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The South Carolina Music Hall of Fame Initiative is building a web-based history of the music and musician's of South Carolina, featuring biographies, discography, photographs, and related items. The Initiative is calling for contributions from musicians, scholars, music professionals, journalists, aficionados, and other enthusiasts. Read more

Please contact Stanfield Gray to contribute - grayjs@cofc.edu, tel: 843.478.1167.

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John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. He was an African-American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer. Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. In addition to featuring in these epochal moments in jazz, he was instrumental in founding Afro-Cuban jazz. John Birks Gillespie was the youngest of nine children, and he taught himself to play the trumpet at the age of 12. Despite the poverty he grew up in, he managed to win a scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. However, he soon dropped out of school, and became desperate to work as a full-time musician. Despite finding work with Cab Calloway's group, Dizzy was soon being excoriated for his adventurous solos by his employer, who branded it "Chinese music." He was fired as a result of Calloway's dissatisfaction with Gillespie's modern, unorthodox approach. Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and gifted improviser. In addition to his instrumental skills, Dizzy's beret and horn-rimmed specs, his scat singing, his bent horn and pouched cheeks, and his light-hearted personality endeared many to what was regarded as threatening and frightening music. Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis' emergence in the 1970s that
Dizzy's style was successfully recreated.

REVEREND JENKINS & HIS ORPHANAGE BAND

REVEREND JENKINS & HIS ORPHANAGE BAND
Jenkins Orphanage, and later on, its world famous band, was born in 1891 in an empty railroad car. Daniel Jenkins, an African-American laborer who earned a meager living hauling timber for the lumber mills, had gone to the railroad yard one morning to retrieve a consignment of wood. While there, he discovered four little black boys huddled against the cold in an empty car. When he asked them why their parents had let them go out in such frigid weather, he learned that they had been abandoned. Although Jenkins had children of his own - and precious little money with which to take care of them - he nonetheless took the four orphans home to his wife, Lena, and gave them food and beds. This simple act of charity would turn out to be the advent of an enterprise with far-reaching achievements: It would export Southern jazz to the rest of the world, incubate the talents of some famous African American musicians, and even create a new dance step that would come to define the “Roaring Twenties.” (“The Cradle of Jazz,” by James Hutchisson, printed in Charleston Magazine.)

One of the major Southern rock bands of the '70s, the Marshall Tucker Band was formed in Spartanburg, SC, in 1971 by singer Doug Gray, guitarist Toy Caldwell, his brother bassist Tommy Caldwell (who died on April 4, 1980), guitarist George McCorkle, drummer Paul Riddle, and reed player Jerry Eubanks. The group's style combined rock, country, and jazz and featured extended instrumental passages on which lead guitarist Toy Caldwell shone. The band was signed to Capricorn Records and released its debut album, The Marshall Tucker Band, in March 1973. They gained recognition through a tour with the Allman Brothers Band and found significant success during the course of the '70s, with most of their albums going gold. Their peak came with the million-selling album Carolina Dreams and its Top 15 single "Heard It in a Love Song" in 1977. http://marshalltucker.com/

