By Victor M. Varner
Tears fell on Beaufort last week. Rest in peace, Beekman Lee Webb, Jr.
I landed in Beaufort August of 2004. It didn’t take long for me to start hearing the name Beek Webb. I looked at a house on Prince Street that had a slightly sagging floor toward the kitchen. I expressed concern, but the realtor told me Beek Webb would say “leave that floor alone.” That was the first time I heard his name.
Within weeks I was hired to lead a string band at St. Helena’s Episcopal Church. One of the musicians said, “would be great if we could get Beek Webb to play his mandolin.” I tried to reach out, but he didn’t return my call. However, I began to hear Beek’s name in more and more musical references, sometimes prefaced by “the legendary…”
I ran into a Charleston “legend” named Roger Bellow and he asked if I had played with Beek yet. I replied I hadn’t, but I felt myself becoming more curious … and somewhat intimidated.
Then my buddy Roland McIntosh (who taught with me at Beaufort High) said he was going to a “jam” at Beek’s house on Tuesday night and suggested I attend. I got up my courage and took my guitar into a little building on Beek’s property called the “Sunday School.”
I walked into a room containing about 12 musicians – fiddles, mandolins, banjos, guitars, harmonicas, and a washtub bass played by Beek’s cousin Alan Webb. I heard joyful music and found that I was able to follow along. Everyone there was encouraging and I noticed immediately that Beek was “holding court.” All the players looked to him for direction. His guidance was subtle, but commanded respect.
He was playing fiddle that night, and I noticed right away he was professional. The Tuesday night jams became a source of mental therapy for me as I was struggling to build a choral program at Beaufort High School. As timed passed I started to play a few solo acoustic gigs around town.
Then I got a call to play some tunes at the Rhett House Inn on New Year’s Eve. I sheepishly asked Beek if he’d do it with me and to my surprise he enthusiastically replied “yes.”
Thus began a 20-year journey playing restaurants, juke joints, churches, funerals, weddings, festivals, and assorted events. Some strange ones. We actually played for the grand opening of Roper Hospital’s new cardiac operating room in Charleston … in the operating room!
As well-known as he was for music, Beek was equally known and respected as a builder and THE authority on historic home restoration here in the Lowcountry. He was also an authority on ornithology, winning prizes for sightings in his youth. If you attended a party or event where Beek was present, you might have noticed a group of seven of eight people gathered around him just listening to him talk.
I once referred to Beek as my big brother. He shrugged off the comment, but the fact is he taught me so much about so many things. Beek’s passion for music and life will live on with so many souls fortunate enough to cross his path. I may have been just a blip on his musical screen, but our partnership and friendship will always be a highlight of my life.
(The video linked here is of Beek’s dog Capo, who is quite a singer, but prefers to sing only with Beek’s mandolin. That’s our friend David Dowling sitting nearby, and a glimpse of Cathy, Beek’s beloved wife. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qldtg6N3a5k )
Vic Varner is a professional musician and retired music educator. He lives in Beaufort.
