sugarinthegourd - Posted - 03/15/2012:  09:21:28

One of my favorite thing about Old-Time music are the wonderful names that these musicians had. Over the past year or so I assembled a list of some of my favorites, which I will paste below.

What other great names am I missing? Once we have a "complete" list of candidates maybe I will have a poll to see which name is the favorite.

Pug Allen

Dr. Humphrey Bate

Mumford Bean

Justus Begley

Jont Blevins

Heywood Blevins

Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs

Samantha Bumgartner

Enos Canoy

French Carpenter

Dillard Chandler

Berzilla Wallin (nee Chandler)

Hiter Colvin

Jenes Cottrell

Hobart Crabtree

Kyle Creed

Rufus Crisp

Clyde Davenport

DeFord Bailey

Alex "Uncle Eck" Dunford

Lyman Enloe

Ahaz Augustus Gray

Murph Gribble

Edden Hammons

Albert Hash

Harold Hausenfluck

Buna Vista "Buny" Hicks

Roscoe Holcomb

Archie "Prince" Albert Hunt

Buell Kazee

Jehile Kirkhuff

Emmett Lundy

Bascom Lamar Lunsford

Odus Maggard

Hubert "Hub" Mahaffey

Emery McClung

Hoyt Ming

Sidna Myers

Fate Norris

Frederick R. "Chubby" Parker

Harry "Tink" Queer

Obray Ramsey

Almeda Riddle

George "Shortbuckle" Roark

Dink Roberts

Alexander "Eck" Robertson

Jilson Setters

Matokie Slaughter

Manco Sneed

Kilby Snow

John L. "Uncle Bunt" Stephens

Lowe Stokes

Myrtle Vermillion

Davy Crockett Ward

Fields Ward

Wade Ward

Wilmer Watts

Dick Weems

Da Costa Woltz

Nimrod Workman

 

Edited by - sugarinthegourd on 03/22/2012 08:39:24

Ron Ortegel - Posted - 03/15/2012:  09:46:00

Roscoe Holcomb

Clyde Davenport

mojo_monk - Posted - 03/15/2012:  09:58:06

John "Seven Foot Dilly" Dilleshaw

French Carpenter

Byford Tite

Monte Sano Crowder

Gordon "Gid" Tanner

Fate Norris

Bolen Frost

Cecil Seeley

Theophilus G. Hoskins

Uncle Am Stuart

Lowe Stokes

Estill Bingham

Jilson Setters (J.W. Day)

biscuit joiner - Posted - 03/15/2012:  10:06:55

I was really hoping I could get Nimrod Workman in there, but you already got him. Rats.

RG - Posted - 03/15/2012:  10:08:54

Dink Roberts

Lucius Smith

Justus Begley

Fields Ward

Bascom Lamar Lunsford

Obray Ramsey

Creed Birchfield

Lewis "Big Sweet" Hariston

Murph Gribble

Sid Hemphill

Isham Monday

Crockett Ward

Cuje Bertram

PigAnkle - Posted - 03/15/2012:  10:37:13

Bookmiller Shannon 

....And I think "Grinnell Giggers" should be stricken from the list - it's a band name.

Edited by - PigAnkle on 03/15/2012 10:39:01

llrevis - Posted - 03/15/2012:  10:48:30

Uncle Dave Macon

Edden Hammons

Burl Hammons

Hiram Stamper

Art Stamper

John Salyer

Ed Haley

Buddy Thomas

J  P Fraley

bd - Posted - 03/15/2012:  10:48:33

DAVE MACON

darn it beat me to it

Edited by - bd on 03/15/2012 10:49:32

bd - Posted - 03/15/2012:  10:51:18

Well then a different Dave.

Dave Akeman aka "Stringbean"

robinja - Posted - 03/15/2012:  11:26:37

Willie Narmour
Shell Smith
Hiter Colvin
Riley Puckett

robinja - Posted - 03/15/2012:  11:29:08

Eldia Barbee

black flag - Posted - 03/15/2012:  12:09:44

Esco Hankins

whyteman - Posted - 03/15/2012:  12:53:09

Sidna Meyers
Dewey Balfa
Melvin Wine
Son House
Samantha Baumgartner
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Esker Hutchins
Enoch Rutherford
Harold Hausenfluck

sugarinthegourd - Posted - 03/15/2012:  12:55:36

quote:

---

Originally posted by PigAnkle

....And I think "Grinnell Giggers" should be stricken from the list - it's a band name.

