James Benton Flippen
July 18, 1920 – June 28, 2011
Benton Flippen was an influential fiddle player who was one of the last surviving notable old-timey musicians of his generation. Born into a long line of musically talented Flippens and raised in northeast North Carolina, Flippen first learned to play the banjo as a youngster, but switched to the fiddle after hearing one of his uncles play. His first regional band of note was the Green Valley Boys. During the late ’60s, he joined Camp Creek Boys, and eventually, the Smokey Valley Boys, with whom he played until 1985. The latter earned numerous awards and accolades during Flippen’s tenure. He was also a respected composer, having penned such tunes as “Fiddler’s Reel,” “Benton’s Dream,” and “Smokey Valley Breakdown.” Flippen continued to draw sizable crowds well into his golden years, even as recently as 2008 when he headlined an Old Time music convention at the age of 88. Benton Flippen was 90 when he passed away in hospice care on June 28, 2011.
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