Carroll Best was a talented banjo player hailing from Haywood County, North Carolina. Tragically, his life was cut short when he was murdered by his brother Sam Best on May 8, 1995.
Best's journey with the banjo began at the tender age of five in 1936. He made his first public appearance five years later in 1941, performing at a square dance at Maggie Elementary School.
By the mid-1950s, Best had gained recognition within his community for his banjo playing, and his reputation extended beyond Haywood County. He became a regular performer at the annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville. During this period, he was invited to join the Morris Brothers, an Asheville-based duo who had been performing in Western North Carolina since the 1930s. The Morris Brothers, Wiley and Zeke, had collaborated with various banjo players, including notable figures such as Mainer, Scruggs, and Don Reno. Best accepted their invitation and performed alongside them in concerts, as well as on radio and television, including their show on WLOS-TV.
Best became a prominent competitor in banjo contests at regional music festivals, often achieving top honors at events such as Union Grove, Fiddlers Grove, the Asheville Folk Festival, and the Folk Festival of the Smokies. In the 1970s, he played semi-regularly with a band known as the Hornpipers, which later became the Carroll Best Band. This ensemble included several gifted musicians from Western North Carolina, such as banjo player Zack Allen, fiddler Mack Snoderly, and guitarist Danny Johnson. In 1982, they recorded Best's first album, "Pure Mountain Melodys," which highlighted his developed melodic three-finger banjo style. However, due to its release on the small Asheville-based Skyline Records, the album did not reach a wide audience.
In 1990, Best's remarkable skills gained broader recognition when he received the Lunsford Award at the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival at Mars Hill College. That same year, he was invited to join the faculty of the Tennessee Banjo Institute, an event held at Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Middle Tennessee. His performance at the institute, accompanied by guitarist Danny Johnson, introduced him to many banjo enthusiasts who had previously been unaware of his work. His unique banjo technique sparked discussions regarding his influence on the evolution of the melodic three-finger banjo style. Following this impactful debut, Best was invited back to the Tennessee Banjo Institute in 1992. In 1994, he earned the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award from the North Carolina Arts Council and was selected to perform on the Masters of the Banjo Tour, alongside renowned banjo players like Ralph Stanley and J. D. Crowe. This period also saw him appear on various radio programs, including the Grand Ole Opry and the Wolf Trap Folk Masters series, as well as on television shows like Hee Haw.
In 1993, Best and his band released a second album through Ivy Creek Recordings, which featured fiddling from his longtime friend Tommy Hunter. However, limited distribution hindered "The Carroll Best Band with Tommy Hunter" from being a breakthrough success.
The album that truly showcased Best's exceptional talent was "Say Old Man, Can You Play the Banjo?," released posthumously in 2001 and produced by Joe Wilson. This compilation featured a range of recordings from the 1970s to the early 1990s, including both previously released and unreleased tracks. Released on the Copper Creek label, "Say Old Man" solidified Best's reputation and underscored his significance as an innovative musical talent. The album positioned Best as a crucial link between old-time and bluegrass music, two genres that are deeply intertwined yet often overlooked in their connections. Additionally, the album sparked discussions about Best's contributions to the melodic three-finger banjo style. Listeners marveled at his instrumental approach, particularly in interpreting old-time fiddle tunes on the banjo. A subsequent 2014 release, "Carroll Best and The White Oak String Band," further illustrated his versatility in playing a variety of banjo styles. However, the recordings on "Say Old Man," spanning from the 1970s through the 1990s, suggested that Best had favored the melodic three-finger style for interpreting fiddle tunes since at least the early 1970s, if not earlier.
