Dr. Humphrey Bate and his Possum Hunters

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Dr. Humphrey Bate and his Possum Hunters
General information
Genre (s) Old-time music
founding before 1920
Founding members
Humphrey Bate
AC Womack
Sewall "Rabbit" Chenault
(First name unknown) Womack
PD "Boss" Belote
Occupation 1925
Harmonica, vocals
 Humphrey Bate
Fiddle
 Oscar Stone
Fiddle
 WJ "Bill" Barrett
banjo
 Walter Leggett
guitar
 Staley Walton
Oscar Albright

Dr. Humphrey Bate and his Possum Hunters was an American string band . Bate and his old-time orchestra (as it was called by WSM ) were among the early stars of the Grand Ole Opry .

Career

The harmonica player Humphrey Bate was in Castalian Springs, on May 25, 1875 Tennessee born and received his doctorate in physics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville . Even before he began performing with his band, Bate acquired knowledge of traditional Appalachian music that few other artists of his time possessed. Bate called the first form of the Possum Hunters the Augmented Orchestra . Although the line-up changed from time to time, before 1920 AC Womack, Sewall Chenault, another musician named Womack and PD Belote played in the band. Already at that time the band was clearly influenced by the traditional old-time music of Tennessee, which was far quieter than, for example, the wild dance music of the Skillet Lickers from Georgia .

As early as 1924, Bate and his group appeared on the radio stations WSM and WDAD in Nashville. For a benefit concert in favor of the Nashville Police, they also appeared on a one-off radio show in the Ryman Auditorium , later home of the Grand Ole Opry , with Uncle Dave Macon . When the Opry, then called WSM Barn Dance, first went on air in November 1925, Bate and his string orchestra were invited to perform in a few shows. George D. Hay , the show's producer and presenter, requested that the Augmented Orchestra be renamed The Possum Hunters to create a backwoodslove and more authentic feel. At the time, the group consisted of Bate (harmonica), his son Buster, daughter Alcyone, Burt Hutcherson, Walter Leggett, Oscar Stone, Staley Walton and Oscar Albright.

The appearances in the Opry made Bate and the Possum Hunters very popular. In March 1928, the new fame helped the group to a session for Brunswick Records and Vocalion Records in Atlanta , Georgia, but Bates' daughter Alcyone was not present. The songs were a mix of traditional old-time pieces like Billy in the Low Ground , Run Nigger Run or Green Back Dollar Bill and titles with stereotypes about the rural population ( Throw the Old Cow Over the Fence , Ham Beats All Meat ). This was George D. Hay's strategy, who wanted to see his committed groups like that and demanded that Bate and the Possum Hunters perform in farmer clothing, although they usually always played in suits (which, incidentally, is what many of the authentic, actually from the country musicians also did). The recordings for Brunswick Records remained Bates' only records.

The Possum Hunters continued to appear regularly in the Opry in the years that followed, under Bate's direction. Bate died on June 12, 1936, after which Fiddler Oscar Stone led the band until the late 1940s, after which Bate's daughter Alcyone took over the line. In the 1960s, the Possum Hunters teamed up with the Crook Brothers , another Opry group, until they were dissolved .

Discography

year title # Remarks
Brunswick Records
1928 Going Up Town / How Many Biscuits Can You Eat? 232
1928 Eight of January / Billy in the Low Ground 239
1928 Dill Pickle Rag / Take Your Foot Out of the Mud 243
My Wife Died on Saturday Night / Old Joe 271
Run Nigger Run / Green Backed Dollar Bill 275
Vocalion Records
Throw The Old Cow Over the Fence / Ham Beats All Meat 5238

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