Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band was a Choctaw Indian string band from Oklahoma, United States. The band was composed of members of the Hall family—Henry, father, on vocals and fiddle; and sons Clarence on guitar and Harold on banjo. They played from Wichita, Kansas.[1]
Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Oklahoma, USA |
| Genres | String band |
| Years active | 1920s-1930s |
| Labels | RCA Victor |
| Past members | Henry Hall (1877-1941) Harold Hall (1901-1986) Clarence Hall (1908-1975) |
H. C. Speir, a music promoter from Jackson, Mississippi, heard them playing at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He got them a recording contract with RCA Victor, who recorded a number of songs in Dallas, October 14, 1929.[2]
Discography edit
- Original recording date October 14, 1929, Dallas.[3]
Session Title Recording BVE 56382-2 Blue Bird Waltz V-40225 BVE 56383-2 Choctaw Waltz V-40225 BVE 56384-2 Indian Tom-Tom V-40281 BVE 56385-2 The Indian's Dream V-40281 BVE 56386-2 Cherokee Rag V-40195 BVE 56387-2 On The Banks Of The Kaney V-40195
References edit
- ^ Sisson, The American Midwest, p. 385: "Big Chief Henry Hall of Wichita, Kansas, recorded commercially in Dallas in 1929, ..."
- ^ Wardlow, Chasin' That Devil Music, pp. 146-147: "He [HC Speir] loved white fiddle music. He found a Choctaw Indian fiddle band from Oklahoma that was at the Philadelphia Choctaw Festival in the summertime and got them on Victor. Big Chief Henry was his name."
- ^ Spottswod, Ethnic Music on Records, p. 2928.
Bibliography edit
- Sisson, Richard; Christian K. Zacher; Andrew Robert Lee Cayton (eds.). The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-253-34886-2
- Spottswood, Richard K. Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942 & etc. (Vol. 5). University of Illinois Press. 1990. ISBN 0-252-01723-4
- Wardlow, Gayle Dean. Chasin' That Devil Music: Searching for the Blues. Backbeat Books, 1998. ISBN 0-87930-552-5
External links edit
- Choctaw Indian Fair—Philadelphia, Mississippi.