The Georgia Yellow Hammers were an old-time string and vocal quartet from
Gordon County, Georgia
Gordon County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 55,186. The county seat is Calhoun, Geor ...
from the 1920s. The group featured
Charles Moody, Jr. on guitar; Bud Landress on banjo;
Phil Reeve The Georgia Yellow Hammers were an old-time string and vocal quartet from Gordon County, Georgia from the 1920s. The group featured Charles Moody, Jr. on guitar; Bud Landress on banjo; Phil Reeve on guitar; and Bill Chitwood on fiddle. All member ...
on guitar; and
Bill Chitwood on fiddle.
All members may have been multi-instrumentalists. Tony Russell's notes accompanying the 2004 compilation CD "Old Mountain" identify the personnel on "The Picture on the Wall" (Victor 20943, 9 Aug.1927) as Landress, fiddle and lead vocal; Reeve, guitar and vocal; C. Ernest Moody, banjo-ukulele and vocal; and Clyde Evans, guitar and vocal.
Collaboration with the Baxters
The group often played with
Andrew and Jim Baxter Andrew Baxter (March 1869 – April15, 1955), African-American fiddle player, and Jim Baxter (James Baxter; January18, 1898 – June11, 1950), African-American-Cherokee singer and guitar player, were a father and son fiddle and guitar duet f ...
from Curryville, GA (also in Gordon County). Curryville was also home to music legend
Roland Hayes
Roland Wiltse Hayes (June 3, 1887 – January 1, 1977) was an American lyric tenor and composer. Critics lauded his abilities and linguistic skills demonstrated with songs in French, German, and Italian. Hayes's predecessors as well-known Afr ...
. Andrew Baxter's unique style of fiddle is heard an early recording of a band favorite entitled "G-Rag". The Baxters were African Americans, which was an unusual collaboration for the time period. The band released one of the top selling records of 1920s southern music with 1927's release "The Picture on the Wall"/"My Carolina Girl".
[ The 1927 recording session with the Baxter's took place in Charlotte, NC, and was a rare integrated session, uncommon even through the mid to late 20th century. Andrew and Jim Baxter were a well known duo for the time in their own right around Northwest Georgia.
]
Legacy
The band is nationally recognized as an important 1920s "old-time" band. Their songs can still be heard from early recordings on such sites as YouTube.com and others. The song "Drifting Too Far From The Shore" written by member Charles Moody has been covered by such artists as Jerry Garcia
Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...
, Phil Lesh & Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including gr ...
, Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
, and many others, as well as being a standard in many gospel hymnals. The Calhoun High School football stadium in Calhoun, Georgia is also named after the guitar player and founding member Phil Reeve.
Georgia Yellow Hammers recorded songs including:
Mary, Don't You Weep
I'm S-A-V-E-D
Pass around the Bottle
Fourth of July at a County Fair (1927)
Going to Ride That Midnight Train
Tennessee Coon (1927)
My Carolina Girl (1927)
G Rag with Andrew Baxter (1927 Aug. 9)
Further reading
* Wayne W. Daniel, ''Pickin' on Peachtree: A History of Country Music in Atlanta, Georgia'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press
The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...
, 1990), 76-77.
* ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music'', ed. Paul Kingsbury (New York: Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1998), s.v. "Georgia Yellow Hammers."
* Gene Wiggins and Tony Russell, "Hell Broke Loose in Gordon County, Georgia
Gordon County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 55,186. The county seat is Calhoun, Geor ...
," ''Old Time Music'' 25 (summer 1977): 9-21.
* Charles K. Wolfe, "The Georgia Yellow Hammers," in ''Classic Country: Legends of Country Music'' (New York: Routledge, 2001).
* Tony Russell, ''Old Time Music Journal''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia Yellow Hammers
Old-time bands
Country music groups from Georgia (U.S. state)