---

Wow! I didn't know that. I always thought that was someone's name.

Thanks all for the updates. Some of these, I can't believe I didn't think to include. Some others I've never heard of. Others, I just didn't find the names weird enough, or the names themselves (as in John Dilleshaw) are more prosaic, and only the nickname ("Seven-foot Dilly") is really odd. I will update my original post to reflect some of these additions and remove Mr. Giggers.

Keep 'em coming!

twothphry - Posted - 03/15/2012:  16:47:16

Does Taj Mahal qualify as an old time banjo player?

Chris Berry - Posted - 03/15/2012:  17:01:14

quote:

---

Originally posted by sugarinthegourd

Some of these, I can't believe I didn't think to include. Some others I've never heard of. Others, I just didn't find the names weird enough, or the names themselves (as in John Dilleshaw) are more prosaic, and only the nickname ("Seven-foot Dilly") is really odd. I will update my original post to reflect some of these additions and remove Mr. Giggers.

Keep 'em coming!

---

Fisher Hendley

Dorsey Dixon

Also, going back to one of the other lists, Gid Tanner's first name really was James (his son is Gordon), and his middle name was Gideon. Also, Seven-foot Dilly is not at all an odd nickname once you've seen a photo of Mr. Dilleshaw. He was a large, large man (and played guitar upside-down like Elizabeth Cotten!).

Roosterick - Posted - 03/15/2012:  19:55:35

Kasper Delmar "Stranger" Malone

robinja - Posted - 03/15/2012:  20:41:50

Thought of a few more:
Benton Flippen
Da Costa Woltz
Gaither Carlton
Manco Sneed
YZ Hamilton

banjopogo - Posted - 03/15/2012:  22:22:50

No, they sure don't name 'em like they used to!!!

oldtimer - Posted - 03/15/2012:  22:35:01

Well, you folks managed to name six men that I have known personally...that shows you how old I am. I would add a couple more off the top of my head: Cotton Combs and Riley Baugus. I used to tell Riley that he has the perfect name for an old-time musician.

stay tooned....

Glenn Godsey

oldtimer - Posted - 03/15/2012:  22:36:36

Oh, yes...I don't anyone mentioned Snake Chapman.

oldtimer - Posted - 03/15/2012:  22:42:19

and Manco Sneed.

bagunhe - Posted - 03/15/2012:  22:54:48

quote:

---

Originally posted by oldtimer

and Manco Sneed.

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So embarrassed to hear his first name in Japan

Bosco

oldtimer - Posted - 03/15/2012:  23:02:01

quote:

---

Originally posted by bagunhe

quote:

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Originally posted by oldtimer

and Manco Sneed.

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So embarrassed to hear his first name in Japan

Bosco

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Ha-ha. I remember you mentioned that a few years ago!

Heath Curdts - Posted - 03/16/2012:  00:03:22

Almeda Riddle
Spottswood Blevins
Isom Rector
Fielding Rector
DeFord Bailey
Walter Raleigh Babson
Dewey Hamrick
Gusty Wallace
Parley Parsons
Pug Allen
Senate Cottrell
Shortbuckle Roarke

pastorharry - Posted - 03/16/2012:  01:28:56

Posey Rorer

Bo Carter

Dock Walsh

Vernon Riddle

Stoney Cooper

Ola Belle Reed

Lily Mae ledford

 Snuffy Jenkins ,Roy Huskey, Little Jimmy Dickens.

