- DeFord Bailey
-
DeFord Bailey 
Bailey in the 1970sBackground information Born December 14, 1899
Smith County, Tennessee, United StatesDied July 2, 1982 (aged 82)[1]
Nashville, TN [2]Genres Country Occupations Musician Instruments Harmonica Years active 1920s–1941 Labels Victor, Bluebird, RCA DeFord Bailey (December 14, 1899 – July 2, 1982) was an American country music star from the 1920s until 1941, and the first performer on the Grand Ole Opry. Bailey played several instruments but is best known for his harmonica tunes.
Contents
Career
A grandson of slaves,[3] Bailey was born near the Bellwood community in Smith County, Tennessee,[4][5] and learned to play the harmonica at the age of three[3][5] when he contracted polio (or as it was called at the time 'infantile paralysis').[5] During his year-long confinement to bed he developed his distinctive style of playing.[6] In 1918, he moved to Nashville performing locally as an amateur. His first documented radio appearance was June 19, 1926 on WSM in Nashville. On December 10, 1927, he premiered his trademark number, "Pan American Blues" on a show then known as the "WSM Barn Dance". At that time "Barn Dance" aired after NBC's classical music show, the "Music Appreciation Hour". While introducing Bailey, WSM station manager and announcer George D. Hay exclaimed on-air: “For the past hour, we have been listening to music largely from Grand Opera, but from now on, we will present ‘The Grand Ole Opry.’”[4]
Bailey also had several records issued in 1927-1928, all of them harmonica solos. In 1927 he recorded for Brunswick records in New York City,[7][8] while in 1928 he recorded eight sides[2] for Victor in Nashville,[7][8] of which three were issued on several labels, including Victor, Bluebird and RCA. Emblematic of the ambiguity of Bailey's position as a recording artist is the fact his arguably greatest recording, John Henry, was released separately in both RCA's 'race' and 'hillbilly' series.[9]
THC marker near Bailey's birthplace in Smith County
Bailey was a pioneer member of the WSM Grand Ole Opry, and one of its most popular performers, appearing on the program from 1927 to 1941.[10] During this period he toured with many major country stars, including Uncle Dave Macon, Bill Monroe, and Roy Acuff.[11] Like other black stars of his day traveling in the South and West, he faced many difficulties in finding food and accommodation because of the discriminatory Jim Crow laws.[12]
Bailey was fired by WSM in 1941 because of a licensing conflict with BMI-ASCAP, which prevented him from playing his best known tunes on the radio.[13] This effectively ended his performance career, and he spent the rest of his life shining shoes and renting out rooms in his home to make a living. Though he continued to play the harp, he almost never performed publicly. One of his rare appearances occurred in 1974, when he agreed to make one more appearance on the Opry. This became the occasion for the Opry's first annual Old Timers' Show.[4] He died on July 2, 1982 in Nashville. [2][14] and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery there.[15]
In 2005, Nashville Public Television produced the documentary DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost.[16] The documentary was broadcast nationally through PBS. Later that year, Bailey was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on November 15, 2005. Joining him in the 2005 class were country-pop superstar Glen Campbell and the band Alabama.[10] On June 27, 2007, the DeFord Bailey Tribute Garden was dedicated at the George Washington Carver Food Park in Nashville.[17] The Encyclopedia of Country Music called him "the most significant black country star before World War II." [18]
References
- ^ Morton, Page 5
- ^ a b c "Grand Ole Opry Legend DeFord Bailey, 82, Dead". JET 62 (21): 53. August 2, 1982. http://books.google.com/books?id=DLgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ a b Johnston, Allen (March 1, 2011). "A Black Star In Early Country Music". BlackHistory.Com. http://blackhistory.com/cgi-bin/blog.cgi?blog_id=196505&cid=10. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Deford Bailey". Country Music Hall of Fame. http://countrymusichalloffame.org/full-list-of-inductees/view/deford-bailey. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
- ^ a b c Morton, David C.; Charles K. Wolfe (1993). Deford Bailey: A Black Star in Early Country Music. University of Tennessee Press. p. 15. http://books.google.com/books?id=M0TaNRD87bgC&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Deford Bailey: Legend Lost(Early Years), Nashville Public Television, 2002, http://www.pbs.org/deford/biography/early.html, retrieved 23 August 2010
- ^ a b Tosches, Nick (1996). Country: the twisted roots of rock 'n' roll. Da Capo Press. p. 213. http://books.google.com/books?id=VpeGEPCKsesC&pg=PA213.
- ^ a b Oliver, Paul (2009). Barrelhouse blues: location recording and the early traditions of the blues. Basic Books. p. 97. http://books.google.com/books?id=bZzhGr0rIgAC&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Morton, Page 58
- ^ a b CMA Press Release 2005 Hall of Fame, 29 August 2005, http://www.thealabamaband.com/HallOfFame.html, retrieved 23 August 2010
- ^ Morris, Edward (May 1, 2002). "DeFord Bailey Documentary to Air May 7". CMT.Com. http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1453654/deford-bailey-documentary-to-air-may-7.jhtml. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Oermann, Robert K. (2008). "The Harmonica Wizard (Chapter 30)". Behind the Grand Ole Opry Curtain: Tales of Romance and Tragedy. Hachette Digital. http://books.google.com/books?id=4UkNI_M-H0cC&pg=PT228#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Morton, David C.; Charles K. Wolfe (1993). "Chapter 10, They Turned Me Loose to Root Hog or Die". Deford Bailey: A Black Star in Early Country Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 121-130.
- ^ "DeFord Bailey (Timeline)". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/deford/timeline/index.html. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Wolfe, Charles K. (December 25, 2009). "Deford Bailey (1899-1982)". The Tennessee Encyclopedia. The University of Tennessee Press (originally published by the Tennessee Historical Society, 1998). http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=50. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ "DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/deford/. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
- ^ "DeFord Bailey honored with Tribute Garden". Earth Matters. 15 June 2007. http://www.earthmattersnetworks.com/#/deford-bailey-garden/4518191398. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ^ Rumble, John (2004). Paul Kingsbury. ed. The encyclopedia of country music: the ultimate guide to the music. Oxford University Press. p. 37. http://books.google.com/books?id=untabCgOVkgC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
Sources
- Komara, Edward (ed.) (2006), Encyclopedia of the Blues, Routledge
- Morton, David C. & Wolfe, Charles K. (1993), Deford Bailey: A Black Star in Early Country Music. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0-87049-792-8.
- Morton, David C. (1998), "DeFord Bailey," in The Encyclopedia of Country Music
- PBS DeFord Bailey Documentary
External links
Categories:- 1899 births
- 1982 deaths
- African American musicians
- American country harmonica players
- American country guitarists
- American banjoists
- Grand Ole Opry members
- Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Musicians from Tennessee
- People from Smith County, Tennessee
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
