Blog 2112 – 07.07.2012

Not A Hillbilly Really, But A Valley Boy

My roots this go round were well established in the mountain and ridge surrounded Chattanooga valley. I grew up in their shadows seeing the sun peak later each morning over their majestic peaks and set earlier each evening. Much is said of breath taking mountain top vistas but there is also much to be said of the those more focus near-sighted views from down in the valley.

As I was thinking about what I might write about life in the valley a song that I heard often as a young boy came to me:

Long before Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs became well-known for their popular Beverly Hillbillies theme song, The Ballad of Jed Clampett, they were quite well-known to hillbilly and valley folk far and wide as bluegrass and country western songsters.

Long before Garth Brooks first recorded Friends In Low Places, that all-time favorite of karaoke singers, Flat and Scruggs entertained many accompanied by their band The Foggy Mountain Boys. That reminds me of the many mornings that I awoke as a boy thinking someone must have stollen my beloved mountains over night, but it was only the fog that made them seem to disappear. They were always there like mountain mamas to comfort this valley boy and just the thought of them today still does.

I am so glad that I grew up with those beloved friends and so many others in low places.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FZplsh9gdHPYdZg2IhCz949FoyGiNeaM/view?usp=drivesdk

Friends In Low Places