David Daniels
Considered to be one of the rising stars on the opera scene, countertenor Daniels regularly performs at New York's Lincoln Center and gave a spectacular performance with the New York City Opera in Handel's Xerxes. His performances have brought him critical acclaim. According to Time Magazine, Daniels "is racking up reviews that might make even Pavarotti envious." This Dorman High School graduate is the first countertenor to ever have a recital at Carnegie Hall. He hails from Spartanburg, SC. http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Carlisle Floyd
Originally from Latta, South Carolina, the composer Carlisle Floyd now refers to Spartanburg as his home base. Best known for his opera Susanna which is performed not only in this country, but throughout Europe, Floyd received his Masters in Music from Converse College. "[He is] the leading voice in 20th century American opera Opera is, for Floyd, universal themes embodied by ordinary characters moving in a musical plan that naturally absorbs opera's tradition of melody, arias, duets and coherent scenes focused on expressing emotion. As a result, Floyd, the South Carolina outsider, is suddenly having the kind of recognition Verdi enjoyed in mid-life." Philadelphia Enquirer. http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Carlos Moseley
An accomplished pianist, Carlos Moseley is a former president and chairman of the board for the New York Philharmonic. He is the only Philharmonic manager to have appeared in concert with the Orchestra as a soloist. Moseley received Honorary Membership in The Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, a distinction that fewer than 75 individuals have received since 1843. A Spartanburg native, he is widely credited for creating the idea for the free concerts in the park in New York City that attract several hundred thousand people. Joseph Hopkins, dean of Converse College's Petrie School of Music said that "for many decades [Moseley] has been one of the most influential musicians in the world." It was his decision to bring Leonard Bernstein to work with the Philharmonic. http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Gianna Rolandi
Among the most prominent sopranos in the world, Rolandi has performed with Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavoratti and Beverly Sills. In 1984 Rolandi appeared in the film version of Strauss' opera Arabella. Also hails from Spartanburg, South Carolina. http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones During the year of 1957, the Sparkletones made the national charts strait out of Spartanburg, SC with their Top Ten rockabilly hit "Black Slacks," a song featured in the Disney film, The Rescuers Down Under. The Sparkletones performed twice on the Ed Sullivan Show and three times on American Bandstand. Later, while he was in the Air Force, Bennett started a new band, Joe and the Jaguars. The drummer for that group was Mickey Hart, who before
joining that group had been a world champion drummer in the Drum and Bugle Corp. After cutting his Rock and Roll teeth with the Jaguars, Hart would become the percussionist for the Grateful Dead.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Freddie "Careless" Love
Between 1950 and 1955 Love came out of Startex, SC and into the role of an international recording artist for Decca Records. As one of the lead singers with The Spade Cooley Band at the height of that group's popularity on the west coast (their television show once pulled over a fifty percent market share), Love appeared on the cover of TV Guide and performed on The Bob Hope Show.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Edwin McCain
A rootsy singer/songwriter with ties to jazz and soul as well, Edwin McCain hails from Charleston, South Carolina, and it was with the support of native sons Hootie & the Blowfish that McCain signed with Atlantic Records. Let it not be said that McCain never earned his contract: his touring schedule is among the most rigorous in music -- 300+ nights per year -- and his dynamic band (guitarist Larry Chaney, bassist Scott Bannevich, drummer Dave Harrison and saxophone player Craig Shields) gained respect and support slots for similarly minded artists like Hootie, Jewel and even the Allman Brothers. Signed to Atlantic's Lava subsidiary in 1995, the group debuted with Honor Among Thieves. The single "Solitude" gained support at VH1, prompting the release of 1997's Misguided Roses. Messenger followed in 1999 and Far From Over appeared two years later. McCain was dropped from Atlantic after the release of Far From Over, but he actually quickened his recording pace, releasing The Austin Sessions in 2003 and Scream & Whisper in 2004.
http://www.mp3.com/edwin-mccain/artists/137931/biography.html

Darius Rucker
As part of Hootie & the Blowfish, Darius Rucker changed the face of
mainstream pop music in the mid-'90s. Hootie & the Blowfish's blues-rock jams were infectiously fun and singles like "Hold My Hand" and "Only Wanna Be With You" propelled the band to sell nearly 20-million albums worldwide. After Hootie & the Blowfish released Musical Chairs in 1998, they took a break from recording and the road. Rucker used him time wisely and started a solo career. Born and raised in Charleston, SC, he was fed the sounds of Otis Redding, Al Green, and Gladys Knight at an early age. His R&B influences urged him to find his soul. He did with his debut album, The Return of Mongo Slade. The album was slated for a summer 2001 release with Atlantic, but it never saw the light of day because of contractual changes. A few months later, Rucker signed with Hidden Beach Recordings. He also made a cameo in the Farrelly brothers' comedy Shallow Hal. By spring 2002, Rucker was ready to introduce his mellow, R&B style. He hooked up with Jill Scott, Snoop Dogg, Musiq, and City High's Ryan Toby for the crazy-sexy-cool Back to Then, released in July 2002.
http://www.mp3.com/darius-rucker/artists/197895/biography.html

