Dan Hornsby | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Isaac Daniel Hornsby |
| Born | (1900-02-01)February 1, 1900 |
| Origin | Atlanta,Georgia, US |
| Died | May 18, 1951(1951-05-18) (aged 51) |
| Genres | Folk music,pop music,jazz,Americana music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, producer, musician, recording artist |
| Instrument(s) | vocals, trumpet, piano |
| Years active | 1919–1951 |
| Labels | Columbia Records,RCA Victor,Bluebird Records |
Isaac Daniel (Dan) Hornsby (February 18, 1900 – May 18, 1951) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, recording artist, producer and arranger, studio engineer, band leader,artists and repertoire (A&R) man withColumbia Records, and radio personality.[1]
Hornsby began performing in the 1920s, and over the years, he formed or backed up bands. He often played multiple roles, from an idea for a song, to when it was produced. His songs were a combination of country and folk music. Hornsby acquired country, folk, and blues talent for Columbia Records and MGM, includingBessie Smith and other talents.
TheGrammy Museum had a display of his music archive artifacts for Columbia Records in 2013. Hornsby was inducted into the Atlanta Music Hall of Fame in 1986.
Hornsby was born in Georgia on February 18, 1900.[2][3] His parents were Annie May Todd Hornsby, born in Kentucky, and Joe T. Hornsby, a painter born in Georgia.[3] His father was a contractor and a part-timeBaptistminister.[4] Dan Hornsby spent most of his childhood inAtlanta, GA where he lived in 1910[5] with his parents, Annie Mae Todd & J. Todd, and two younger sisters, Helen and Cynthia.[3] Joseph T Hornsby, Dan & Louise Hornsby’s was the first born of five children of two sons and three daughters. Joseph Thomas registered for the draft at age 18 and was a student atNorth Georgia College. He lived inFulton County, Georgia, at that time.[2][5]
At age 19, Dan Hornsby worked as a painter with the W.E. Browne Decorating Co. inColumbus, Georgia, with his father and while painting a hotel, met Louise Wise ofLittle Rock, Arkansas. She sang and danced.[5] They married about 1920[5] and had three daughters Dorothy, Helen, Silvia and two sons, Joseph T. and Robert S.[6] Their children were Joseph, Dorothy, Helen, Robert, and Silvia.[7] Hornsby died on May 18, 1951,[6][8] and was buried at the Crest Lawn Cemetery inUpper Westside, Atlanta.[9]
Nikki Hornsby, Dan Hornsby's granddaughter, became a singer and songwriter in the late 20th and early 21st century. She inherited her grandfather's music archive after her parents died and has worked to keep the memory of his music career alive.[1]
Hornsby enteredshow business in the 1920s.[5] He formed the Dan Hornsby Quartet with Perry Bechtel, Taylor Flanagan, and Sterling Melvin.[10]
Of the performers:
The quartet became a trio in 1927 when Perry Bechtel left the group. The trio played on aWSB (AM) program in Atlanta.[11]
Besides his quartet and trio, Hornsby created or joinedSkillet Lickers, Young Brothers Tennessee Band, Georgia Organ Grinders, Lowe Stokes and His North Georgians,[5] and Bamby Baker Boys.[10]
In 1922, Atlanta'sWSM Radio went on air, making Bamby Baker Boys, Hornsby's group, the first commercial performers on the station.[10]In the 1920s and 1930s, Hornsby was a radio announcer in Atlanta.[8] He had his own program, sponsored by a bakery, on Atlanta'sWSM Radio station where he acquired the nickname "Cheerful Dan". He sang in two octaves and had speaking roles under the name "Tom Dorsey" for drama shows. He also often wrote the scripts and performed for recordings with Gid Tanner and the Skillet-Lickers for Columbia Records.[5]
Hornsby began his career as atalent scout withColumbia Records,RCA Victor Records and then worked for MGM, during which he looked for talented performers — often in the country and blues genres — and signed those he chose to a contract.[1] Hornsby discoveredHank Williams for MGM[1] andGid Tanner and theSkillet Lickers,[1][5]Riley Puckett,Bessie Smith,Clarence Ashley, andCharlie Poole at Columbia.[1] In 1931, he recruited Alton and Rabon Delmore (later known asDelmore Brothers) for Columbia Records.[5]
He recruited African American musicians, including Robert Hicks, a blues singer who played the guitar.[5] Hornsby, who met Hicks at a barbecue restaurant, named him "Barbecue Bob" and used an image of Hicks in a chef's apron and hat, by a barbecue pit of roasting pork for marketing.[5] He had white bands and performers in recording sessions with Black musicians, which was highly unusualat that time in the South.[5]
Columbia selected a producer to record his songs, like "Dear Old Girl" and "O, Susanna". By 1931, he and his band recorded more than two dozen sides.[5] "Arkansas Traveler" was first recorded with Hornsby's voice.[10]
He then produced his recordings, such as "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", "I Want A Girl", and "You Are My Sunshine", for its inaugural recording.[10] He produced recordings with the Young Brothers Tennessee Band, like "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" and "Little Brown Jug".[10]
He wrote, sang, and produced a few original folk songs for Columbia.[12]
On August 28, 1928, a building collapsed inShelby, North Carolina, killing six people and injuring twice as many.[13] Hornsby composed a song, "Shelby Disaster":[1][4][14]
Let the tears of fond remembrance,
flow gently, full and free;
Let all who read my story,
extend their sympathy.But the whispering hope of ages,
with true ambition shod,
leaps forth with reconstruction,
for hope is part of God.And remember there's a city,
whose streets should be our goal,
where buildings never crumble,
that city of the soul.— Dan Hornsby,The Shelby Disaster [1]
TheGreat Depression (1929–1939) affected the phonographic industry, and Hornsby lost his job with Columbia Records despite selling over 9,000 copies of "The Shelby Disaster". Together withClayton McMichen, Hornsby wroteHistory in a few words [1][15] published in 1931 byShapiro, Bernstein & Co.[16]
He returned to radio and worked with several stations, includingWGST and WSB, where he was a scriptwriter, announcer, and entertainer until his death.[5] ForBluebird Records, he played Uncle Ned in a series of children's bedtime stories[5] and sang with thebig band ofPerry Bechtel.[17] In 1934, he joinedRCA Victor Records.[5]
In 1986, Hornsby was inducted into theAtlanta Country Music Hall of Fame,[10] joining some of his friends and associates:Gid Tanner,Clayton McMichen, andRiley Puckett.[18]
In 2013, Hornsby was given a display for theColumbia Records display in theGrammy Museum in Los Angeles, California, for one year. Other artifacts were donated by his granddaughter, Nikki Hornsby, including records, posters, and recordings ofBessie Smith,Harry James,Frank Sinatra, and others.[10]
| Year[19][20] | Songs |
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| 1927 |
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| 1928 |
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| 1929 | 
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| 1930 |
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| 1931 |
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| 1934 |
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| 1939 |
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| unknown |
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