Riley Puckett
George Riley Puckett (born May 7, 1894 in Alpharetta , Georgia , † July 14, 1946 in East Point , Georgia) was an American old-time musician and guitarist . He is considered one of the most important musicians and guitarists of the 1920s and 1930s. He is arguably the most famous guitarist in hillbilly music , and he was best known for his distinctive guitar playing.
Life
Childhood and youth
Riley Puckett, who was not blind from birth , grew up in Alpharetta. He likely went blind as a result of a medical accident during his childhood. Puckett showed musical talent early on. He went to the Macon School for the Blind and learned the banjo first , followed by the piano and the guitar , on which he developed an incomparable style. In his youth, Puckett was also represented at fiddle competitions such as the Atlanta Fiddler's Conventions .
Beginnings
1922 completed Puckett together with Clayton McMichen and his Hometown Band at the radio station WSB in Atlanta his first public appearance. He soon became one of the station's most popular musicians and began performing as a soloist. With the mandolinist Ted Hawkins and the fiddler Lowe Stokes , he joined McMichen's Hometown Boys. He was already known on the radio as Ball Mountain Caruso and yodelled his way into the hearts of listeners. In addition to Moonshine Kate and her father Fiddlin 'John Carson , Puckett was one of the first musicians to appear on WSB, which significantly contributed to the success of the station. The station was the first in the southern United States to go on air in 1922 and was accordingly heard often. During this time he also played as a member of the Hapeville String Band on the station's program.
Career
In 1924 he accompanied his friend Gid Tanner to New York City to Columbia Records . Tanner and Puckett met in Atlanta the same year after Tanner moved there. The two now played their first records in Columbia Studios . Puckett recorded Fiddlin 'John Carson's Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane , Steamboat Bill and Rock All Our Babies to Sleep , among others . These were the first known recordings in which blue yodeling , a modified form of alpine yodeling , was used. Puckett also accompanied Tanner during his recordings on the guitar. The records sold extremely well due to the "hillbilly boom" of the time.
In 1925 a second session followed in New York, where, among others, Oh Susanna and You'll Never Miss Your Mother 'Til She's Gone were recorded. During these recordings, Puckett accompanied himself on the banjo. He became Columbia's most successful artist alongside Vernon Dalhart . After a year, Puckett was able to use the income from his photos to buy a new Ford Model T with Puckett's name on the side. With this car Puckett covered the distances to his appearances and to New York. He was driven by his musical partner and friend Ted Hawkins.
A car accident with his Ford temporarily interrupted his career. Ted Hawkins, who was also involved in the accident, was hospitalized for six months. During his stay in hospital, Puckett met his future wife, Blanche Bailey, whom he married on May 18, 1925. In 1930 a daughter was born. However, the marriage did not stay harmonious for long, and the two separated before Puckett's death.
In 1925 he founded the band Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers with Gid Tanner, Clayton McMichen and Fate Norris , where he worked as a guitarist and singer. With the group, he would become one of the first early stars of hillbilly music over the next few years. Puckett can be heard as a singer on almost all recordings, except for a few where Tanner did this part. In 1926 Puckett also had his first big hit as a soloist. When You're Gone I Won't Forget , actually a country-style ballad played by Puckett, sold over 50,000 copies and his subsequent releases were hugely successful. Other hits were Ida Red (1927) and Red River Valley , which he recorded with Hugh Cross . Puckett continued to work with Cross in the following years, sometimes under the name The Alabama Barnstormers .
Puckett had become one of the most successful musicians of his time, as evidenced by an incident that, according to Jimmie Rodgers , should have happened as follows: In the spring of 1928 - Rodgers had just had his first big hit with the Blue Yodel No.1 - he agreed with the A&R manager Frank Walker auditioned for Columbia in Atlanta as he was dissatisfied with RCA Victor . Walker listened patiently to Rodgers' guitar playing and singing, then turned to his assistant, Bill Brown, and said, “ We don't need Jimmie Rodgers. We've got Riley Puckett. "(" We don't need Jimmie Rodgers. We have Riley Puckett, ").