The Dixie Hummingbirds
The Dixie Hummingbirds were a gospel group gathered from the cities of
Greenville and Spartanburg, SC. A pioneering force behind the evolution of the modern gospel quartet sound, the Dixie Hummingbirds were among the longest-lived and most successful groups of their era; renowned for their imaginative arrangements, progressive harmonies and all-around versatility, they earned almost universal recognition as the greatest Southern quartet of their generation, and their influence spread not only over the world of spiritual music but also inspired secular artists. The influence the Hummingbird's lead singer, Ira Tucker of Spartanburg, had on soul singers of 50's and 60's was profound. Hank Ballard, Clyde Mc Phatter, the Temptations' David Ruffin, and Jackie Wilson are but a few of the singers who fell under the Hummingbirds' magic. The Hummingbirds later backed Paul Simon on his hit,"Loves Me Like A Rock."
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm#
www.mp3.com/the-dixie-hummingbirds/artists/1901/biography.html

Julius "June" Cheeks
At the peak of his career, the Rev. Julius Cheeks was the definitive hard gospel singer, famed for a gritty, powerful baritone which influenced not only the next generation of gospel performers but also secular stars including James Brown and Wilson Pickett. Born into abject poverty on August 7, 1929 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as a child Cheeks was enamored of the recordings of the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Soul Stirrers and others; he began singing in the second grade, quitting school that same year to pick cotton. Later joining a local gospel group dubbed the Baronets, in 1946 he was spotted by the Rev. B.L. Parks, a former Dixie Hummingbird in the process of forming a new group called the Nightingales; upon Cheeks' arrival, he became infamous across the gospel circuit for playing the clown, while each night pushing his voice to its breaking point. The Nightingales enjoyed considerable success on the road, but they made virtually no money; to make ends meet Cheeks briefly joined the Soul Stirrers, rejoining the Nightingales during the early 1950s. Upon signing to Peacock, the group rattled off a string of hits, among them "Somewhere to Lay My Head" and "The Last Mile of the Way"; they were in fact so popular, and so often the subject of acclaim, that they eventually rechristened themselves the Sensational Nightingales. In 1954, Cheeks offically became a preacher, but he remained a performer, emerging as a gifted writer and arranger as well; a temperamental man, he left the group on numerous occasions, finally quitting for good in 1960 and going into semi-retirement. He soon returned to action with a new group, the Sensational Knights. Cheeks died in Miami on January 27, 1981.
http://www.mp3.com/rev.-julius-cheeks/artists/48860/biography.html

William "Singin" Billy" Walker
In the early 1800's, "Singin' Billy" Walker created a system of shaped notes that allowed rural folks who had little formal music education sing songs from a hymnbook. Before that, hymn tunes were learned and committed to memory later to be sung to text in a hymnal. The publication of "Southern Harmony" in 1835 sold over 600,000 copies and not only revolutionized church singing in the rural south, but helped to preserve hymns that might otherwise have been lost. Walker's partner, Benjamin Franklin White, moved to Georgia and wrote a competing shaped note hymnal, "Sacred Harp" which overtook "Southern Harmony" in popularity and influence. Walker was a preacher in Spartanburg, SC. http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

David Ball
David Ball was born in Rock Hill, SC, on July 9, 1963. The son of a Baptist minister father and musician mother, Ball started playing the ukulele as a young boy, but by age 12 had switched to guitar. After high school, he and hometown friends Walter Hyatt and Champ Hood moved to Nashville, where they scraped out a living as Uncle Walt's Band. The going was tough, and eventually the trio moved to Austin, TX, hoping to find greener pastures. There Ball and his friends matured as musicians, playing covers of popular folk and roots numbers, but also writing and performing their own compositions. Ball played bass, sang lead, and also contributed backup vocals. Uncle Walt's Band was a hit in Austin, where the music scene was more progressive and hungry young players like Lyle Lovett would pack the group's dancehall shows. The band released three successful albums before breaking up in 1983 as its members pursued solo careers. Cut loose from Uncle Walt's Band, Ball returned to Nashville, where he gutted it out for most of the 1980s until landing a recording contract with Warner Bros. Success was quick. Thinkin' Problem, his 1994 release for the label, went double platinum and spawned three hit singles. The following year, Ball was nominated for a Male Vocalist of the Year Grammy. He returned in 1996 with Starlite Lounge, which continued to display his penchant for dressed-up
honky tonk. While his 1999 effort, Play, was shellacked with a Music City sheen, Ball redeemed himself with the dust-caked traditional country of 2001's Amigo.

