Curly Seckler, Andy Griffith, Doc Watson, others inducted into N C Hall of Fame

By Karen Cimino Wilson, Independent Tribune, Concord, N.C.


Oct. 09--KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- The N.C. Music Hall of Fame, located in Kannapolis, inducted 13 music legends including Andy Griffith into its halls during a star-studded evening filled with memories and music.


The induction ceremony was held in the Core Lab of the North Carolina Research Campus Thursday night.


Griffith, who was inducted for his Gospel recordings, was too ill to attend.


Other performing artists inducted this year include: Maurice Williams, a recording artist from Charlotte who was best known for his 1960 Billboard No. 1 hit "Stay" recorded by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs; Donna Fargo, a popular country singer in the 1970s with crossover hits like "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." and "Funny Face;" Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, whose "Feudin' Banjos" was featured in the 1972 movie "Deliverance;" George Hamilton IV, a country recording artist originally from Winston-Salem, who was best known for his Billboard Country hit "Abilene;" Doc Watson who holds seven Grammys for his flat-picking bluegrass music; Curly Seckler, a 90-year-old bluegrass musician and singer from China Grove who has been performing for 75 years; Dr. Billy Taylor, a jazz pianist and composer from Greenville, N.C., who has performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis; and Shirley Caesar, a gospel recording artist from Durham who has 10 Grammys.



Seckler, who was born on Christmas Day in 1919, was also honored with proclamations from the N.C. General Assembly and Gov. Beverly Perdue. The 90-year-old kept the audience laughing with stories about growing up picking cotton on his parent's farm in China Grove and telling his mother he was going to quit.

Full report in The California Chronicle