Slim Bryant

Slim Bryant at the launch of his new CD in 2009

Slim Bryant (born Thomas Hoyt Bryant on December 7, 1908 in Atlanta , Georgia , † May 28, 2010 in Dormont , Pennsylvania ) was an American country musician who worked for Clayton McMichen for years as a guitarist . Bryant was the last musician to play with Jimmie Rodgers and the Skillet Lickers .

Life

Childhood and youth

Slim Bryant was born in Atlanta in 1908, the youngest of six sons. His father was an electrician who played the fiddle and mandolin while his mother wrote songs, played guitar and piano . She turned 104, according to an interview with Rich Kienzle in the Post Gazette . Bryant grew up listening to the traditional music of Fiddlin 'John Carson or Gid Tanner's Skillet Lickers, but was also influenced by local jazz musician Perry Bechtel, who played the banjo and guitar. It wasn't until after graduating from high school that Bryant started playing the guitar.

With Clayton McMichen

Bryant was first heard on a record in 1929. With Elmer McMichen, Clayton McMichen's uncle, he made his first recordings for Okeh Records on March 15, 1929 and met Clayton McMichen through Elmer, who invited him on a tour with the Skillet Lickers. " The deal was we'd all go down the Birmingham and divide up what ever money we made. So I took off work on Wednesday and Thursday and we played at this big festival. All the Skillet Lickers were there, Uncle Dave Macon and the McGees. I had to go back to Atlanta to play a baseball game, so I left. I never got paid a dime for the show. "

In May 1931, Bryant quit his normal job to play guitar in McMichen's band, the Georgia Wildcats . For McMichen, Bryant was the perfect accompanist as he was well versed in old -time music and could play jazz at the same time. For the next six years he toured the United States with McMichen, was on the radio and played on his records.

In the summer of 1932, Bryant accompanied the star Jimmie Rodgers with McMichen on a session in which Rodgers also recorded Bryant's composition Mother, Queen of My Heart . In total, Bryant wrote more than 200 pieces in his career.

Career in Pittsburgh

In 1937 McMichen and Bryant parted ways, who now moved to Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania with Jerry Wallace and could be heard on KDKA . Bryant also used the name Georgia Wildcats for his own band and began to gain a foothold in Pittsburgh as a musician. He now performed daily at KDKA and his band, now known only as Wildcats , also included Al Azzaro ( accordion ) and Bryant's brother Loppy.

In the mid-1940s, Bryant and the Wildcats got a record deal with Majestic Records and in 1946 they had a small hit with Eeny Meeny Dixie Deeny . Zeke Manners recorded a version for RCA Victor and made the song a far bigger hit. In addition to Bryant's commercial recordings for Majestic, he played in New York City for the Thesaurus Library a total of 287 titles that were sent to radio stations. When the television station WDTV first went on air in Pittsburgh on January 1, 1949, Bryant was the first to be seen on the Pittsburgh program; he appeared on a variety show from Oakland. Bryant continued to have many engagements in the 1950s. Although a record deal with MGM Records failed, he and his band performed occasionally on ABC's nationally broadcast Jubilee USA .

The Wildcats broke up in the early 1960s when Jerry Wallace moved to Las Vegas and brother Loppy died of lung cancer in 1968. Bryant then opened a shop in Dormont, a suburb of Pittsburgh, and gave guitar lessons in his own studio. In 1980 he closed his business and seven years later his wife Mary Jane died.

Slim Bryant performed publicly until his death, living in Dormont and giving guitar lessons. He owned a guitar, a Gibson L-5 , which he had played with for 70 years but stopped using it because of arthritis. The British Archive of Country Music released a total of three CDs of Bryant's collected works. He was inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985 .

Slim Bryant died at St. Clair Hospital in Dormont in 2010 at the age of 101.

Discography

Singles

year	title	#	Remarks
Majestic Records
1946	Eeny Meeny Dixie Deeny / Echo Polka	11003
	Ain't We Crazy? / How Many Chances Do You Want	11005
	I Love You True Blue / Bessie James	11010
	Echo of the Indian Princess / Swingin 'in an Old Rope Swing	11013
	Answer to Rainbow at Midnight / Too Fat Polka	6022
	Penny Ante / Please, Mr. Bartender	6024
	My Saddle, My Bronco and You / I Hate to See You Go	6025
	Thunder Storm / Rose of Shenandoah Valley	6026

Albums

• 2009: Hoyt “Slim” Bryant and his Wildcats (BACM)
• 2009: Hoyt “Slim” Bryant and his Wildcats, Volume 2 (BACM)
• 2009: Hoyt “Slim” Bryant and his Wildcats, Volume 3 (BACM)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Richard L. Matterson, Jr .: Mac and The Skillet Lickers - Part 5 - Bluegrass Music and Artwork blog
2. ^ Slim Bryant, 98, returning to country music with CD

Web links

• Slim Bryant on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
• biography