re: I want to live in Mayberry

CSB: my uncle was Andy’s best friend during their UNC days in the late 1940s. They had a nightclub act where Andy would sing and tell stories while my uncle played piano. They spent a couple of summers performing The Lost Colony. Here’s a pic of part of the cast in ‘47 or ‘48 - Andy is obviously the guy in the armor on the left, my uncle is on the right with his arm around an apparently startled woman in Native American garb



They parted ways when my uncle decided to try his hand performing on Broadway and Andy recorded “What It Was, Was Football”, which became a huge novelty hit and sent him on his path to stardom.

They remained friends until my uncle’s death in 1991. Andy invited him to make guest appearances on TAGS and later Matlock but my uncle never took him up on it, preferring the stage to TV or film.