Strummin up a Banjo Boom

the discarded insrtument Plinks and Plunks its way back into favor

An old professional banjo player explained the tremendous revival of interest in his kind of music. "It lifts people up when I am there playing," he said. "They go for that snap, sparkle and jump." For the first time since their instrument passed out of favor 25 years ago, banjoists have more work and pupils than they can handle. Perry Bechtel (below) who calls himself "The Man with a Thousand Fingers," was dazzling Atlanta with his dexterity. Eddie Peabody, the instrument's most famous living player, was plinking and plunking his way across the country. Manufacturers were way behind on their orders and pawnshops were stripped of their dusty stock of instruments as the U.S. strummed up it's boom on the ol' banjo.

Life Magazine - 1958