Greer Man, Father of Bluegrass Gospel Remembered

Listed Sunday in "This Week in Religion History," posted each week by the Canadian Post, was a former Greer resident.

Carl Story may have died March 31, 1995, at the age of 78 in Greer, but his work hasn't been forgotten.

Known as the father of bluegrass gospel, Story was listed in an article on National Post Sunday, as the first to merge the traditional sound of bluegrass with church music.

He also is credited as one of the first people to record “Feudin’ Banjos" or "Mocking Banjos," later a hit in the 1972 movie Deliverance as “Dueling Banjos,” according to the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Ky.

Story, according to his biography on the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America, produced more than 65 gospel albums during his career. Listen to some of his music.

In 1934 after moving to Spartanburg, Story, a fiddler and vocalist, formed the "Rambling Mountaineers" with banjo player Johnnie Whisnant and guitarists Dudley Watson and Ed McMahan.

Story spent the last 30 years of his life in Greer, still touring with his band and also working as a DJ at WESC in Greenville.

Story died as a result of complications from heart surgery.

According to the International Bluegrass Music Museum, Story also was quite the baseball player. The museum's website said a line drive to Story's leg ended his career of playing professionally.