Sam Mcgee & Kirk

[Pick-Up Man]

McGee Brothers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The McGee BrothersAlso known asSam & Kirk McGeeOriginFranklin,
Tennessee, U.S.GenresOld-time, Country music, BluesYears
active1925-1975Associated actsUncle Dave Macon and His Fruit Jar
Drinkers
The Dixieliners
Former members
Sam McGee
Kirk McGee
The McGee Brothers were an American old-time performing duo consisting
of brothers Sam McGee (b. Samuel Fleming McGee, May 1, 1894, d. August
21, 1975) and Kirk McGee (b. David Kirkland McGee, November 4, 1899, d.
October 24, 1983). Sam typically played guitar and Kirk usually played
banjo or fiddle, although they were both proficient in multiple string
instruments. The McGee Brothers were one of the most enduring acts on
the Grand Ole Opry during the show's first fifty years. They made their
initial appearance on the Opry in 1926 and the following year joined
Uncle Dave Macon's band, the Fruit Jar Drinkers. In the 1930s, the
McGees teamed up with early Opry fiddler Arthur Smith to form a string
band known as the "Dixieliners," and in the 1940s they played and toured
with Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys and several other notable acts.
The McGee Brothers saw a brief resurgence during the folk revival of the
1950s and 1960s, when folk artist Mike Seeger managed to reunite them
with Arthur Smith. The brothers made their last major appearance as a
duo on the Opry in 1974, although Kirk continued to appear regularly on
the program until his death in 1983.[1]
Contents
1 Early career
2 1930s and 1940s
3 Later career
4 Discography
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early career
Sam and Kirk McGee were born and raised in Franklin, Tennessee, a town
located just south of Nashville. Their father was a noted fiddler, and
both Sam and Kirk learned to play banjo at a young age.[1] As a
teenager, Sam picked up slide-guitar and other blues techniques from
African-American railroad workers and street musicians in his native
Williamson County, and he and Kirk subsequently adapted blues and
ragtime styles to the string band format.[2]
Around 1923, Sam and Kirk met Uncle Dave Macon, who had recently gained
regional fame as a banjoist and vaudeville performer.[3] In 1926, Sam
and Macon appeared together on the WSM Barn Dance (which later became
the Grand Ole Opry) and recorded several sides, including Sam's guitar
solos, "Buck Dancer's Choice" and "Knoxville Blues."[2] Shortly
afterward, a recording scout suggested Macon form a larger band, and
Sam, Kirk, guitarist Hubert Gregory, and bassist Golden Stewart joined
with Macon as "Uncle Dave Macon and the Fruit Jar Drinkers" (Macon chose
the name "Fruit Jar Drinkers", ignoring the fact that another band was
already using a similar name).[3] The band made several Opry
appearances, and travelled to New York to record several tracks,
including "I'm Goin' Away in the Morn" and "Bake That Chicken Pie" (by
the time it recorded, the band's line-up had shifted to include Macon's
neighbor, fiddler Mazy Todd). At the same sessions, the McGees recorded
several tracks as a duo, including "Old Master's Runaway," which was
based on the American Civil War folk song, "Year of Jubilo." Sam also
recorded "Chevrolet Car", which he had learned from a mechanic in
Nashville, and tried unsuccessfully to sell it to the Chevrolet
Corporation.[4] On "Chevrolet Car" and on several tracks recorded with
Macon in the late 1920s, Sam played a banjo-guitar, providing rare early
instances of this instrument being played effectively.[1]
[edit] 1930s and 1940s
While the McGee Brothers continued performing with Macon over the years,
by 1930 their main focus had turned to performing as a duo and with
fellow Opry pioneer "Fiddlin'" Arthur Smith.[1] In 1931, the McGees and
Smith formed the "Dixieliners," a string band named after the railroad
where Smith worked.[5] The group toured and made numerous appearances on
the Opry, but didn't make any recordings until their reunion two decades
later (Smith's "Dixieliner" recordings from the 1930s were accompanied
by the Delmore Brothers, rather than the McGees). Sam and Kirk made
several recordings during the 1930s as a duo, however, most notably
"Brown's Ferry Blues," which they recorded in 1934.[1] Sam also claimed
