Peck Boggs

As read by Shawn Pitts, Arts in McNairy Founder, June 9, 2017

By any standard, Peck Boggs belongs in the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame. His story, while it is uniquely his own, is emblematic of the larger, longer narrative of local music heritage that the Hall of Fame is meant to honor and preserve. His musical journey is rooted in family, it is steeped in local tradition, and it interconnects with the stories of so many other memorable musicians that Peck’s name has virtually become synonyms with quality bluegrass in West Tennessee, North Mississippi, and North Alabama.

Whatever is said, or done, here this evening will certainly not be adequate to express the breadth of his talent, the depth of his influence, or the heights of his generosity. But we will do the best we can to pay him the honor he is due. Herman Talmadge Boggs—Now you know why they call him Peck—was born in 1931 to a musical family in Hardin County Tennessee and grew up near Counce. Peck’s father was the song leader at Center Hill Baptist church, and also played a pretty mean fiddle.

By the age of 10 Peck had picked up the guitar and was accompanying his brother, father, and others at brush arbor revival meetings, house parties—locally known as musicals—community dances, and about anywhere else they would let him pick a guitar. It also became evident, very early on, that Peck had a powerful singing voice and his vocal abilities were soon in demand as much, if not more, than his skills with flattop. At the ripe old age of 15, Peck joined his first band, the Tennessee Valley Boys, and began playing at dances and other events around Hardin and McNairy County.

Soon thereafter he was recruited by his uncle Troy for another outfit which would give him his first taste of success as a regional entertainer. In the late 1940s Peck joined Troy, Deward Meeks, and Roy and Junior Williams, in a band called the Pickwick Fishermen. The Fishermen were almost immediately sought after in the area, anchoring a popular dance at Savannah, Tennessee for several years and appearing every Saturday morning on an old-time radio program on WCMA in Corinth, Mississippi. It was during this period that Peck began slipping off a little more regularly to McNairy County.

He, uncle Troy, and the other members of the Fishermen became regulars at the Latta Motor Company jams here in Selmer and recorded several great tracks with Stanton Littlejohn at Eastview. Peck is, in fact, one of only two living members of that fraternity of 20th century musicians who played in this building during the heyday of the Latta jams, and made recordings at Eastsview, with Littlejohn. The other one, just happens to be Bo English who will join in the musical tribute for Peck in just a few minutes.

Benny Coley, who is also still with us, appears in the 1949 photo at the Latta, but there are no known recordings of him from that period. In McNairy County, Peck crossed paths with an up and coming bandleader named Arnold English. Arnold fronted his own band known as the Dixie Hayriders who were already popular at area dances and were appearing regularly on radio program in Jackson, Tennessee. The Hayriders’ already strong lineup included Bo English on mandolin, Neil English on bass, Bernard Moore on guitar, Obie Vanderford on banjo and, of course, Arnold on fiddle.

The addition of Peck’s guitar and vocals, made the Dixie Hayriders, arguably, the best bluegrass group McNairy County has ever produced. Maybe more importantly, when Peck joined the English brothers in the early 1950s he began a long running musical collaboration which spans more than six decades and has influenced countless young musicians. Tonight, Peck will become the fourth member of the Dixie Hayriders to be inducted into the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame, joining Arnold, Bo, and Neil English in that honor.

In the late 1950s Peck would join, yet another member of the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame, Kay Bain, in a musical venture with her husband, entertainer and radio personality, Buddy Bain. Kay and Buddy had recently formed a country band known as Buddy Bain and the Buddies who appeared on their own regular radio and TV programs in North Mississippi while performing on various other radio shows and live performances across the mid-south. Through Peck’s association with the Bain’s he rubbed elbows with the likes of Johnny Cash, Sonny James, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Loretta Lynn, and Merle “Red” Taylor, among others.

But the best story from that era, undoubtedly involves Peck’s beloved Martin D-28—an instrument he’s still proud of until this very day. Peck had put $25 down on that guitar at E.E. Forbes music store in Florence Alabama, and was paying it off at $11.71 a month when he joined the Buddy Bain and the Buddies—that’s right he still remembers what the monthly payment was to the penny. Just ask him, the payment was $11.71 a month, for a grand total $288—with the case included. Well, Buddy Bain was so impressed with that guitar that he had to have one just like it. So, what did Buddy do but go right out and get him one.

I would be willing to bet he never appreciated that guitar as much as he might have, had he paid $11.71 a month for it. But as luck would have it, it wouldn’t matter for long. One night after a show, Buddy got so busy talking to fans while the band was loading up their gear, he forgot to put the guitar in the trunk. He only remembered where he left it when he backed over it and heard the sickening crunch. Peck would never say this, but Buddy’s admiration for that D-28 had more to do with Peck’s picking than with the instrument itself.

But still… In 1985 Peck was reunited with English brothers when he joined Bo and Neil in the Hatchie Bottom Boys. As with most bands, the personnel of the group has changed some over the years, but I don’t think anyone would argue that these three men have been the core members and heart of the Hatchie Bottom Boys since they were reunited more than 30 years ago. Along with the many accomplished band members who have played with the Hatchie Bottom Boys, Peck has remained a solid and influential voice in bluegrass music deep into his 80s.

The Hatchie Bottom boys are widely regarded as one of the best bluegrass acts in the tristate area performing and headlining at innumerable music festivals from Middle and West Tennessee to North Central Mississippi and North Central Alabama and beyond. They have shared the stage with bluegrass legends such as Ricky Scaggs and Jim and Jesse McReynolds. They have cut their own record in Nashville which enjoyed a measure of success with its European release and distribution. But here at home, the Hatchie Bottom Boys are unquestionably among the most beloved and revered bands of the late twentieth and early twenty first century.

A whole generation of young pickers views them as the model for what a bluegrass band should be—and who could argue. Stan Perkins makes no secret that Peck and the Hatchie Bottom Boys are his favorite bluegrass band and he has been heard to say, on more than one occasion, that he regards them among the best, most authentic West Tennessee music acts, of any genre, working today. He is particularly fond of Peck’s soaring vocals. Might the Hatchie Bottom Boys, or Buddy Bain and the Buddies, or the Dixie Hayriders, or the Pickwick Fishermen have succeeded without Peck Boggs? Maybe.

But I suspect that in each instance, the popularity of these bands can be traced, in large measure, to Peck’s deft hand with a guitar, the easy way he banters with an audience between tunes, and draws them into the music, and, of course, those golden pipes. As they say, lightening doesn't strike in the same place twice, let alone three or four times. So no, it’s not a coincidence that Peck has remained at the forefront of the regional music scene for an incredible 70 years.

He has played and sang his way through three distinct eras of American music and his continued relevance is clearly a byproduct of his formidable gifts as a musician, vocalist, and entertainer. And at 86 years old, he can still make that D-28 ring, he can still belt it out with the best of them, and he can still hold an audience in the palm of his hand. And are we ever grateful for all of those talents coming together in one man. I am deeply honored to induct Mr. Peck Boggs into the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame in the class of 2017