Pie Plant Pete and Bashful Harmonica Joe

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Pie Plant Pete and Bashful Harmonica Joe
General information
Genre (s) Country music , old-time
founding 1936
Founding members
Pie Plant Pete
Bashful Harmonica Joe

Pie Plant Pete and Bashful Harmonica Joe was an American country and old-time duo . They became very popular , especially over the radio in the southern states .

Career

Pie Plant Pete

Hand Me Down My Walking Cane , ca.1929

Pie Plant Pete was born Claude Moye on July 9, 1906 in Shawneetown , Illinois . As a child he showed an interest in music and learned to play the guitar and harmonica. At the age of 20 he left his parents' farm and moved to Chicago , hoping to start a career as a musician there. In May 1927 he played for the radio station WLS, which hired Pie Plant Pete as a musician. WLS was a successful broadcaster at the time, and Pete was given the opportunity to appear in the famous National Barn Dance . During this time Pete made his first recordings for Gennett Records . Later songs were also released on Decca Records .

After several years at WLS, Pete received an offer from WTAM of Cleveland , Ohio , which he accepted. He got his stage name "Pie Plant Pete" from the program directors of WLS. Pete later said he chose the name because it was "difficult to pronounce but easy to remember". His popularity with WTAM continued to grow, and CBS broadcast his show nationwide. In addition, he can now also be heard on other channels such as WEAF in New York City .

Bashful Harmonica Joe

Joseph "Joe" Troyan was from Pleasant City , Ohio, where he grew up on a farm. He bought his first harmonica as a child and when he was 16 the family moved to Cleveland. There he took part in a talent competition and was later given his own slot on a local radio station. In May 1932 Joe was also hired for one of the first television broadcasts from Cleveland.

When the duo Lum and Abner needed a harmonica player for their group, Joe joined in and was henceforth heard with the duo on their show. For a while he toured the south with old-time star Bradley Kincaid .

Joint career

Pete and Joe met in the summer of 1936. Joe had just taken a few days off when Pete asked him to do some gigs together. The concerts were so successful that they both got a joint show at WBZ in Boston . In 1938 the duo could be heard every day on WHAM in Rochester , New York .

Pete joined the US Army in 1939 but was briefly released because he was too old. Joe was drafted in 1942 and served in the US Air Force , but was able to do his military service in the US, where he entertained other soldiers with his music. During this time he was stationed in Las Vegas and met stars of the time like Gene Autry .

After Joe was released, the duo reunited and performed at WJW in Cleveland. From 1946 they were also on tour with Al Hendershot, Salt & Peanuts and Slim Carter . In the following years they continued to travel through the east and south of the United States and made their first recordings for Process Records of Franklin , Pennsylvania . Between 1950 and 1954, the duo lived in Detroit , Michigan , where they could be heard on WJR and made other appearances. Joe made recordings in 1957 for King Records under the pseudonym "Bobby Grove".

Pie Plant Pete could be heard on the radio (WEBQ) until the early 1970s. He died on February 7, 1988 at the age of 81. Bashful Harmonica Joe died on June 21, 2000 at the age of 88.

plant

The duo never managed to gain a foothold in the record business, although Pie Plant Pete made a notable number of recordings for Gennett and other labels such as Supertone Records and Mel-O-Tone Records in the late 1920s . In contrast, the guitar virtuoso Les Paul claimed to have been heavily influenced by Pete. While Pete was at WLS, Paul was still in his teens and listened to the radio regularly.

Bashful Harmonica Joe was inducted into the Broadcaster's Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio in 1991. Together with Pie Plant Pete, he is considered a pioneer in the radio business. In 2005 Cattle Records released the album Sing & Play Their Hillbilly Favorites with the Process recordings.

Discography

Pie Plant Pete:

year title # Remarks
Decca Records
I'll Remember You Love Me In My Prayers / Goodbye My Lover, Goodbye 5014
Going Down The Road / Rosalee 5030
Mel-O-Tone Records
Little Mohee / The Lake of Ponchartrain 35-10-14
Montgomery Ward
1929 (?) Hand Me Down My Walking Cane / When The Work's All Done This Fall 4987
Supertone Records
When The Work's All Done This Fall / Boston Burglar 9351
Asleep at the Switch / Ben Tucker Reel 9405
The Ocean Waves / Nutty Song 9652
Melody of Old Familiar Tunes, Part 1 / Melody of Old Familiar Tunes, Part 2 9667
Oh Jailer Bring Back That Key / Waiting For The Railroad Train 9668
Sand Will Do It / The Farmer Song 9669
You'll Find Her with the Angels / Lighting Express 9701
Roving Gambler / Good Old Turnip Greens 9712
Lakes of Ponchartrain / Little Brown Jug 9717
Process records
The Story Has Ended / Down By The Railroad Tracks 512
You Go To Church and I'll Go To Mine / I'm Gonna Ride That Train to Heaven 514
I Miss You Sweetheart / Over Yonder, Over There 520
Come Back To My Heart / You Wouldn't Know The Whitewashed Stable Now 521

Bashful Harmonica Joe:

year title # Remarks
King Records
1957 Show Me / I Saw Her First 5027 as "Bobby Grove"

As a duo:

year title # Remarks
Process records
1946 The Rooster Serenade / My Blue Skies Have Turned To Gray Skies 508
Boy, Am I Glad / I'm Going To Take My Linda Home To Stay 509
That Mother-In-Law / Goodbye My Lover, Goodbye 513 A-side only from Pie Plant Pete
Winding / Tritzem Yodel 515
Gonna Have a Big Time Tonight / Railroad Blues-Barnyard Blues 516 A-side only from Pie Plant Pete
Shadows of Night / Bury Me Beneath The Willow 522 A-side only from Pie Plant Pete

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