Bert Layne, Great Old Time Country Fiddler (December 14, 1889-October 22, 1982)
rjblaustein
Bert Monroe Layne was born in Crawford County in the Ozark Mountains
of western Arkansas on December 14, 1889. Layne's entire family was
musical; his
uncles and aunts made their own home-made banjos. As Layne
recollected,"They all played banjo, and he used to kill everybody's
cat around there to get a hide for his banjos."
Layne began fiddling for local dances during his boyhood. By the time
he was sixteen years old, Layne left home and started traveling around
the western United States. In 1925, Layne met the great fiddler
Clayton McMichen, who became his brother-in-law as well as his long-
term playing partner. Layne and McMichen teamed up with Dacula,
Georgia chicken farmer and fiddler
Gid Tanner and recorded with him as members of The Skillet Lickers in
1926.
In addition to performing and recording with The Skillet Lickers,
Layne also played and recorded with McMichen's Melody Men and the
Georgia Wildcats.
Layne also recorded with Lowe Stokes and Claude Davis as the Lookout
Mountain Revelers, Davis, Stokes and Layne, and The Monroe County
Bottle Tippers. Layne also led several recording groups including Bert
Layne's Melody Boys and Bert Layne's Serenaders.
By 1931, Layne and McMichen began broadcasting on radio station WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio. Layne spent the remainder of his life playing and
broadcasting in the greater Cincinnati area. He lived in Covington,
Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati for many years
and died in Battleground, Kentucky on October 22, 1982.
You can read an excellent detailed biography of Bert Layne on the
Bluegrass Messengers website: http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/bert-layne-biography.aspx
You can see a google map showing where Bert Layne was born and spent
his long career as a great old time country fiddler by going to:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108456232374072017347.00047ab3aa1cbb555a850&ll=37.352693,-84.396973&spn=12.023673,25.268555&z=6
Bert Layne's fiddling can be heard on several classic old time songs
Gid Tanner and The Skillet Lickers recorded for Columbia Records'
Frank Walker in Atlanta on April 17, 1926:
Bully of The Town Co 15074-D
http://www.archive.org/details/Gid_Tanner-Bully_Of_The_Town
Pass Around The Bottle And We'll All Take A Drink Co-15071-D
http://www.archive.org/details/Bottle
Alabama Jubilee Co-15104-D
http://www.archive.org/details/GidTannerHisSkilletLickers-01-10
Clayton McMichen and his brother-in-law played twin fiddles in several
string bands including the Georgia Organ Grinders:
"Charming Betsy"
http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/348%20Georgia%20Organ%20Grinders%20-%20Charming%20Betsy.mp3
"Georgia Man"
http://honkingduck.com/mc/listen/georgia-organ-grinders/georgia-man
Artist: Georgia Organ Grinders
Title: Georgia Man
Album: Columbia 15445 - D
Year: 1929
"I Was Born Four Thousand Years Ago"
http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/349%20Georgia%20Organ%20Grinders%20-%20Four%20Thousand%20Years%20Ago.mp3
"Smoke Behind The Clouds"
http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/350%20Georgia%20Organ%20Grinders%20-%20Smoke%20Behind%20The%20Clouds.mp3
You can hear several recordings of Clayton McMichen's Georgia Wildcats
on the Internet Archive collection of 78rpm records:
http://www.archive.org/details/ClaytonMcmichensGeorgiaWildcats-01-10