In 1931 the Skillet Lickers split due to an internal dispute. Despite the global economic crisis and the depression in America Puckett's career was not affected. As a soloist, he continued to have high record sales. In 1932 he played under a pseudonym with Clayton McMichen his greatest success My Carolina Home , which sold 260,000 copies. After the separation of the Skillet Lickers, he toured with Clayton McMichen and his Georgia Wildcats , with Bert Layne and with Red Jones , he recorded various records, including I Only Want a Buddy, Not a Sweetheart and the St. Louis Blues . On his later records he is often accompanied on the mandolin by Ted Hawkins. In 1934 the Skillet Lickers found themselves again with a partly new line-up and played their last titles in San Antonio , Texas . Puckett was guitarist again and also released some singles with Gid Tanner. From 1936 he toured the southern states with "Daddy" John Love and Bert Layne and founded his own tent show. He then traveled to New York for the last time to record records with Red Jones, including Altoona Train Wreck , Bring Me Back to My Carolina Home and The Broken Engagement . Until 1940 he no longer entered a recording studio. In his penultimate session he recorded a few pop tracks, including South Of The Border , which was also recorded by Gene Autry and the Sons of the Pioneers . In his last session, Puckett recorded three more tracks, the last three of his life. Until his death, Puckett appeared on the radio with the Stone Mountain Boys and was a member of the Tennessee Barn Dance for a year .
Riley Puckett died on July 14, 1946, at the age of 52, of complications from blood poisoning. He was inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame posthumously in 1982 and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1986 .
Discography
| year | title | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Records | |||
| 1924 | Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane / Rock All Our Babies to Sleep | as George Riley Puckett | |
| 1924 | Buckin 'Mule / Hen Cackle | with Gid Tanner | |
| 1924 | Casey Jones / Steamboat Bill | as George Riley Puckett | |
| 1924 | Alabama Gal, Give That Fiddler a Dam / Black Eyed Susie | with Gid Tanner | |
| 1924 | Johnson's Old Gray Mule / Chicken Don't Roost Too Big for Me | with Gid Tanner | |
| 1924 | Sleep Baby Sleep / Strawberries | as George Riley Puckett | |
| 1924 | You'll Never Miss Your Mother 'Till She's Gone / Just As the Sun Went Down | ||
| 1924 | Sourwood Mountain / Cumberland Gap | with Gid Tanner | |
| 1924 | Bile Dem Cabbage Down / Fiddler's Convention in Georgia, Part 2 | ||
| 1924 (?) | Let Me Be Your Sweetheart / Silver Threads Among the Gold | ||
| 1924 | Spanish Cavalier / Swanee River | A-side taken on September 12, 1924, origin of Love Letters in the Sand | |
| 1924 | We'll Sow Righteous Seed for the Reeper / Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight | ||
| 1924 | Old Black Joe / When You and I Were Young, Mary | ||
| 1924 | Oh Susanna / Liza Jane | B-side as George Riley Puckett | |
| 1924 | Burglar Man / When I Had But Fifty Cents | ||
| 1924 | Always Think of Mother / Down by the Mississippi Shore | with Richard Brooks | |
| 1924 | Old Joe Clark / Jesse James | ||
| 1925 | Drunkard's Dream / Just Break the News to Mother | ||
| 1925 | I Wish I Was Single Again / It's Simply to Flirt | ||
| 1925 (?) | Whoa Mule / Railroad Bill | ||
| 1925 | The Preacher and the Bear / Long Tongue Woman | ||
| 1925 | Boston Burglar / Orphan Girl | ||
| 1925 | When I'm Gone, You'll Soon Forget / When You're Gone, I Won't Forget | ||
| 1925 | Down by the Old Mill Stream / Won't You Come Over to My House | ||