Marshall Chapman
Marshall Chapman grew up a member of one of the most well-known families in Spartanburg County, South Carolina (the Chapmans owned the local cotton mill) and loved both athletics and music. In 1957, the young Chapman was taken to the Carolina Theatre in downtown Spartanburg to see Elvis Presley perform, and it changed her life forever. She grew to become an unofficial member of Willie Nelson's and Waylon Jennings' "outlaw crowd". Her first critically acclaimed album, Me, I'm Feelin' Free, was soon followed by another, Jaded Virgin, which was produced by Al Kooper. Her songs have been recorded by Jimmy Buffet, Sawyer Brown, Tanya Tucker, and Emmylou Harris. Today Chapman writes and records in Nashville.
http://www.mp3.com/marshall-chapman/artists/9288/biography.html

Charlie Daniels
Although born in Wilmington, NC, Charlie Daniels attended Spartanburg's
Jenkins Junior High School. A talented and showy fiddler, Charlie Daniels and his band fuse hardcore country with a hard-edged Southern rock boogie and blues. The group -- which has had a rotating cast of musicians over the years -- has always been known for their instrumental dexterity, but they were also notorious for their down-home, good-old boy attitude; in the early '80s they became a virtual symbol of conservative country values. Daniels and his band experienced the height of their popularity at the end of the '70s and early
'80s, but they remained a popular concert attraction well into the '90s. He is best known for the hit "The Devil Went Down in Georgia." He toured with the Spartanburg group, the Marshall Tucker Band and referred to that band in the hit "The South's Gonna Do It Again."
http://www.mp3.com/charlie-daniels/artists/48725/biography.html

Aaron Tippin
Aaron Tippin was part of the commercial explosion of new traditionalist
country in the early '90s, making his name with a mixture of macho, rowdy honky tonkers, sentimental ballads, and patriotic working-man's anthems. Tippin was born in Pensacola, FL, in 1958 and grew up mostly on a family farm near Greer, SC, where he first started singing to pass the time while doing chores.Tippin hit the charts in the 90's with his songs "Blue Angel," "Working Man's Ph.D.," "There Ain't Nothin' Wrong with the Radio" and "You've Got to Stand For Something."
http://www.mp3.com/aaron-tippin/artists/1535/biography.html

Johnny Blowers
Born in Spartanburg, SC, Johnny Blowers is one of the most prolific drummers in the genre's history, blowing on many dates behind leaders from Louis Armstrong, with whom he appears on several dozen different records, to pianist Teddy Wilson. The drummer has been a presence in jazz and popular music through almost the entire 20th century. Blowers learned drums right alongside his father, who was also a percussionist. The lad's first jobs were substituting for the old man in local theater orchestras in the late '20s. Blowers played drums on recordings for Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Maxine Sullivan among others.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Hank Garland
Hank Garland, born in Cowpens, SC was Nashville's busiest country guitar picker who, with little warning, made a superb jazz album in mid-career and seemed headed for jazz stardom until an auto accident in 1961 left him unable to perform. As a jazz performer, Garland had a fertile melodic and harmonic imagination and a sound that had apparently honed to the gospel of tone and attack according to Charlie Christian -- with some Les Paul mixed in and more than a touch of Bud Powell's influence as well. But even on his country records (check out Red Foley's sublime "Midnight" and "Hearts of Stone"),Garland's urbane jazz and blues sensibilities can be felt. In July 1960, Garland came forward as a jazz musician, organizing a combo that was scheduled to play the Newport Jazz Festival but found itself on the sidelines after riots closed the festival. Hank Garland passed away in 2004 at the age of 74.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Frederick "Freddie" William Green
Frederick ("Freddie") William Green was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on March 31, 1911. A self-taught musician on the banjo and guitar, he began publicly performing around the age of twelve. Through trumpeter and band organizer Sam Walker, Freddie earned a spot on the Jenkins Orphanage Band. While not an orphan himself, Green played and traveled with the band for several years. He moved to New York in 1923 to attend high school and to pursue a musical career. Freddie played rhythm guitar at many clubs, including the Exclusive Club and the Yeah Man in Harlem and the Black Cat in Greenwich Village. It was in one of these venues that he was discovered by music producer and critic John Hammond who arranged an interview with William "Count" Basie. While he remained faithful to the Count Basie Orchestra, Green also recorded with the likes of Benny Goodman, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Joe Sullivan, Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young, and Billie Holiday.
http://www.mp3.com/dizzy-gillespie/artists/5616/biography.html