to have been the first performer to play an electric guitar on the Opry,
for which he was chided by Opry founder George D. Hay, who told him the
electric guitar was not "down to Earth."[6] The Dixieliners disbanded in
1938.[1]
In the 1940s, the McGee Brothers performed with some of the biggest
names in country and bluegrass, among them Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, and
Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. They also continued making
appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, sometimes accompanying their old
bandmate, Uncle Dave Macon.[7] Early in the decade, they worked briefly
with the comedy act, Sara and Sally.[3]
[edit] Later career
The McGee Brothers continued performing throughout the 1950s, both as a
duo and occasionally as solo acts. During the folk revival of the late
1950s, the McGees were "rediscovered", and experienced a brief
resurgence in popularity. Folk song enthusiast Mike Seeger managed to
reunite them with Arthur Smith in 1957, and the trio made several
recordings.[1] The trio played at various folk music festivals
throughout the 1960s, including a well-received performance at the
Newport Folk Festival in 1965. By the 1970s, the McGees were again
playing primarily as a duo. They performed at the Opry's last Ryman
Auditorium show on March 15, 1974, and as the Opry's senior members,
were among the first acts to play at the show's new Opryland venue the
following Saturday night.[2][8] Journalist Garrison Keillor, covering
the Opry's move for the New Yorker, described the McGee Brothers'
performance thus:
It was the acoustic moment of the show, when the skies cleared and the
weeping steels were silent and out of the clear blue came a little ole
guitar duet. Stunning and simple, and so good after all the sound I'd
hear that week...[9]
On August 28, 1975, Sam was killed in a tractor accident on the family
farm in Williamson County. After Sam's death, Kirk continued performing,
mostly as a regular fiddler on the Opry. He died of a heart attack on
October 24, 1983, a few days after his last appearance on the
program.[1]
[edit] Discography
Nashville - The Early String Bands, Vol. 1 (County, 2000) â€"
contains the tracks "Salt Lake City Blues", "Chevrolet Car", and
"Charming Bill"
Nashville - The Early String Bands, Vol. 2 (County, 2000) â€"
contains the tracks "Old Master's Runaway" and "Brown's Ferry Blues"
[edit] References
^ a b c d e f g h Colin Larkin (ed.), "Sam and Kirk McGee." The
Encyclopedia of Popular Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006),
638.
^ a b c Charles Wolfe, "McGee Brothers." The Encyclopedia of Country
Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1998), 340-1.
^ a b c Craig Harris, "Sam & Kirk McGee." All Music Guide. Retrieved: 16
December 2008.
^ Charles Wolfe, "Notes to Volume 2." In Nashville - The Early String
Bands, Vol. 2 (pp. 6-9) [CD liner notes]. County Records, 2000.
^ Jack Hurst, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1975),
98.
^ Hurst, 115.
^ Arthur Butterfield, Encyclopedia of Country Music (New York: Gallery
Books, 1985), 82.
^ Sandra Brennan, "Sam McGee." Retrieved: 16 December 2008.
^ Garrison Keillor, "Onward and Upward With the Arts â€" At the
Opry." The New Yorker, 6 May 1974, p. 70.
[edit] External links
Grand Ole Opry â€" Timeline
Juneberry78s.com Sampler â€" contains mp3 recordings of "Charming
Bill" and "Salty Dog Blues"
Smithsonian Global Sound â€" contains samples from the McGees' 1957
recordings with Arthur Smith
Brad Sondahl's tribute to Sam and Kirk McGee contains expanded
discography and biographical data
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGee_Brothers"
Categories: Musical groups from Tennessee | Old-time musicians | Grand
Ole Opry members | People from Williamson County, Tennessee | 1920s
music groups
views
article
discussion
edit this page
history
personal tools
Try Beta
Log in / create account

Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
search
 
Interaction
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact Wikipedia
Donate to Wikipedia
Help
toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this page
This page was last modified on 12 October 2009 at 15:15.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
Contact us
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers