Early Life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York in 1941 and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker and a skilled fiddle and accordion player who often entertained local New York City dance halls. By age twelve Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced he dropped out of school at age sixteen. His mother, Mae, explained this action by saying that Rabbitt "was never one for school his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high school diploma after taking courses at night school.
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Famous quotes related to early life:
“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)