several times.

In 2005, Worldwide Pants produced its first feature film, Strangers with Candy, which was a prequel to the Comedy Central TV series of the same title. In 2007, Worldwide Pants produced the ABC comedy series, Knights of Prosperity.

Worldwide Pants made significant news in December 2007 when it was announced that Letterman's company had independently negotiated its own contract with the Writers Guild of America, East, thus allowing Letterman, Craig Ferguson, and their writers to return to work, while the union continued its strike against production companies, networks and studios who had not reached an agreement.

Rahal Letterman Racing

Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) is an auto racing team that currently races in the American Le Mans Series, and part-time in the Indy Racing League. It is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and Letterman himself, and is based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice. Letterman was a pit reporter for ABC in the 1971 Indianapolis 500. The $21 million, David Letterman Communication and Media Building opened for the 2007 Fall semester. It features state-of-the-art recording equipment and facilities. Thousands of Ball State students, faculty, and local residents welcomed Letterman back to Indiana. Letterman's emotional speech touched on his struggles as a college student and his late father, and also included the "top ten good things about having your name on a building."

Letterman received the honor for his dedication to the university throughout his career as a comedian. Letterman finished with, "If reasonable people can put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible."

Letterman also received a Sagamore of the Wabash from Governor Mitch Daniels.

Record company

In late April 2010, several music industry websites reported that David Letterman started a record label named Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music and signed his first artist, Runner Runner. Lucy Walsh announced on her myspace page that she has been signed by David Letterman and Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music and is working on her album.

Appearances in other media

Letterman appeared in issue 239 of the Marvel comic book The Avengers, in which the title characters are guests on Late Night. A parody of Letterman, called "David Endocrine", is gassed to death along with his bandleader named "Paul" and their audience in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

Letterman provided vocals for the Warren Zevon song "Hit Somebody" from My Ride's Here, and provided the voice for Butt-head's father in the 1996 animated film, Beavis and Butt-head Do America. He also had a cameo in the feature film Cabin Boy, with Chris Elliott, who worked as a writer on Letterman's show. In this and other appearances, Letterman is listed in the credits as "Earl Hofert", the name of Letterman's maternal grandfather. He also appeared as himself in the Howard Stern biopic Private Parts as well as the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, in a few episodes of Garry Shandling's 1990s TV series The Larry Sanders Show and in "The Abstinence", a 1996 episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. Letterman also appeared in the pilot episode of the short-lived 1986 series "Coach Toast".

Personal life

Marriages and long-term relationships

In 1969, Letterman married Michelle Cook; the marriage ended by divorce in 1977. He also had a long-term relationship with former head writer and producer on Late Night, Merrill Markoe. In fact, Markoe was the mind behind several Late Night staples, such as "Stupid Pet/Human Tricks".

Letterman has a son, Harry Joseph Letterman (born in 2003), with Regina Lasko. Harry is named after Letterman's father. In 2005, police discovered a plot to kidnap Harry Letterman and ransom him for $5 million. Kelly Frank, a house painter who had worked for Letterman, was charged in the conspiracy.

Letterman and Lasko, who had been together since 1986, wed during a quiet courthouse civil ceremony in Choteau, Montana, on March 19, 2009. Letterman announced the marriage during the taping of his March 23 show, shortly after congratulating Bruce Willis for getting married the previous week. Letterman told the audience he nearly missed the ceremony because his truck became stuck in mud two miles from their house. The family resides in North Salem, New York, on a estate.

Stalking incidents

Beginning in May 1988, Letterman was stalked by Margaret Mary Ray, a woman suffering from schizophrenia. Letterman occasionally referenced her in his show, although not by name. She committed suicide in 1998. Letterman publicly expressed sympathy upon her death.

Extortion attempt and revelation of affairs

On his October 1, 2009 show, Letterman announced that he had been the victim of an extortion attempt by someone threatening to reveal that he had had sex with several of his female employees. He confirmed the relationships.

Letterman stated that three weeks earlier (on September 9, 2009) someone had left a package in his car with material he said he would write into a screenplay and a book if Letterman did not pay him $2 million. Letterman said that he contacted the Manhattan District Attorney's office, ultimately cooperating with them to conduct a sting operation involving giving the man a phony check. The extortionist, Robert J. "Joe" Halderman, a producer of the CBS true crime journalism series 48 Hours, was subsequently arrested after trying to deposit the check. He was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury and pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted grand larceny on October 2, 2009. Birkitt had until recently lived with Halderman, who is alleged to have copied Birkitt's personal diary and to have used it, along with private emails, in the blackmail package.

On October 3, 2009, a former CBS employee, Holly Hester, announced that she and Letterman had engaged in a year-long "secret" affair in the early 1990s while she was his intern and a student at New York University.