Edited by - pastorharry on 03/16/2012 01:32:17

whyteman - Posted - 03/16/2012:  01:34:54

A few from the MO/Ark Ozarks and Little Dixie area of Missouri:

Greenberry Horton...Ark banjo player related to Johnny Horton(how boring names became post WWII)
Eldon Derryberry...Mo fiddler
Alvie Dooms...still alive and picking, Bob Holt's favorite guitar backup...a great man
Cecil Goforth...Mo fiddler, source musician for Hartford
Vesta Johnson...pushing 90 and still fiddling!
Cyril Stennit...Little Dixie fiddler
Taylor McBaine...another Mo fiddler
Casey Jones...not the engineer!; a Mo fiddler
Dwight Lamb...mighta been from Iowa, but they like his tunes in North Mo.
Ollie Gilbert...SHE was a ballad singer from Ark
Jimmy Driftwood...I know, a stage name, but a good one
Lee Stoneking...SW Mo fiddler famous for cutting the ear off of a drunken heckler at a square dance.
Luke Highknight...from Ark, probably the 1st person recorded playing banjo/harmonica together back in the 1930s.

Yes! Wonderful, evocative names in Missouri/Arkansas too!

Don

BrendanD - Posted - 03/16/2012:  03:00:11

No list of old-time names could be complete without including Myrtle Vermillion, who along with Hub Mahaffey and John Dykes comprised Dykes Magic City Trio, one of the best old-time bands that ever existed! If I could go back in time and see one band, I think it would be them.

BrendanD - Posted - 03/16/2012:  03:15:42

And don't forget Roscoe Parish, Blanche Coldiron, Osey and Claude Helton, Sherman Gore, Marion Shinaberry, and Dasie Hammons Buzzard.

Edited by - BrendanD on 03/16/2012 03:19:37

mojo_monk - Posted - 03/16/2012:  04:36:24

quote:

---

Originally posted by BrendanD



 . . . Dykes Magic City Trio, one of the best old-time bands that ever existed! If I could go back in time and see one band, I think it would be them.

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Amen to that.

-Sean

banjo bill-e - Posted - 03/16/2012:  15:23:39

--------"Does Taj Mahal qualify as an old time banjo player?"

Well, according to me, hell yeah.

ramjo - Posted - 03/16/2012:  15:36:24

Two new-time guys with old-time names:

Chance McCoy

(Lynn) Chirps Smith

sugarinthegourd - Posted - 03/16/2012:  15:43:49

I can't believe I left off Manco Sneed! He was the one who started this whole thing!

Bisbonian - Posted - 03/18/2012:  18:49:28

Banjo maker Stanley Hick's mother, and fiddler, Buna Vista Hicks.  

Some people 'correct' the spelling to Buena Vista, but it really was Buna Vista, and pronounced Byoona Vista.  She went by her nickname, "Buny"...no, not Bunny, Byoony.  I lived in Colorado for a while, and found it very strange the way that locals pronounced the name of their town, in Buena Vista.  Maybe there is a connection.

Edited by - Bisbonian on 03/18/2012 18:53:22

bd - Posted - 03/19/2012:  05:06:51

quote:

---

Originally posted by banjo bill-e

--------"Does Taj Mahal qualify as an old time banjo player?"



Well, according to me, hell yeah.

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Isn't his real name Henry Fredericks?

gailg64 - Posted - 03/19/2012:  11:55:57

Wasn't going to get into this, since there are some pretty interesting names in the TN branch of my own family. However, I respectfully submit the name of a fiddler recorded by collector Peter Hoover: drum roll...

​Tink Queer

quote:

---

Originally posted by sugarinthegourd

One of my favorite thing about Old-Time music are the wonderful names that these musicians had. Over the past year or so I assembled a list of some of my favorites, which I will paste below.

What other great names am I missing? Once we have a "complete" list of candidates maybe I will have a poll to see which name is the favorite.

 

Dr. Humphrey Bate

Mumford Bean

Jont Blevins

Heywood Blevins

Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs

Enos Canoy

French Carpenter

Dillard Chandler

Berzilla Wallin (nee Chandler)

Hobart Crabtree

Kyle Creed

Rufus Crisp

Alex "Uncle Eck" Dunford

Lyman Enloe

Grinnell Giggers

Ahaz Augustus Gray

Albert Hash

Archie "Prince" Albert Hunt

Buell Kazee

Emmett Lundy

Odus Maggard

Emery McClung

Hoyt Ming

Frederick R. "Chubby" Parker

Alexander "Eck" Robertson

Jilson Setters

Matokie Slaughter

Kilby Snow

John L. "Uncle Bunt" Stephens

Davy Crockett Ward

Wade Ward

Wilmer Watts

Dick Weems

Da Costa Woltz

Nimrod Workman





 

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gailg64 - Posted - 03/19/2012:  11:58:46

Nice list, but "Grinnell Giggers" isn't actually a person's name. Grinnell is the name of a fish that you catch with a gig (not a hook & line). The fish is pretty strange though.

quote:

---

Originally posted by sugarinthegourd

One of my favorite thing about Old-Time music are the wonderful names that these musicians had. Over the past year or so I assembled a list of some of my favorites, which I will paste below.