Daryle Ryce
Born and raised in Spartanburg, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist Daryle Ryce has developed a national and international fan base. According to Fred Goodman of Rolling Stone magazine, Ryce is "a distinctive and uniquely American artist...an outstanding pianist and guitarist, equally comfortable playing bluegrass, country, swing, jazz, bossa nova and folk." Her admirers include Chet Atkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich and Pat Boone. She performed with Pat Boone for Pinochet at the Chilean presidential palace, has been interviewed by Linda Wortheimer for National Public Radio, and once took part in a guitar picking session with Jerry Reed, Glen Campbell, Roy Clark and
Johnny Cash.

Rock and Roll
James Joseph Brown James Brown was born May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina. He grew to be an African American entertainer, having worked as a singer, songwriter, and record producer during his career. Brown, recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century music, was a prime influence in the evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk,a genre he is associated with as its primary founder. His quick ascent to iconic status can be attributed to his rejection of traditional music formulas, and becoming a symbol of self-motivation and achievement in the face of racism against African Americans. Beginning his professional music career in 1953, Brown scored hits from the 1950s to the 1980s. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he has significantly influenced music and culture as a singer, dancer and bandleader since the 1960s. He has also left his mark on musicians across many outside genres, including rock, jazz, reggae, disco, dance and electronic music, and, most notably, hip-hop music. Recognized by a plethora of (mostly self-bestowed) titles, including "Soul Brother Number One", "Mr. Dynamite", "the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business", "the Minister of the New Super-Heavy Funk", "Universal James", and the most familiar, "the Godfather of Soul", James Brown is noted for his improvisional music style, shouting vocals, and energetic live performances.
http://www.mp3.com/james-brown/artists/3188/biography.html

Chubby Checker
Ernest Evans (popularly known as Chubby Checker) was born in Spring Gulley, South Carolina in October 3, 1941 but grew up in South Philadelphia. Chubby Checker was the unrivaled king of the rock & roll dance craze; although most of the dances his records promoted -- the Pony, "the Fly," and the Hucklebuck, to cite just three -- have long since faded into obscurity, his most famous hit, "The Twist," remains the yardstick against which all subsequent dance floor phenomena are measured. He even starred in a pair of feature films, Twist Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Twist. In total, Checker notched 32 chart hits before the bubble burst in 1966; as interest in dance novelties dwindled, he briefly turned to folk music, and became a regular on the nightclub circuit. From the 1970s onward, he was a staple of oldies revival tours; in 1982, more than a decade after his last studio LP, he signed with MCA and issued the disco-inspired The Change Has Come, scoring a pair of minor hits with the singles "Running" and "Harder Than Diamond." In 1988, Checker returned to the Top 40 for the first time in a quarter century when he appeared on the Fat Boys' rap rendition of "The Twist," and he continued touring regularly throughout the decade to follow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chubby_Checker

James Jamerson
Born and raised in Charleston, SC, legendary Motown bassist James Jamerson single-handedly revolutionized bass playing. Throughout the entire classic Motown catalog (and some non-Motown sides), Jamerson shaped a new inventive style of bass playing and brought what had been regarded by some as a "minor" instrument to the forefront through the use of the electric Fender bass, powered by his musical genius and amazing dexterity. Jamerson wasn't Motown's first bassist, but he was certainly the first to incorporate a fresh perspective and intuitiveness along with his own jazz/blues-oriented background to Motown founder Berry Gordy's R&B/pop leanings. The innovative bassist moved R&B/pop bass playing from the standard two-beat root fifth (dum-de de de-dum dum) to an approach that was more dynamic: using zipping passing tones, Ray Brown-like walking bass lines, double stops, and syncopation. Jamerson's playing was nothing short of revolutionary.
http://www.mp3.com/james-jamerson/artists/72254/biography.html