| 1925 | I'll Never Get Drunk Anymore / You're Be Surprised | ||
| 1925 | To Wed You in the Golden Summertime / Hello Central, Give Me Heaven | ||
| 1925 | Send Back My Wedding Ring / Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie | ||
| 1926 | Wal I Swan / Everbody Works But Father | ||
| 1926 | Rock-A-Bye Baby / Sauerkraut | ||
| 1926 | I'm Drifting Back to Dreamland / My Carolina Home | B-side with Bob Nichols | |
| 1926 | Sally Goodwin / Ida Red | ||
| 1926 | Put My Little Shoes Away / Take Me Back to My Carolina | ||
| 1926 | Underneath the Mellow Moon / Ring Waltz | with Bob Nichols | |
| 1926 | Jack and Jill / Down in Arkansas | ||
| 1927 | Till We Meet Again / I'm Forever Blowing Bubble | with Bob Nichols | |
| 1927 | Fuzzy Rag / The Darkey's Wail | ||
| 1927 | Little Log Cabin in the Lane / Sleep Baby Sleep | ||
| 1927 | Alabama Gal / Fire on the Mountain | ||
| 1927 (?) | My Puppy Bud / My Poodle Dog | ||
| 1927 | Let the Rest of the World Go By / That Old Irish Mother of Mine | with Bob Nichols | |
| 1927 | Red River Valley / When You Wore a Tulip | with Hugh Cross | |
| 1927 | In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree / My Blue Ridge Mountain Queen | with Bob Nichols | |
| 1927 | Come Be My Rainbow / Red Wing | ||
| 1928 | Blue Yodel / Mama Don't Allow No Low Down Riders Here | Original Blue Yodel by Jimmie Rodgers | |
| 1928 | Where the Morning Glories Grow / My Wild Irish Rose | with Hugh Cross | |
| 1928 | Little Maumee / Breeze | ||
| 1928 | Old Molly Hare / Slim Gal | with Clayton McMichen | |
| 1928 | Trail of the Lonesome Pine / Neath the Old Apple Tree | A-side with Bob Nichols; B-side with Clayton McMichen | |
| 1928 | Away out on the Mountain / Moonshiner's Dream | ||
| 1928 | Call Me Back Pal of Mine / Clover Blossoms | with Hugh Cross | |
| 1928 | Dear Old Dixieland / When the Mapple Leaves Are Falling | with Bob Nichols | |
| 1928 | Bill Johnson / Paddy, Won't You Drink Some Cider? | with Clayton McMichen | |
| 1928 | I'm Going to Georgia / On the Other Side of Jordan | ||
| 1928 | I'm Going Where the Chilli Winds Blow / Don't Try for It Can't Be Done | ||
| 1929 | Carolina Moon / Will You Ever Think of Me | ||
| 1929 | Waiting for a Train / I'm up in the Air About Mary | Waiting for a Train by Jimmie Rodgers | |
| 1929 | Tuck Me to Sleep / Go Feather Your Nest | with Hugh Cross | |
| 1929 | McKinley / Don't Let Your Deal Go Down | Don't Let Your Deal Go Down by Charlie Poole | |
| 1929 | Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight / I'm Going to Settle Down | with Hugh Cross | |
| 1929 | Tell Me / Smiles | with Hugh Cross | |
| 1929 | Dissatisfied / Frankie and Johnny | ||
| 1929 | McMichen's Reel / Rye Straw | with Clayton McMichen | |
| 1930 | Dark Town Strutters Ball / Nine Hundred Miles from Home | ||
| 1930 | Cumberland Valley Waltz / Done Gone | with Clayton McMichen | |
| 1930 | Ramblin 'Boy / Waiting for the Evenin' Mail | ||
| 1930 | Billy in the Low Ground / Sally Johnson | with Lowe Stokes | |
| 1930 | Moonlight on the Colorado / Somewhere in Old Wyoming | ||
| 1930 | Prohibition Yes or No / Prohibition Yes or No # 2 | A-side with Lowe Stokes; B-side of Clayton McMichen's Melody Men | |
| 1930 (?) | The Arkansas Sheik / The Farmer's Daughter | with Clayton McMichen | |
| 1930 | Paw's Old Mule / There's a Hard Time Coming | ||
| 1931 | Twenty One Years / All Bound Down Prison | ||
| 1931 | Careless Love / East Bound Train | ||
| 1931 (?) | Lost Love / Saxophone Waltz | A-side with Bill Helms; B-side with Coley Jones | |
| Bluebird Records | |||
| 1934 | Old Spinning Wheel / Waiting for the Evenin 'Mail | ||
| 1934 | KC Railroad / My Carolina Home | ||
| 1934 | Kimball Blues / Hop Light Ladies | with Ted Hawkins | |
