Daddy Played the Banjo

Steve Martin- all frailing, and most of the Scruggs style Banjo
Jerry Douglas- Dobro
Stuart Duncan- Fiddle, Mandolin
Craig Eastman- Fiddle, Octave Violin
Kenny Malone- Percussion
Skip Ward- Acoustic Bass
Bruce Martin- Bodhrán, Tabla, Percussion
John McEuen- Guitar, Banjo, Bowed Guitars, Electric Bass, Efx, Mandolin
Tim O’Brien- Vocals
Hans Olson- Harmonica
Earl Scruggs- Banjo

I had read a book called “The Stuffed Owl,” which was a collection of bad poetry through the ages. I put it down and thought, “I could write some bad poetry!” I did, and came up with a poem called Daddy Played the Banjo. I looked at it a couple of years later and thought, this is not so bad, at least not as bad as I intended it to be. And I remembered a quotation, it’s source forgotten though something tells me it’s Oscar Wilde, “words too silly to be spoken, are sung.” I rewrote the poem to exorcise the silliness, showed it to Tony Trischka who did his nodding dad thing until I came up with a melody, then I got together with Gary Scruggs (who better to collaborate on a song called “Daddy Played the Banjo”?), who contributed significantly to the final lyrics. I am very lucky to have the smooth voice of Tim O’Brien, who sang at my wedding, and also honored to have the most influential banjo player who has ever lived Earl Scruggs, playing his three-finger style on this most appropriate song.