The Marshall Tucker Band
One of the major Southern rock bands of the '70s, the Marshall Tucker Band was formed in Spartanburg, SC, in 1971 by singer Doug Gray, guitarist Toy Caldwell, his brother bassist Tommy Caldwell (who died on April 4, 1980), guitarist George McCorkle, drummer Paul Riddle, and reed player Jerry Eubanks. The group's style combined rock, country, and jazz and featured extended instrumental passages on which lead guitarist Toy Caldwell shone. The band was signed to Capricorn Records and released its debut album, The Marshall Tucker Band, in March 1973. They gained recognition through a tour with the Allman Brothers Band and found significant success during the course of the '70s, with most of their albums going gold. Their peak came with the million-selling album Carolina Dreams and its Top 15 single "Heard It in a Love Song" in 1977.
http://www.mp3.com/the-marshall-tucker-band/artists/4148/biography.html

Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt's actual origins are somewhat in doubt. It's likely she was born on January 17, 1927, on a cotton plantation in the small South Carolina town of North. A birth certificate discovered in the late '90s seemed to corroborate that information, but Kitt was never entirely sure, because she lost contact with both her parents at a very young age. She epitomized the idea of the sex-kitten chanteuse, rising to fame with a nightclub act centered on her slinky stage presence and her throaty purr of a voice. Her hits include "Let's Do It", "C'est Si Bon", "An Old-Fashioned Millionaire","Monotonous", "Love for Sale", "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch", "Uska Dara", "Mink, Schmink", "Under the Bridges of Paris", and "Santa Baby". Kitt's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in French during her years performing in Europe. She dabbled in other languages as well, which she demonstrates with finesse in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances. She was nominated twice, both for a Grammy and a Tony, as well as an Emmy Award.
http://www.mp3.com/eartha-kitt/artists/2594/biography.html

Jennings Thompson, Jr.
Jennings Thompson, Jr. was born in Spartanburg, SC, the son of a former
Spartanburg mayor. He grew to become a Converse College graduate who went on be a Broadway composer. Thompson co-wrote Once Upon A Mattress. Julie Andrews sang "Jimmy" one of his songs which appeared in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Pinkney "Pink" Anderson
Anderson was born on February 12, 1900, in Laurens, SC. For much of his life, Anderson was Spartanburg"s most famous songster and medicine show huckster. In 1917, he joined Doctor W. R. Kerr"s Medicine Show, learning every facet of the calling and staying, with Peg Leg Sam as his straight man, until it ceased in 1945. Pink Anderson eventually teamed up with Baby Tate and together, they continued working medicine shows until he retired in 1957. In 1928, he and Blind Simmie Dooley recorded together for Columbia in Atlanta and in 1961, he recorded three albums for Bluesville, each with a theme: blues, medicine show songs and folk ballads. Samuel Charters, legendary blues historian, said, "In Pink Anderson"s blues, there is the melancholy and sadness of Carolina blues at their best."

Ted Bogan
born May 10, 1910, Spartanburg, SC. A bassist and guitarist who played with Carl Martin and Les Paul, among others.

Napoleon "Nappy" Brown
born October 12, 1929, Charlotte, NC. Nappy now lives in Pomaria, SC. Bown is a revered blues shouter who began in gospel but became famous writing Night Time is the Right Time and Lemon Squeezin" Daddy among others and still performs using his gospel-steeped, deeply resounding voice and wild stage antics.

Julius Daniels
born 1902, Denmark, SC. A guitarist and singer, Daniels was one of the first black artists in the Southeastern states to record. Although he only made a few records, the music he left behind embraced blues, sacred music and even songs similar to the white country music of the day. All were accompanied by light, melodic picking. John Jacob Niles and Jorma Kaukonen have made sure his name is not forgotten.