| 1934 | I'm Drifting Back to Dreamland / Carless Love | ||
| 1934 | Ragged But Right / I'm Getting Ready to Go | ||
| 1934 | My Renfro Valley Home / Wednesday Night Waltz | ||
| 1934 | My Renfro Valley Home / Wednesday Night Waltz | Republication | |
| 1934 | Tanner's Boarding House / On Tanner's Farm | with Gid Tanner | |
| 1934 | Lost Love / I Only Want a Buddy | ||
| 1934 | Down in the Valley / Zelma | with Ted Hawkins | |
| 1934 | Saxophone Blues / Puckett Blues | ||
| 1934 | I'm Satisfied / Three Nights Drunk | with Gid Tanner | |
| 1934 | Four Day Blues / Just as We Used to Do | ||
| 1934 | Chain Gang Blues / George Collins | ||
| 1935 | Isle of Capri / Roll Back the Carpet | ||
| 1935 | My Buddy / Don't Let Your Deal Go Down | ||
| 1935 | Put on an Old Pair of Shoes / Nobody's Business | ||
| 1935 | Curly Headed Baby / What's the Reason I'm Not Pleasin 'You | ||
| 1936 | When I Get Too Old to Dream / In a Little Gypsy Tea Room | ||
| 1936 | Santa Fe Folk Fiesta / Ole Faithful | ||
| 1936 | Back Home in the Smoky Mountains / Bury Me 'Neath the Willow Tree | ||
| 1936 | My Old Mule / I Want to Wander on the Cumberland Mountains | ||
| 1937 | Carolina Sunshine Girl / Riley's Henhouse Door | ||
| 1939 | Let My Peaches Be / Can't Put That Monkey on My Bag | ||
| 1939 | Moonlight, Shadows and You / I Wish I Was Single Again | ||
| 1939 | I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again / Story of the Preacher and the Bear | ||
| 1939 | The Old Apple Tree / Longest Train I Ever Saw | ||
| 1939 | That Old Irish Mother of Mine / When Irish Eyes Are Smiling | ||
| 1939 | New Givin 'Everything Away / Frankie and Johnny | ||
| 1939 | When I'm Gone You'll Soon Forget / How Come You Do Me Like You Do | ||
| 1939 | Red River Valley / I Told Them All About You | ||
| 1939 | Back on the Texas Plains / Way Out There | ||
| 1940 | I Get the Blues When It Rains / Tie Me to Your Apron Strings Again | ||
| 1940 | Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle / Oh Johnny Oh | ||
| 1940 | South of the Border / Red Sails in the Sunset | ||
| 1940 | Whistle and Blow Your Blues Away / Margie | ||
| 1940 | When I Grow Too Old to Dream / It's a Sin to Tell a Lie | ||
| 1940 | Walking My Baby Back Home / Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me | ||
| 1940 | When I'm Back in Tennessee / Get Out and Get Under the Moon | ||
| 1940 | Playmates / Nobody's Business | ||
| 1941 | Tuck Me to Sleep in My Old Kentucky Home / ? | ||
| 1941 | Where the Shy Little Violets Grow / Raolroad Boomer | ||
| Decca Records | |||
| 1937 | There's More Pretty Girls Than One / There's More Pretty Girls Than One # 2 | me Red Jones | |
| 1937 | Short Life of Trouble / The Cat Came Back | A-side with Red Jones | |
| 1937 | Poor Boy / Altoona Freight Wreck | A-side with Red Jones | |
| 1937 | Take Me Back to My Carolina Home / Gulf Coast Blues | ||
| 1937 | The Broken Engagement / Moonlight on the Colorado | with Red Jones | |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charles K. WOFE: Classic Country , Pluto Press Australia; P. 78
- ^ The Winning of the West by Theodore Roosevelt, pp. 1932 ff
- ^ Charles K. Wolfe: Country Music Legends , Australion Pluto Press
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Puckett, Riley |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Puckett, George Riley (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American old-time musician and guitarist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 7, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Alpharetta , Georgia, USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 14, 1946 |
| Place of death | East Point , Georgia |