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Carl's Scrapbook: Family History: Roots  |
Daddy's grandfather (my great-grandfather) was an old-time fiddler by the name of John David Chambers. John made quite a name for himself in the early 1900's, as a champion fiddler in the Limestone County area of North Alabama. Dr. W. H. Johnson who, in 1924, was the principal of the Athens Agricultural High School and an early fiddle music promoter, wrote a detailed description of John's winning performance at the the first Athens Fiddler's Convention. Joyce Cauthen quotes Dr. Johnson's writings in her book about old-time fiddling in Alabama, "With Fiddle and Well Rosined Bow":
"John Chambers of the western part of the county, was the first to play. Dr. Johnson's report noted that Chambers 'is recognized as one of the most expert handlers of the fiddle bow in the country and to make his playing more interesting, he used a beautiful fiddle that he made with a pocket knife. He was given a rousing encore and played for his second number, The 8th of January'." [With Fiddle and Well Rosined Bow, Pg 180, Joyce H. Cauthen, The University of Alabama Press, 1989]
We were fortunate enough to find one of John's hand made fiddles back in the seventies and it's now a priceless family heirloom. He's playing one of those fiddles in the picture at right.
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One of the two sons of John and Mary Chambers was Carlos Edward Chambers (they pronounced it Car´-liss), my grandfather. He was a fisherman and farmer by trade and they tell me he played some banjo and guitar, but I don't recall ever hearing him play. He is pictured at left in his Sunday best, a dress jacket over his overalls.
Daddy (Ellis Marvin "Bud" Chambers) was the fifth of ten children born to Carlos and Trudy Chambers. Being strongly influenced by his grandfather, he was soon known in the area as a champion fiddler himself. Fiddler's contests were a common thing in that day and as a young teen, Daddy and his younger brother Alfred would enter every one they could get to on foot or by mule and won their fair share (usually a ten pound bag of flour or the like). Daddy only got about three years of formal schooling (Clemens or Blackburn - memories are a little foggy) but was always proud that among his classmates were Alton and Rabon, the Delmore Brothers.
The Eubanks', Mama's family, lived off Snake Road up around the Seven Mile post a little closer to town (Athens). Mama (Lillian Bell Eubanks) got married when she was 14 and was widowed at 16 when her husband got drunk, fell into the Tennessee River and drowned. She met my daddy in 1937, shortly thereafter, when she and her brother were looking for a fiddle player for their band, "The Dizzy Ramblers". Mother describes what her life was like growing up in north Alabama in the early 1900's in an autobiography she penned in 1989.
Mama's family moved to Central Florida and she and my dad were married in 1938 but Daddy never lost touch with his roots. He made the trip from Central Florida to North Alabama on his vacation, religiously every summer, until his father's death in 1968. For the first sixteen years of my life, I too was taken on this annual pilgrimage. This is where my earliest memories of Daddy and Uncle Alfred "makin' music" out on the front porch are rooted.
When I first started to seriously write songs, I often used my mama and daddy as inspiration for subject matter. Click this link to see and hear two songs I wrote in the seventies and one in the eighties, that are products of those memories.
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