Rev. Gary Davis
born April 30, 1896, Laurens, SC. A highly accomplished guitarist and
songwriter, Davis taught himself harmonica at the age of five, banjo at six, and guitar at seven. He recorded for a number of labels including ARC, Stinson, Riverside, Prestige-Blueville and Folkways. Among Davis" devotees are Bob Dylan, Stefan Grossman, Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Roy Book Binder and Jorma Kaukonen. His importance in the history of rural black music cannot by overstated. Davis is one of SC"s most revered bluesmen. He blurred the transition between blues and religious/spiritual/gospel music.

Thomas Henry "Tom" Delaney
born September 14, 1889, Charleston, SC. Pianist and singer of not-so-famous, mysteriously entitled songs such as Cootie for Your Tootie and Hard Boiled Papa, Delaney began his career as a child in Jenkins Orphanage by forming the Springfield Minstrels. From those inauspicious beginnings, he moved on to bigger stints. One was managing Ethel Water"s career.

Joseph Benjamin "JB" Hutto
born April 26, 1926, Elko, SC. His 1954 recordings for the Chance label are now considered to be classics of postwar blues. Hutto"s music was raunchy, electric slide guitar blues that found great favor among young white blues enthusiasts. He recorded for many labels including Vanguard, Testament, Delmark, JSP, Amigo, Wolf, Baron, Black and Blue, and Varrick.

Arthur "Peg Leg Sam" Jackson
Born December 18, 1911, Jonesville, SC. Jackson learned the harmonica while a child, left home in his teens and spent most of his life traveling and playing the blues. He lost the lower part of his right leg during his hobo days in a train accident. In the mid `30s, he began on the medicine show circuit, especially Chief Thunderbird"s, and was one of the last medicine show minstrels, working them until the early 1960s. He was first recorded in 1970, in the company of Baby Tate and Pink Anderson.

Ella Johnson
Born June 22, 1923, Darlington, SC. Moved to New York in 1937 and sang blues and early rock and roll until the early `60s at which time she turned her energies back to the church. Her brother, Woodrow Wilson "Buddy" Johnson, was also in music as a pianist and band leader.

Henry Johnson
Born December 8, 1908, Union, SC. Johnson learned guitar and piano in
childhood and performed gospel and "the Devil"s Music" on radio broadcasts in the 1930s. He appeared on two albums exhibiting a strong, distinctive singing voice and powerful guitar style, especially when playing bottleneck.

Josephine "Josie" Miles
Born circa 1900, Summerville, SC. One of the Black Swan Troubadours, she appeared in touring companies of Shuffle Along and Runnin" Wild before leaving blues and vaudeville to return to the church. She was reportedly killed in an automobile accident.

Sammie "Ironing Board Sam" Moore
born 1939, Rockfield, SC. Sam learned to play the organ as a youngster,
concentrating on gospel music, then boogie-woogie, before turning to the blues. His live sets are described as very intense and his stage antics as humorous. His music was featured on several labels including Holiday Inn, Atlantic, Styletone and Broad.

Douglas Elijah Quattlebaum
Born January 22, 1927, Florence, SC. During the 1940s, Quattlebaum toured with a number of gospel groups, such as the Bells of Joy. In 1952, he recorded solo as a blues singer for the Gotham label. He was a forceful singer and guitarist, having been influenced by Blind Boy Fuller. In 1961, he was rediscovered in Philadelphia, singing and playing blues over the public address system of his ice-cream van, hence the title of his last recording,Softee Man Blues.

Clarence Clifford "CC/Peg" Richardson
Born December 18, 1918, Sumter, SC. Richardson got his foot in the blues doorway by performing in his uncle"s quartet in Brown Chapel Church in Sumter, SC. Sadly, he lost part of one foot in a train accident as a child. He performed in bands with such notable leaders as Jay McShann and Nat Cole and claimed to be influenced most by Blind Boy Fuller.

Clara "Violet Green" Smith
Born circa 1894, Spartanburg, SC. This singer and pianist of vaudeville tent show fame was also known as the "Queen of the Moaners."

Charles Henry "Baby" Tate
Born January 28, 1916, Elberton, Georgia; died August 17, 1972, Columbia, SC. Tate moved to Greenville, SC at the age of ten and took up with Blind Boy Fuller. He learned guitar, and his music developed along similar lines as Fuller"s, in a distinctively Southeastern style. He partnered with Pink Anderson for several years and this connection led to Tate making an album in 1962, in which he demonstrated a wide, traditional repertoire. He recorded again, ten years later, with harmonica player Peg Leg Sam.