In the days following the initial announcement of the affairs and the arrest, several prominent women, including Kathie Lee Gifford, co-host of NBC's Today Show, and NBC news anchor Ann Curry questioned whether Letterman's affairs with subordinates created an unfair working environment. A spokesman for Worldwide Pants said that the company's sexual harassment policy did not prohibit sexual relationships between managers and employees. According to business news reporter Eve Tahmincioglu, "CBS suppliers are supposed to follow the company's business conduct policies" and the CBS 2008 Business Conduct Statement states that "If a consenting romantic or sexual relationship between a supervisor and a direct or indirect subordinate should develop, CBS requires the supervisor to disclose this information to his or her Company's Human Resources Department..."

On October 5, 2009, Letterman devoted a segment of his show to a public apology to his wife and staff. Three days later, Worldwide Pants announced that Birkitt had been placed on a "paid leave of absence" from the Late Show. On October 15, CBS News announced that the company's Chief Investigative Correspondent, Armen Keteyian, had been assigned to conduct an "in-depth investigation" into Halderman's blackmail of Letterman.

On March 9, 2010, Halderman pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny and served a 6-month jail sentence, followed by probation and community service.

Awards

In his capacities as either a writer, producer, performer, or as part of a writing team, David Letterman is among the most nominated people in Emmy Award history with 52 nominations, winning two Daytime Emmys and five Primetime Emmys since 1981. His nomination record is second only to producer Jac Venza, who holds the record for the most Emmy nominations for an individual (57). Letterman has been nominated every year since 1984, when he first appeared on late night television as the host of Late Night with David Letterman. Additionally, he has won four American Comedy Awards.

References

External links

David Letterman's Feb. 24, 1978 appearance on 90 Minutes Live

Official Late Show biography

1999 article on Letterman from Salon.com

Tape of Letterman announcing affairs/extortion attempt on Late Show

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American people of German descent Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Ball State University alumni Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Indianapolis, Indiana television anchors Category:Indy Racing League owners Category:People from Indianapolis, Indiana Category:Weather presenters

Name	Béla Fleck
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Béla Anton Leoš Fleck
Born	July 10, 1958New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Instrument	Banjo, guitar, dobro
Genre	Jazz, jazz fusion, Bluegrass, folk, classical, World music
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, composer,
Years active	1976–present
Associated acts	Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Trio!, Chick Corea, Strength in Numbers, New Grass Revival, Sparrow Quartet
Url	www.BelaFleck.com
Notable instruments	Deering Crossfire electric banjo with custom pickups and synthesizer pickup

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.

Early life and career details

Fleck was born in New York City, New York, and is named after famous Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, Austrian composer Anton Webern, and Czech composer Leoš Janáček. He was drawn to the banjo when he first heard Earl Scruggs play the theme song for the television show Beverly Hillbillies. He received his first banjo at age fifteen from his grandfather (1973). Later, Fleck enrolled in New York City's High School of Music and Art where he studied the French horn. He was a banjo student under Tony Trischka.

Almost immediately after high school, Fleck traveled to Boston to play with Jack Tottle, Pat Enright, and Mark Schatz in Tasty Licks. During this period, Fleck released his first solo album (1979): Crossing the Tracks and made his first foray into progressive bluegrass composition.

Fleck played on the streets of Boston with bassist Mark Schatz; and the two, along with guitarist/vocalist Glen Lawson and mandolin great Jimmy Gaudreau, formed Spectrum: the Band in 1981. Fleck toured with Spectrum during 1981. That same year, Sam Bush asked Fleck to join New Grass Revival. Fleck performed with New Grass Revival for nine years. During this time, Fleck recorded another solo album, Drive. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in the then first-time category of "Best Bluegrass Album" (1988).

During the 1980s Fleck and Bush also performed live occasionally with Doc Watson and Merle Watson in various bluegrass festivals, most notably the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

.]] Béla Fleck and Victor Wooten formed Béla Fleck and the Flecktones in 1988, along with keyboardist and harmonica player Howard Levy and Wooten's percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, who played synthesizer-based percussion. Levy left the group in 1992, making the band a trio until Saxophonist Jeff Coffin joined the group onstage part-time in 1997, eventually becoming a permanent member. His first studio recording with the band was their 1998 album Left of Cool. In 1996, he appeared on the tribute album to Hank Marvin, one of his influences, and The Shadows "Twang" playing a Shadows UK hit from the 1960s, "The Stranger".

With the Flecktones, Fleck has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards. (Cf. Grammy sections below.)

Other music and recordings

Fleck has shared Grammy wins with Asleep at the Wheel, Alison Brown, and Edgar Meyer. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician, He regards Scruggs as "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style. Fleck and Corea toured together throughout 2007.

As a follow-up to the Fleck/Meyer double concerto mentioned above, the two were commissioned for a trio concerto, for which they teamed up with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain. It debuted in Nashville in 2006 and was later recorded for a CD, The Melody of Rhythm. The trio subsequently toured together in 2009 and 2010.

