Hall of Fame musician Jim Connor to perform in Mentone, Alabama

Musician best-known for 'Grandma's Feather Bed'

Jim Connor / Mentone Arts and Culture contributed photo
Jim Connor / Mentone Arts and Culture contributed photo

You might not recognize the name Jim Connor, but you know his music. Connor is best-known for his tune, "Grandma's Feather Bed," which was a hit for John Denver in the mid-1970s.

Hear Connor, a Bluegrass Hall of Fame banjo player and songwriter, sing the song when he plays a show in Mentone, Alabama, on Saturday, March 16. The show starts at 6 p.m. CST at the Mentone Art and Culture Center's temporary home, 5951 Alabama Highway 117 in Mentone.

Connor says his grandmother, Florence Setzer, was a major influence on his life and music. From the 1920s through the 1970s, she owned and ran Setzer's Boarding House in the Woodlawn area of Birmingham, Alabama. Many musicians frequented the boarding house. Connor visited often and enjoyed her nightly stories and traditional songs passed from generation to generation.

In 1964, at the Great Southern Folk Music Jamboree at the Alabama State Fair, Granny Florence, at age 86, brought the house down as she sang her Appalachian ballads accompanied by her grandson on banjo and guitar.

Connor was a member of the Kingston Trio from 1968 to 1973. Prior to that, he formed a duo with Richard Lockmiller, called R&J. They toured Europe, recorded an album in London and opened for Barbra Streisand's original New York nightclub show.

During that time on the road, Connor wrote many letters to family and friends. Years later, while cleaning out his banjo case, he found a letter recalling happy times with his eight cousins at granny's boarding house. He wrote about the feather bed they all slept upon and it inspired "Grandma's Feather Bed."

The singer-songwriter has appeared in specials with Dolly Parton, The Wayfarers, Judy Collins and John Denver. He has received multiple gold and platinum records for his songs. In 2018, he was inducted into the Alabama Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

Admission for this show is $10.

For more information: 256-674-3366.

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