Willie Walker
Born 1896, SC; died 1933, Greenville, SC. Blind from birth, Walker worked only as a musician and was playing guitar in a string band with Rev. Gary Davis by 1911 and was considered by Josh White to be the best guitarist he ever heard. He had his own successful recording career and in 1930, Walker released two recordings of South Carolina Rag, but he considered recording to have little merit. He was a strong singer, but it was his guitar that immediately astonishes lightening fast, but impeccably clear. Six decades later, musicians are still in awe over Willie Walker"s guitar picking. He is considered one of the best of SC"s musicians.

Joshua Daniel "Josh" aka "Pinewood Tom" White and "The Singing Christian" Born February 11, 1915, Greenville, SC. A grounding in church music stood Josh White in good stead, as it was something to which he returned at various points in his long career as a blues singer and later, folk entertainer. His father was a preacher, so he sang gospel, but peppered his career with secular blues under alternate names, with songs such as Sissy Man Blues. He also performed topical songs of protest nature such as Silicosis Blues and Jim Crow Train. He toured overseas in the postwar years and recorded extensively from 1932 until his death in 1969.

Walter Hyatt & Uncle Walt"s Band
Walter Hyatt was a Spartanburg based musician and songwriter. Perhaps Hyatt's greatest achievement was his impact on the music of others. Although his band, Uncle Walt's Band, appeared on Austin City Limits in the early eighties, their music was too eclectic for popular tastes, and they were largely regarded as a favorite band of other musicians.
Lyle Lovett, David Ball, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Marshall Chapman, Hal Ketchum, and Junior Brown all fell under their influence. Hyatt's untimely death in 1996 on the Value jet DC-9 in the Everglades brought musical tributes from Lovett, Brown, Victor Mecyssne, David Olney, Shawn Colvin, David Halley, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, David Ball, Champ Hood, Willis Alan Ramsey and Jerry Jeff Walker. BJ Thomas and Jerry Jeff Walker have recorded songs Hyatt wrote.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Don Reno
Don Reno was born in Spartanburg, SC, on February 21, 1926. Virtually
unrivalled among his contemporaries for his mastery of the five-string banjo, Don Reno teamed with Red Smiley to create some of the finest bluegrass recordings of the postwar era Considered by many to be among the greatest banjo players of all time, Don was the first to use a three-finger method of banjo picking. He directly influenced Earl Scruggs, another great banjo player from nearby town of Shelby, N.C. In the mid '50's Reno created a group with Red Smiley which was among the most popular bluegrass bands for a number of years.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Arthur Smith
Hailing from Spartanburg, SC, Arthur Smith is best known for co-writing
"Feudin' Banjos (usually called Dueling Banjos)," which was used as the theme to the movie "Deliverance," and has since become the most stereotypical song associated with the bluegrass form of music. Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks had a popular radio on WSPA in Spartanburg.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Bobby Thompson
Also from Spartanburg, Bobby Thompson was one of the developers of the
melodic style of banjo playing; Thompson is credited by master picker Tony Trishcka as being a towering figure who "re-thought the instrument." Although Bill Keith is usually credited with creating this style of play, Thompson was using it in the mid-fifties after hearing Western North Carolinian Carol Best play a melodic style. Thompson was important in the history of the instrument's development for yet another reason: he was first to play the blues on the banjo.
http://www.sparklenet.com/1_Visitors_Center/Local_Notables/Music.htm

Buck Trent
Buck "Mr. Banjo" Trent was not only one of the finest players in country music. He was also the inventor of the electric banjo. Born Charles Wilburn Trent in Spartanburg, South Carolina, he began playing steel guitar at age seven, and debuted professionally on an Asheville, North Carolina television station at age 17. He joined the Bill Carlisle Show near the end of the 1950s and soon afterward made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1962, he joined Porter Wagoner's Wagon Masters and designed the electric banjo; an instrument shaped something like a steel guitar which featured a mobile bridge used to change the pitch.
http://www.mp3.com/buck-trent/artists/17895/biography.html