Darby and Tarlton
Encyclopedia
Darby and Tarlton was an early country music
duo, who achieved some level of success in the late 1920s. The duo consisted of Tom Darby (born August 25, 1891 Columbus, Georgia
- died August 20, 1971) and Jimmie Tarlton, (born May 8, 1892 Cheraw, South Carolina
- died November 29, 1979 Phenix City, Alabama
).
learning folk songs from an early age. His parents were sharecroppers and he had to help out with the chores. He still managed to find the time to learn the slide guitar and banjo. After working as a street musician in the 1920s, Tarlton met Frank Ferera
who taught him how to play the Hawaiian guitar. Tarlton soon moved to Columbus, Georgia
where he met Tom Darby. They began performing together and shortly, they were offered a chance to make a recording for Columbia Records
. Two songs were cut on April 5, 1927 and the recording sold well enough to allow a second recording session. On November 10, 1927 they recorded four songs, among them "Birmingham Jail" and "Columbus Stockade Blues". The two songs, coupled on one record, became the duo's biggest hits selling more than 200 000 copies. Darby and Tarlton recorded 63 songs between 1927 and 1933. In the early 1930s they became hostile towards each other and went their separate ways. Their hostility seemed to be about royalty issues.
Tom Darby formed a short lived duo in 1931 together with Jesse Pitts, called "The Georgia Wildcats". Darby and Tarlton both retired in 1935, and although they lived in the same town, they never spoke to one another again.
During the folk revival of the 1960s, Tarlton found himself performing once more.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
duo, who achieved some level of success in the late 1920s. The duo consisted of Tom Darby (born August 25, 1891 Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
- died August 20, 1971) and Jimmie Tarlton, (born May 8, 1892 Cheraw, South Carolina
Cheraw, South Carolina
Cheraw is a town on the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,524 at the 2000 census and center of an urban cluster with a total population of 9,069. It has been nicknamed "The Prettiest Town in Dixie." The harbor tub USS Cheraw was named in the...
- died November 29, 1979 Phenix City, Alabama
Phenix City, Alabama
Phenix City is a city and the county seat in Russell County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Portions of Lee County are addressed as Phenix City, 36870 ZIP code, for the sole purpose that Smiths Station does not have full incorporation to annex the area...
).
Biography
Tarlton grew up on a farm in Chesterfield County, South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
learning folk songs from an early age. His parents were sharecroppers and he had to help out with the chores. He still managed to find the time to learn the slide guitar and banjo. After working as a street musician in the 1920s, Tarlton met Frank Ferera
Frank Ferera
Frank Ferera was a Hawaiian musician who recorded successfully between 1915 and 1930. He was the first star of Hawaiian music and influenced many later artists.-Biography:...
who taught him how to play the Hawaiian guitar. Tarlton soon moved to Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
where he met Tom Darby. They began performing together and shortly, they were offered a chance to make a recording for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. Two songs were cut on April 5, 1927 and the recording sold well enough to allow a second recording session. On November 10, 1927 they recorded four songs, among them "Birmingham Jail" and "Columbus Stockade Blues". The two songs, coupled on one record, became the duo's biggest hits selling more than 200 000 copies. Darby and Tarlton recorded 63 songs between 1927 and 1933. In the early 1930s they became hostile towards each other and went their separate ways. Their hostility seemed to be about royalty issues.
Tom Darby formed a short lived duo in 1931 together with Jesse Pitts, called "The Georgia Wildcats". Darby and Tarlton both retired in 1935, and although they lived in the same town, they never spoke to one another again.
During the folk revival of the 1960s, Tarlton found himself performing once more.
Darby and Tarlton
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 143902 | "Down In Florida On a Hog" | Columbia 15197-D | April 5, 1927 |
| 143903 | "Birmingham Town" | Columbia 15197-D | April 5, 1927 |
| 145202 | "Birmingham Jail" | Columbia 15212-D | November 10, 1927 |
| 145203 | "Columbus Stockade Blues" | Columbia 15212-D | November 10, 1927 |
| 145204 | "Gamblin' Jim" | Columbia 15684-D | November 10, 1927 |
| 145205 | "Lonesome In the Pines" | Columbia 15684-D | November 10, 1927 |
| 146042 | "After the Ball" | Columbia 15254-D | April 12, 1928 |
| 146043 | "I Can't Tell You Why I Love You" | Columbia 15254-D | April 12, 1928 |
| 146044 | "Irish Police" | Columbia 15293-D | April 12, 1928 |
| 146045 | "The Hobo Tramp" | Columbia 15293-D | April 12, 1928 |
| 146046 | "Alto Waltz" | Columbia 15319-D | April 12, 1928 |
| 146047 | "Sleeping In the Manger" | Columbia unissued | April 12, 1928 |
| 146048 | "Daddy Won't Have No Easy Rider Here" | Columbia unissued | April 12, 1928 |
| 146049 | "Mexican Rag" | Columbia 15319-D | April 12, 1928 |
