James Gideon Tanner (June 6, 1885 – May 13, 1960) was an American musician and
old-time fiddler, regarding as one of the earliest stars and pioneers of
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
. His band, the
Skillet Lickers
The Skillet Lickers were an old-time band from Georgia, United States.
When Gid Tanner teamed up with blind guitarist Riley Puckett and signed to Columbia in 1924, they created the label's earliest so-called "hillbilly" recording. Gid Tanne ...
, was one of the most innovative and influential
string band
A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass. While being active count ...
s of the 1920s and 1930s. Its most notable members were
Clayton McMichen (fiddle and vocal),
Dan Hornsby (vocals),
Riley Puckett (guitar and vocal) and Robert Lee Sweat (guitar).
Biography
Tanner was born in Thomas Bridge, near
Monroe, Georgia
Monroe is a city and the county seat of Walton County, Georgia, Walton County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is located both one hour east of Atlanta via U.S. Route 78 in Georgia, US 78 and Georgia State Route 138, GA 138 to I ...
. He made a living as a chicken farmer for most of his life. He learned to play the
fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
at the age of 14 and quickly established a reputation as one of the finest musicians in Georgia. Early on, he participated in several fiddle conventions together with his rival
Fiddlin' John Carson
"Fiddlin'" John Carson (March 23, 1868 – December 11, 1949) was an American musician and singer who is widely considered to be one of the early pioneers of country music.
Early life
Carson was born near McCaysville in Fannin County, Georgia. ...
; what one of them did not win, the other would. Tanner reportedly had a repertoire of more than 2000 songs.
Tanner and Puckett traveled to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in March 1924 to make the first of a series of duet recordings for
, establishing the Skillet Lickers as Columbia's first recorded southern rural artist. In 1926, the Skillet Lickers were formed around Tanner as a studio band. The first recording made with the Skillet Lickers was "
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane," recorded in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
on April 17, 1926, when the
country music scene in Atlanta rivaled Nashville's. It was released by Columbia on a
78-rpm disc, backed with "Watermelon on the Vine". In the next eight years, the group recorded more than 100 songs. In 1934, Tanner and Puckett re-formed the Skillet Lickers, and several of their recordings were released by
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is an American record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of children's music, blues, jazz and swing in the 1930s and 1940s. Bluebird was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebi ...
. Tanner stopped making records in 1934 but continued performing into his seventies. At the age of seventy-one, Tanner won his last first-place trophy. He died in
Dacula, Georgia
Dacula ( ) is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located approximately northeast of Atlanta. The population as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census was 4,442, and the U.S. ...
in 1960.
Legacy and influence
Many of the songs recorded by the Skillet Lickers were traditional American fiddle tunes that remain popular with
bluegrass and country musicians to this day. Among them are "
Alabama Jubilee", "
Shortnin' Bread", "
Old Joe Clark", "
John Henry", "Bully of the Town", "
Bile Them Cabbage Down", "
Cotton-Eyed Joe", "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss", "
Soldier's Joy", "
Bonaparte's Retreat", "Leather Breeches", "Four Cent Cotton", "
Knoxville Girl", and their biggest seller, "
Down Yonder". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
.
Their comedy recordings, called "rural drama records", including the saga "A Corn Licker Still in Georgia" (Issued over the course of 7 records) and "A Fiddler's Convention in Georgia", were equally popular.
Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1988. Following his death in 1960, Tanner's grandson Phil Tanner and great-grandson Levi Lowrey continued performing as the Skillet Lickers. Phil Tanner hosts an open
jam session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
on Friday nights in a refurbished chicken house on his father's old farm in
Dacula, Georgia
Dacula ( ) is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located approximately northeast of Atlanta. The population as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census was 4,442, and the U.S. ...
. Levi Lowrey also continues in his footsteps as a country music artist, songwriting for
Zac Brown and featured on Southern Ground Records in a multi-album record deal.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
wrote and performed a version of Gid Tanner's "Down on Tanner's Farm", retitled and reset as "New York Town". It can be heard in
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's 2005 documentary on Dylan, ''
No Direction Home
''No Direction Home: Bob Dylan'' is a 2005 documentary film directed by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th-century American popular music and culture. The film focuses on the period between Dylan's arriva ...
''.
Discography
78 rpm
In various prewar lineups Tanner recorded singles for
Columbia and later rival labels
Bluebird,
Victor,
His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
(India),
Regal (England),
Regal Zonophone (Australia), Montgomery Ward, and
Vocalion.
Postwar, at least one Tanner 45-rpm reissue single is known on
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
.
Postwar recordings
* Gid Tanner, Gordon Tanner, Phil Tanner's Skillet Lickers, ''Skillet Licker Music 1955–1991: The Tanner Legacy'', Global Village CD-310 (1997)
Reissued recordings
* ''Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers'', RCA Victor EPA-5069 (1958)
* ''Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers'', Folk Song Society of Minnesota 15001-D (1962)
* ''The Skillet Lickers: Vol. 1'',
County
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
506 (196?)
* ''The Skillet Lickers: Vol. 2'',
County
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
526 (1973)
* Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, ''Hear These New Southern Fiddle and Guitar Records'' Rounder 1005 (1973)
* Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers. ''The Kickapoo Medicine Show'', Rounder 1023 (197?)
* ''Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers'', Vetco LP-107 (197?)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''A Day at the Country Fair: Early Country Comedy'', Old Homestead OHCS-145 (1985)
* Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, ''Early Classic String Bands Vol. 3'', Old Homestead OHCS-193 (1990)
* Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, ''A Corn Licker Still in Georgia'', Voyager VRLP-303 (197?), reissued as VRCD-303 (1997)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''Old-Time Fiddle Tunes and Songs from North Georgia'',
County
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
CD-3509 (1996)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 1: 1926–1927'', Document DOCD-8056 (2000)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 2: 1927–1928'', Document DOCD-8057 (2000)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 3: 1928–1929'', Document DOCD-8058 (2000)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 4: 1929–1930'', Document DOCD-8059 (2000)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 5: 1930–1934'', Document DOCD-8060 (2000)
* The Skillet Lickers, ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 6: 1934'', Document DOCD-8061 (2000)
* Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers, ''Old Timey's Favorite Band'' (4 CDs), JSP JSPCD 77155 (2012)
References
External links
Southernmusic.net*Cohen, Norm. Liner Notes for the CD ''Old Time Fiddle Tunes and Songs from North Georgia'' (County Records, 1996)
*Russell, Tony. ''Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942'' (Oxford University Press, 2004)
The New Georgia Encyclopedia
*''Stars of Country Music'', (University of Illinois Press, 1975)
Gid Tanner recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Gid
1885 births
1960 deaths
American fiddlers
American country fiddlers
American bandleaders
Country bandleaders
Southern old-time fiddlers
People from Walton County, Georgia
People from Dacula, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
20th-century violinists