Clayton McMichen (January 26, 1900 – January 4, 1970) was an American fiddler and country musician.

Biography

Born in

Allatoona, Georgia Allatoona is an unincorporated community in Bartow County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The community is located along Allatoona Creek, southeast of Cartersville. It was once a small mining community until a dam was erected at the base of the ...

, McMichen learned to play the fiddle from his father and uncle. He moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

with his family in 1913, working as an automobile mechanic. While there, he entered and won several competitions for fiddle. In 1918, he formed the band Lick the Skillet, which soon was renamed to the Home Town Boys. They played on a small radio station before they on September 18, 1922 started playing regular radio shows. In 1926, McMichen began recording with Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers. They became one of the nation's most successful country acts of the 1920s and recorded widely. McMichen's first solo success was the 1927 hit "Sweet Bunch of Roses", which sold over 100,000 records. He also recorded

crooner Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...

ballads under the name Bob Nichols, but only hit with the tune "My Carolina Home". One of his best-known tunes was "Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia", recorded by

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

. Clayton McMichen worked with a Atlanta Georgia singer songwriter, musician,

Dan Hornsby Issac Daniel Hornsby (1 February 1900 – 18 May 1951) was an American singer songwriter, musician, recording artist, producer and arranger, studio engineer, band leader & band member. Discovered talent as A&R man with Columbia Records, and radi ...

producer engineer, recording "Ark. Traveler" Columbia 15253D issued in the 1920s. The Skillet Lickers split in 1931, and McMichen organized a new band called the Georgia Wildcats, playing old timey, pop and jazz. They worked around the South, Northeast and Midwest until 1939. The band included guitarist Slim Bryant and, for a time, fiddler Carl Cotner and guitarist Merle Travis. They recorded for Decca from 1935 to 1938, settling in Louisville. When he decided to form a full-sized dance band, Bryant took the smaller group and departed with McMichen's blessing. McMichen continued performing in Louisville until retiring in 1955. He was asked to restart his career during the

folk revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...

of the 1960s, but was initially reticent; however, his performances at the Bean Blossom festival and the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

in 1964 were successes. He continued to perform almost up until his death in 1970. In 1981, Merle Travis and Mac Wiseman released a double LP album called '' The Clayton McMichen Story'' in tribute to him. File:Decca 9-27306 - TurkeyInTheStraw-OldHenCackle-Fiddler'sDream.jpg, ''

Turkey in the Straw "Turkey in the Straw" is an American folk song that first gained popularity in the 19th century. Early versions of the song were titled "Zip Coon", which were first published around 1834 and performed in minstrel shows, with different people c ...

'',
''Old Hen Cackle'' and
''Fiddler's Dream'' by Clayton McMichen,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

References

* Clayton McMichenat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

*''Stars of Country Music'', (University of Illinois Press, 1975)

External links

Clayton McMichen recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:McMichen, Clayton 1900 births 1970 deaths American country fiddlers American country singer-songwriters American fiddlers 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)