Hoke Rice

Hoke Rice ( January 8, 1909 - May 26, 1974 ) was an American old-time musician and guitarist . Rice was the leader of several bands during the 1930s.

Life

Childhood and youth

Hoke Rice was born in Hall County in 1909 about 50 miles from Atlanta , Georgia . Four years later, Rice's brother Paul was born, with whom he would later spend most of his career. Her father repaired shoe soles a week; on weekends he worked in the local church. Rice had inherited his musical talent from his mother, who played the banjo and introduced her sons to music. After their parents' divorce in 1920, the brothers lived with their mother and stepfather in different villages in Georgia.

Career

In the mid-1920s, the two brothers made contact with the local and very active music scene in Atlanta. Hoke played on recordings of various musicians such as Lowe Stokes and Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers , he also toured the country with stretch, while Brother Paul appeared on the WSB program and made recordings with Fiddlin 'John Carson and Gid Tanner . In 1930 Rice made his first solo recordings for Brunswick Records and Paramount Records .

In the early 1930s, Hoke Rice was a member of the band Carolina Tarheels , with whom he performed at WSB until 1934. The band was very popular with the listeners and forced another band from Doc Walsh , also called The Carolina Tar Heels , to change their name to Original Carolina Tar Heels . Around 1934, Rice teamed up with his brother Paul and traveled the United States together as The Rice Brothers . You worked on radio stations in Cincinnati , Ohio ; Roanoke , Virginia ; Washington, DC and Shreveport , Louisiana . For some time they also performed at the Village Barn Dance in New York City .

You Are My Sunshine , 1939

In 1937 Hoke and Paul Rice returned to Atlanta, where they again mainly worked for the various radio stations WSB, WAGA and WGST. They made their fame primarily through these appearances. During this time her group got reinforcement by various other musicians and they called themselves the Rice Brothers Gang . With a saxophonist , however, the group turned more to western swing . In 1929 the brothers moved to Shreveport, where they regularly listened to the KWKH station. They performed in the Saturday Night Round-Up that was held in nearby cities. At the same time, Hoke and Paul made the acquaintance of Jimmie Davis , a country musician and later governor of Louisiana. Paul Rice wrote a song he called You Are My Sunshine . He sold the songwriting rights to Davis and his partner Charles Mitchell for $ 35 because he needed the money badly. Davis made the song a hit, but Paul Rice did not receive a single dollar as he had surrendered all rights.

On September 13, 1939, the brothers recorded the song for Decca Records in New York. More than 50 other tracks were recorded for Decca in the next period, including Marie , On the Sunny Side of the Street , Mood Indigo and Yes! We have no bananas .

End of career

When World War II broke out in 1941 , Hoke and Paul were drafted into the army. After they were released, both of them had regular jobs. Hoke Rice lived in Shreveport until his death in 1974. Paul initially worked as a musician in Chicago , later moving back to Atlanta, where he became a member of the TV Wranglers . He retired from the music business in 1960 and died in 1988.

Hoke and Paul Rice were inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

Discography

year	title	Remarks
Paramount Records
1929	Way Down South by the Sea / I'm Lonely and Blue
1929	Chinese Breakdown / Macon, Georgia, Breakdown	with the Southern String Band
1929	Ain't That Kind of a Cat Yodel / Down In A Southern Town Yodel
Brunswick Records
1930	Wabash Blues / Put On Your Old Gray Bonnett	with the Hoky Poky Boys
1930	I Don't Love Nobody / Georgia Gal	with the Hoky Poky Boys
Decca Records
1939	King Cotton Stomp (Everybody Loves My Baby) / Sweet Someone
	On The Jericho Road / I Love My Savior
	Sugar Blues / Marie
	Be Careful With Those Eyes / Mood Indigo
	My Idea Of Heaven / On The Sunny Side of the Street
	You Tell Her 'Cause I Stutter / Hold Me
	When I'm Walkin 'With My Sweetness / China Boy
	Cheatin 'On Your Baby / Ain't That Too Bad
	You Got That Thing / Do Something
	Won't You Come Back To Me / Alabama Jubilee Shuffle
	They Cut Down The Old Pine Tree / Down Yonder
	Lovelight In The Starlight / You Are My Sunshine
	I Wish You Were Jealous Of Me / Japanese Sandman
	At The Close Of A Long Day / I Cried For You
	Is It True What They Say About Dixie? / Oh Susannah
	Nagasaki / You Gotta See Daddy Ev'ry Day
	Shanty In Old Shanty Town / It Made You Happy
	Sally Do You Love Me / Sweetheart Wait For Me
	Below The Rio Grande / No Matter What Happens My Darling
	Yes We Have No Bananas / When It's Blossom Time In Old Kentucky
	You'll Only Have One Mother / Hurry Johnny Hurry
	Mary Lou / My Sweetheart Darling
	I Won't Have Any Troubles / Girl Of My Dreams
	My Carolina Sunshine Girl / You Don't Love Me Anymore
	Do you? / Railroad Boomers
	Little Girl, I'm So Blue Without You / Riding Down The Canyon
	Dry Your Eyes Little Girl / Linda May Polka
	Please Don't Stay Away / I'll Always Love You

Web links

• The Rice Brothers on Hillbilly-Music.com
• Entry in the All Music Guide