Down Yonder - Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (1934) скачать в хорошем качестве

Down Yonder - Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (1934)

Today is an instrumental by Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers called "Down Yonder". This song was their best seller and one of their most popular. To its credit, it really shows off the skill of the band. It was recorded in a hotel in San Antonio, Texas for Victor on March 29, 1934. Today's sound comes from a 1947 RCA Victor re-issue of the original Bluebird B-5562. James Gideon Tanner was born on June 6, 1885 near Monroe, Georgia. Although he learned to play the fiddle at the age of 14, he made a living as a chicken farmer for the majority of his life. Even as a chicken farmer, he'd enter fiddle competitions and soon got the reputation of being one of the best around. It became common that he would end up in the final rounds with his "rival" Fiddlin' John Carson, and these two ruled the circuit barely giving victories to anyone else around. Not surprising when Tanner supposedly had a repertoire of over 2000 songs! Gid Tanner teamed up with blind guitarist Riley Puckett and signed a contract with Columbia in 1924, becoming the label's earliest "hillbilly" recording. Clayton McMichen (fiddle) and Fate Norris (banjo and harmonica) joined the duo in 1926 forming the Skillet Lickers. Between 1926 and 1931, 88 sides were recorded with 82 of them being issued. Later members that would come along and replace others were Lowe Stokes, Bert Layne, Hoke Rice, Arthur Tanner and Hoyt "Slim" Bryant (all also from Georgia). The group would sit down twice a year and hammer out a long recording session. This was due to the members of the group not being full-time musicians. For instance, McMichen was an auto mechanic and welder, and as stated before, Tanner was a chicken farmer. Due to differing opinions in style and tastes between Puckett and McMichen, the band would officially last until 1931, but they would reform and pop out a few more songs here and there. Some of their best works came from these get-togethers like today's song, "Down Yonder". Puckett would go on to have a successful solo career, recording for Columbia, Decca and Victor in the 1930's and early 1940's. What set the Skillet Lickers apart wasn't what they did to make themselves stand out or what innovation they brought to music, but rather they authentically brought a more secluded type of music to the masses. What would usually only be heard in small mountain town gatherings or picnic or parties was now able to be heard and enjoyed by anyone with a record player. In the folk music revival of the 1960's, Gideon's son, Gordon, formed the "Junior Skillet Lickers" and Tanner's grandson, Phil, went on to form the "Skillet Lickers II".