| 147358 | "Birmingham Jail no.2" | Columbia 15375-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 147359 | "The Rainbow Division" | Columbia 15360-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 147360 | "Country Girl Valley" | Columbia 15360-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 147361 | "Lonesome Railroad" | Columbia 15375-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 147366 | "If You Ever Learn To Love Me" | Columbia 15388-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 147367 | "If I Had Listened To My Mother" | Columbia 15388-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 147368 | "Traveling Yodel Blues" | Columbia 15330-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 147369 | "Heavy Hearted Blues" | Columbia 15330-D | October 31, 1928 |
| 148293 | "The New York Hobo" | Columbia 15452-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148294 | "All Bound Down In Texas" | Columbia 15477-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148295 | "Touring Yodel Blues" | Columbia 15419-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148296 | "Slow Wicked Blues" | Columbia 15419-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148297 | "Black Jack Moonshine" | Columbia 15452-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148298 | "Ain't Gonna Marry No More" | Columbia 15477-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148303 | "Down In the Old Cherry Orchard" | Columbia 15403-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148304 | "Where the Bluebirds Nest Again" | Columbia 15403-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148305 | "Beggar Joe" | Columbia 15624-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148306 | "When You're Far Away From Home" | Columbia 15624-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148307 | "Birmingham Rag" | Columbia 15436-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 148308 | "Sweet Sarah Blues" | Columbia 15436-D | April 15, 1929 |
| 149308 | "Where the River Shannon Flows" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 |
| 149309 | "Little Bessie" | Columbia 15492-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149310 | "I Left Her At the River" | Columbia 15492-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149311 | "Jack and May" | Columbia 15528-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149312 | "Captain Won't You Let Me Go Home" | Columbia 15528-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149313 | "The Blue and the Grey" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 |
| 149322 | "Going Back To My Texas Home" | Columbia 15715-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149323 | "The Whistling Songbird" | Columbia 15511-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149324 | "Freight Train Ramble" | Columbia 15511-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149325 | "Lonesome Frisco Line" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 |
| 149326 | "Down Among the Sugar Cane" | Columbia 15715-D | October 31, 1929 |
| 149327 | "What Is Home Without Love" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 |
| 150247 | "The Black Sheep" | Columbia 15674-D | April 16, 1930 |
| 150248 | "Little Ola" | Columbia 15591-D | April 16, 1930 |
| 150249 | "Once I Had a Sweetheart" | Columbia 15674-D | April 16, 1930 |
| 150250 | "The Maple On the Hill" | Columbia 15591-D | April 16, 1930 |
| 150251 | "My Father Died a Drunkard" | Columbia 15552-D | April 16, 1930 |
| 150252 | "Frankie Dean" | Columbia 15701-D | April 16, 1930 |
| 150263 | "Pork Chops" | Columbia 15611-D | April 17, 1930 |
| 150264 | "On the Banks of a Lonely River" | Columbia 15572-D | April 17, 1930 |
| 150265 | "Faithless Husband" | Columbia 15552-D | April 17, 1930 |
| 150266 | "Hard Time Blues" | Columbia 15611-D | April 17, 1930 |
| 150267 | "Rising Sun Blues" | Columbia 15701-D | April 17, 1930 |
| 150268 | "My Little Blue Heaven" | Columbia 15572-D | April 17, 1930 |
| 71627 | "Thirteen Years In Kilbie Prison" | Victor 23680 | February 28, 1932 |
| 71628 | "Once I Had a Fortune" | Victor 23680 | February 29, 1932 |
| 13432 | "Let's Be Friends Again" | (ARC) Ba 32810 | June 7, 1933 |
| 13433 | "I Long For the Pines" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 |
| 13437 | "Black Sheep" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 |
Jimmie Tarlton
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 151000 | "Careless Love" | Columbia 15651-D | December 3, 1930 |
| 151001 | "By the Old Oaken Bucket Louise" | Columbia 15763-D | December 3, 1930 |
| 151002 | "Lowe Bonnie" | Columbia 15763-D | December 3, 1930 |
| 151003 | "After the Sinking of the Titanic" | Columbia unissued | December 3, 1930 |
| 151004 | "New Birmingham Jail" | Columbia 15629-D | December 3, 1930 |
| 151005 | "Roy Dixon" | Columbia 15629-D | December 3, 1930 |
| 151010 | "Moonshine Blues" | Columbia 15651-D | December 4, 1930 |
| 151011 | "Over the Hills Maggie" | Columbia unissued | December 4, 1930 |
| 71629 | "Dixie Mail" | Victor 23665 | February 29, 1932 |
| 71630 | "The Weaver's Blues" | Victor 23700 | February 29, 1932 |
| 71631 | "Sweetheart of My Dreams" | Victor 23665 | February 29, 1932 |
| 71632 | "Ooze Up To Me" | Victor 23700 | February 29, 1932 |
| 13434 | "Hitch Hike Bums" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 |
| 13435 | "By the Old Oaken Bucket Louise" | (ARC) Ba 32810 | June 7, 1933 |
| 13436 | "Baby I Can't Use You" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 |
The Georgia Wildcats
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 69365 | "She's Waiting For Me (Fort Benning Blues)" | Victor 23640 | May 27, 1931 |
| 69378 | "The Bootlegger Song" | Victor unissued | May 29, 1931 |
| 69379 | "The Monkey Song" | Victor unissued | May 29, 1931 |
| 69380 | "Goin' Down That Lonesome Frisco Line" | Victor 23640 | May 29, 1931 |
| 69398 | "Broke Man Blues" | Victor unissued | May 30, 1931 |
| 69399 | "High Sheriff From Georgia" | Victor unissued | May 30, 1931 |