Snuffy Jenkins and Pappy Sherrill - Long Journey Home 1990

One of Snuffy's last performances, February 1990. Snuffy was 81 when this was filmed. He passed away a couple months later. Snuffy was the pioneer of the 3-finger banjo style that was popularized in the late 1940s by Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, Ralph Stanley, and others and what came to be known as bluegrass banjo. Snuffy was playing his 3 finger style in the 1930s. Snuffy Jenkins and Pappy Sherrill played together from 1939 until Snuffy's death in April 1990.

This 1990 version of the Hired Hands included Dewitt "Snuffy" Jenkins, Homer "Pappy" Sherrill, Harold Lucas, Randy Lucas, and Frank Hartley.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Snuffy
• Jenkins
• Pappy
• Sherrill
• Hired
• Hands
• banjo
• bluegrass

[EdwinMcCravy1]

Hi Ziggy. I played piano with Greasy Medlin at Shakey's Pizza Parlor back in the 70's

[EdwinMcCravy1]

Snuffy Jenkins played his 3-finger picking style regularly back in the '30's on the Charlotte NC radio station WBT while Earl Scruggs was growing up in Shelby NC, 30 miles from Charlotte. WBT was the main radio station anybody listend to in Shelby in those days. So Snuffy probably had a bigger influence on Earl's 3-finger picking style than you might think.

[stevegoldfield]

Snuffy was undoubtedly some influence on Earl Scruggs, but Smith Hammett was just as undoubtedly a much greater influence. And Earl's contribution, which was paralleled by Don Reno at about the same time, was a huge breakthrough in technique. So, i think it is misleading to describe Snuffy as "the" pioneer of 3-finger banjo; he was one of them. And Charlie Poole and Buster Carter played 3-finger banjo, too, even earlier. We need to keep this history straight.

[TexanBox]

That's incredible to play the banjo that good at 81.

[zelmoziggy]

@thadyermaker16 If this video was shot in February 1990, Greasy passed away several years before that. Greasy's given name was Julian Medlin. He used to play banjo in a local pizza parlor when I was a kid.

[thadyermaker16]

i did some research with my uncle and came to find out that i'm related to this guy. they called him "Greasy Medlin". we went to his grave in the lower part of the state of South Carolina. just a couple hours away from where i live in Lancaster. his gravestone has him sitting on a stump playing a banjo

[banjoscott]

Very inspiring and yep, solid!!! love it

[banjoscott]

GREAT!!!!

[theodorodepangrazia]

So inspiring for any banjo player! Solid and strong. Thanks!

[SnuffyJenkins]

Thanks for posting. Just saw the Lucas Family at the Snuffy Jenkins Reunion Festival in Spindale NC. Always been a Snuffy fan.