Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the “Nashville Sound.” He popularized the ‘slip note’ piano style where one note slides effortlessly into the next. This was a major departure from the percussive piano style which was popular in the late 1950s. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cramer grew up in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas, teaching himself to play the piano. After finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the Louisiana Hayride radio show. After Cramer relocated permanently to Nashville, Allen “Puddler” Harris, a native of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, replaced him as the pianist for the Hayride.

Joe Julian was born in 1928. He was a fine upright bass player. He won many awards for his skill in accompanying fiddler players at contests all over the state of Texas, including the one at East Texas University when Boyd won his first banjo trophy. There wasn’t a song he couldn’t play. Joe was always at Bill Grant’s Bluegrass festival and several of the Bois d’arc Bottom Boys were there during these years. They watched Joe take award after award in the contests. Joe lived in Paris, Texas, served as a police officer, and eventually died there.

Lloyd Green was born on October 4, 1937 in Leaf, Mississippi. He moved with his family to Mobile, Alabama at the age of four, where he began to take music lessons. At the age of seven he learned to play a Hawaiian string guitar and eventually learned how to play the steel guitar. By the time he was ten, he was playing professionally in clubs a couple of nights a week with a rhythm guitarist. Green graduated from high school in 1955 and went on to study psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi. He left college at the age of nineteen and went to Nashville, Tennessee to seek fame as a steel guitarist. Over the years, Lloyd Green has become one of the most popular and respected pedal steel guitarist of all time, and arguably the best player of the E9th tuning on the pedal steel guitar.

Kenneth Edelhauser lived in Dallas and would frequently come to Selfs Texas to visit his dad, John Edelhauser and mother Frances.
While Kenneth was there he started showing Boyd guitar chords on his electric guitar. Kenneth loved the Ventures and Boyd took a liking to them also. Because of Kenneth’s love of the Ventures, Boyd also started playing Ventures music and began playing Ventures music. Most of the records were 33rpm records. Songs included Pipeline, Tequila,Walk Don’t Run, Wipe Out, Honky Tonk, Last Date, And Many others. Thanks Uncle Kenneth!  Boyd.

By the way, today is Kenneth’s birthday. He is now 77years old!

John Edelhauser had a dear friend who lived near Winston Wagner’s antenna field. His name was Russell Davis. In those years Boyd would spend a lot of time at Russell’s home learning about the various instruments Russell could play. One day Russell put a ukulele in Boyd’s hand and showed him three simple chords on the ukulele.
Russell would play the violin and try to tell Boyd what chords to make. Eventually Boyd traveled to Paris with John Edelhauser and would perform on his ukulele for folks at the C.B coffee breaks held in Paris.  Russell could play many instruments including the wash tub bass and the banjo. Boyd learned about music in those days than he ever did in Nashville.

As far back as Boyd can remember, John played the electric lap steel guitar. John would strum the lap steel with his fingers and played many Gospel tunes. John’s brothers would strum along with him,as they played rythym. Boyd has John’s steel guitar in his studio. Boyd has hooked it up to electricity and it still plays. Boyd would not take a thousand dollars for this priceless steel! Boyd says that this steel guitar is what caused him to play the pedal steel guitar!

Boyd’s Mother could always be found at the piano!
She loved the old gospel music and always played piano at Selfs Baptist Church. Her father, John Edelhauser led music there.
Many years ago, John asked Boyd and Gary Moreland to play music at Selfs. That was unusual because there had never been other types of music played there other than Laverta! By the way, Laverta could play a mean boogie woogie. LaVerta was born on September 27

Died 2003. Born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas, the fourth of seven children to Ray Cash (13 May 1897, Kingsland, Arkansas – 23 December 1985, Hendersonville, Tennessee) and Carrie Cloveree Rivers (13 March 1904, Rison, Arkansas – 11 March 1991, Hendersonville, Tennessee).[39][40] Cash was given the name “J.R.” because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials.[41] When he enlisted in the United States Air Force, the military would not accept initials as his name, so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he took Johnny Cash as his stage name. The Cash children were, in order: Roy, Margaret Louise, Jack, J. R., Reba, Joanne and Tommy. His younger brother, Tommy Cash, also became a successful country artist. In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas. J.R. was working in cotton fields beginning at age five, singing along with his family simultaneously while working. The family farm was flooded on at least two occasions, which later inspired him to write the song “Five Feet High and Rising”. His family’s economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.