What other great names am I missing? Once we have a "complete" list of candidates maybe I will have a poll to see which name is the favorite.

 

Dr. Humphrey Bate

Mumford Bean

Jont Blevins

Heywood Blevins

Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs

Enos Canoy

French Carpenter

Dillard Chandler

Berzilla Wallin (nee Chandler)

Hobart Crabtree

Kyle Creed

Rufus Crisp

Alex "Uncle Eck" Dunford

Lyman Enloe

Grinnell Giggers

Ahaz Augustus Gray

Albert Hash

Archie "Prince" Albert Hunt

Buell Kazee

Emmett Lundy

Odus Maggard

Emery McClung

Hoyt Ming

Frederick R. "Chubby" Parker

Alexander "Eck" Robertson

Jilson Setters

Matokie Slaughter

Kilby Snow

John L. "Uncle Bunt" Stephens

Davy Crockett Ward

Wade Ward

Wilmer Watts

Dick Weems

Da Costa Woltz

Nimrod Workman





 

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sarahbryan - Posted - 03/19/2012:  20:47:10

This list can't be complete without Razor Wolfenbarger.

By the way, though Prince Albert Hunt's legal name was Archie Albert--according to his grandson he got the "Prince" part from being called "Prince of the Fiddlers" locally, after the fashion of King of the Fiddlers Arthur Smith--his grandson is officially named Prince Albert Hunt III. Not sure about Prince, Jr., whether that was his legal name or just what folks called him.

sugarinthegourd - Posted - 03/19/2012:  21:20:10

Jenes Cottrell

whyteman - Posted - 03/20/2012:  07:34:10

Luther Strong, Lotus Dickey...

hoverflytheo - Posted - 03/20/2012:  08:13:53

Not forgetting Lucious Smith! youtube.com/watch?v=PiZ1w-Zf9X8

Edited by - hoverflytheo on 03/20/2012 08:14:34

metascrawl - Posted - 03/22/2012:  06:47:48

Jehile Kirkhuff!

sugarinthegourd - Posted - 03/22/2012:  08:15:19

quote:

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Originally posted by metascrawl

Jehile Kirkhuff!

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How did I forget Jehile??!!

ramjo - Posted - 03/22/2012:  10:33:41

Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson.

sugarinthegourd - Posted - 03/22/2012:  12:06:14

I updated my original post to include my favorites from the list. I mostly included people I have heard of, Tink Queer being the exception.

I tend to lean towards "Manco Sneed" as the best old-time musician name of all time, though he does have some stiff competition. One of these days, Bosco will have to tell me what his name means in Japanese (I have a feeling I should not ask my female Japanese employee).

niko penttinen - Posted - 03/22/2012:  15:20:54

Dick Justice

sugarinthegourd - Posted - 03/22/2012:  15:44:11

The musician, or is that what manko means in Japanese?

quote:

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Originally posted by niko penttinen

Dick Justice

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niko penttinen - Posted - 03/22/2012:  16:39:50

quote:

---

Originally posted by sugarinthegourd



The musician, or is that what manko means in Japanese?

 

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 I think he played guitar or fiddle. I dont know what manko means and im not sure if I want to google it, wink wink nudge nudge

edit: hah I did google it. manko means lady parts, not Dick Justice.

Edited by - niko penttinen on 03/22/2012 16:44:47

niko penttinen - Posted - 03/23/2012:  05:42:46

inspired by remembering his name I gave dick a spin yesterday. really cool stuff. old timey white blues/country blues whatchumacall it. 

and ill definetly name all my childen nimrod workman. thats a neat name if there ever was one.