Bluegrass Pioneer Everett Lilly Gone at 87

Everett Lilly, the younger of The Lilly Brothers, passed away at his home at Clear Creek in Raleigh County on Tuesday.  He was 87.   Funeral arrangements are incomplete. The family has asked in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Everett Lilly Memorial Fund at City National Bank in Beckley.

Lilly was one of the pioneers of bluegrass music.  Along with is brother Bea who died in 2005, the Lilly Brothers began performing on Beckley radio station WJLS soon after World War II.  They moved on to perform in Wheeling and then Nashville.  During the 1950's they played with Flatt and Scruggs regularly on the Grand Ole Opry.

Historical Video Narrated by Carlton Haney

Bluegrass Country Soul an historical and documentary video produced in 1972 captures the sights, sounds, and magic of this three-day outdoor festival, the first of its kind, featuring bluegrass veterans and future stars alike sharing the primitive wood and cinder block stage. This documentary does more than just capture one of the largest bluegrass festivals of that decade, it's also an interesting mixture of live performances, interviews, impromptu jam sessions and crowd footage of live music set in a small town surrounded by the now long gone red clay and tobacco shacks of North Carolina.

This is the long version - 1 Hour and 20 Minutes -  see below for edited clip.