Perry Bechtel

Young Perry Bechtel with his banjo. The Virginia Entertainers 1925, at Miami Grove Dausant Perry Bechtel Perry Bechtel and Eddie Peabody jamming with the Yaarab Shrine Banjo Band

Perry Bechtel with his talent and technical skill was known as �The Man with 10,000 Fingers.� He had an uncanny musical sense and a fantastically nimble set of fingers that enabled him to make the banjo sound like a full orchestra.

Born in Pennsylvania, Perry Bechtel was attracted to the banjo as a boy by the recordings of Fred van Eps. But it was while serving in the U.S. Navy in 1920 that he heard the recordings of banjoist Mike Pingatore of the Paul Whiteman Dance Orchestra and began to play mandolin and then tenor banjo. After his discharge in 1922, he learned to play plectrum banjo and began playing professionally. In 1924 he followed Eddie Peabody into the Phil Spitalny Band and the Victor Recording Orchestra.

In 1928 he settled in Atlanta, Georgia, and began teaching guitar, mandolin and banjo. He also worked at radio station WGN, did musical arrangements, promotional programs for General Motors, recorded with his own band and played as many club dates as possible. Then as musical styles changed, he began playing guitar for most of his professional activities.

In 1958 RCA asked Bechtel to record a banjo album with Chet Atkins playing accompanying guitar. This album remains the standard by which all other banjo playing is judged in terms of chord melody, arpeggiandi, single string technique, knee mute effects, moving harmony and internal melody. The record-selling album ignited a renewed interest in banjo literature. He taught, attended banjo festivals and continued active performance until the end of his life. He was an overwhelming influence on banjo playing worldwide.