In July 2007 at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, he appeared and jammed with Toumani Diabaté, a kora player from Mali. He is also scheduled to play the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival with Toumani Diabaté.

Fleck has also played with Malian ngoni (ancestor of the banjo) player Cheick Hamala Diabate.

In December 2007, he performed charity concerts in Germany to help promote AIDS awareness. His largest concert was held in Grosse Halle Bern on December 1, 2007.

On June 13, 2008, he performed as part of The Bluegrass Allstars, composed of bluegrass heavyweights Sam Bush, Luke Bulla, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, and Jerry Douglas at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.

The next day Fleck performed with Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet at the same festival.

In 2009, an independent film documentary of Fleck's visit to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, was released to limited run engagements in US cities. "Throw Down Your Heart" was directed by Sascha Paladino, Fleck's half brother. It was filmed during Fleck's year off from touring with the Flecktones.

Personal life

In August 2007 at Paladino's wedding, Fleck brought Abigail Washburn as his "girlfriend", both to play in a scratch band composed of wedding party members. In May 2009, the Bluegrass Intelligencer satirized the upcoming "strategic marriage" of Washburn and Fleck, joking that the couple promise to have a "male heir" who will be the "Holy Banjo Emperor". In February 2010, The Aspen Times reported that Washburn had become Fleck's wife in the previous year. In a July 2010 interview, Washburn said she first met her husband in Nashville at a square dance—she was dancing and he was playing.

Banjos played

Nechville Meteor Electric Banjo made by Nechville Musical Products

Nechville Nextar Banjo made by Nechville Musical Products

Deering Crossfire Banjo made by the Deering Banjo Company

Deering Tenbrooks Saratoga Star made by the Deering Banjo Company

Deering John Hartford banjo made by Deering Banjo Company

Gibson TB-75 Flathead banjo with reproduction five-string neck

Rickenbacker Banjo - Looks like a 360.

Discography

Grammy awards

1995

*Best Country Instrumental Performance, Hightower by Asleep at the Wheel with Béla Fleck and Johnny Gimble

1996

*Best Pop Instrumental Performance, The Sinister Minister by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones (with Sam Bush & Paul McCandless)

1998

*Best Instrumental Composition, Almost 12 by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

2000

*Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Outbound by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

*Best Country Instrumental Performance, Leaving Cottondale by Alison Brown and Béla Fleck

2001

*Best Instrumental Arrangement, Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum from Children's Corner Suite (Debussy) by Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer

*Best Classical Crossover Album, Perpetual Motion by Béla Fleck with Edgar Meyer, Joshua Bell, and others

2006

*Best Contemporary Jazz Album, The Hidden Land by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

2009

*Best Pop Instrumental Album, Jingle All The Way by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

2010

*Best Pop Instrumental Performance, Throw Down Your Heart by Béla Fleck

*Best Contemporary World Music Album, Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 by Béla Fleck

Grammy nominations

Béla Fleck has been nominated in more categories than any other musician in Grammy history.

2009

*Best Contemporary World Music Album Throw Down Your Heart

*Best Pop Instrumental Performance Throw Down Your Heart

*Best Classical Crossover Album The Melody Of Rhythm

2008

*Pop Instrumental Album Jingle All The Way

*Country Instrumental Performance Sleigh Ride (from Jingle All The Way)

2006

*Pop Instrumental Subterfuge (from The Hidden Land)

2005

*Country Instrumental Who's Your Uncle (from Best Kept Secret by Jerry Douglas)

*Contemporary Jazz Album Soulgrass by Bill Evans

2002

*Country Instrumental Performance Bear Mountain Hop (from The Country Bears Soundtrack)

2000

*Pop Instrumental Zona Mona (from Outbound)

1999

*Bluegrass Bluegrass Sessions

1998

*Pop Instrumental Big Country (from Left Of Cool)

*Country Instrumental The Ride (from Restless On the Farm by Jerry Douglas)

1996

*World Music Tabula Rasa

1995

*Country Instrumental Cheeseballs In Cowtown (from )

1994

*Spoken Word For Children The Creation by Amy Grant

1992

*Jazz Instrumental Magic Fingers (from UFO Tofu)

1991

*Jazz Album Flight of the Cosmic Hippo

*Jazz Instrumental Blu-Bop

1990

*Jazz Album Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

*Jazz Instrumental

1989

*Country Instrumental Bigfoot (from Friday Night In America by New Grass Revival

1988

*Bluegrass album Drive

1987

*Country Instrumental Metric Lips (from Hold to a Dream by New Grass Revival)

1986

*Country Instrumental Seven By Seven (from New Grass Revival by New Grass Revival)

Further reading

Gray, Michael (1998). "Béla Fleck". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 174–5.

References

External links

BelaFleck.com - Bela Fleck Official website

Flecktones.com - Flecktones Official Website

Category:1958 births Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:American buskers Category:American country banjoists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jazz banjoists Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York City Category:New Grass Revival members