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Bradley Kincaid
Born:  July 13, 1895
Died:  September 23, 1989
Kentucky Music Hall of Fame (2002)
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1971)
WLS National Barn Dance
WLW Boone County Jamboree
WSM Grand Ole Opry
WGY Schenectady, NY
WHAM Rochester, NY
WLS Chicago, IL
WLW Cincinnati, OH
WSM Nashville, TN
WTAM Cleveland, OH
WWSO Springfield, OH


About The Artist

Known and loved by thousands of radio listeners in ever section of the country as "The Mountain Boy with His Houn' Dog Guitar and Old Mountain Songs".

Now how did he get to have a hound dog guitar? The story is that his father swapped a hunting dog for his guitar. He didn't like the term 'hillbilly' singer and preferred to call himself a folk singer. But we hope he realizes that we use the term with some affection here.

He did his first appearances as a singer over radio station WLS in Chicago as part of the YMCA College quartet in 1926, 1927. Then, as fate often does, a Mr. Campbell, the director of the quartet, mentioned to the musical director of WLS, Don Malin, that Mr. Kincaid played and sang the old mountain ballads. He was asked to come on down to the studio and do a program. How good was he? The fact that "The Mountain Boy" ended up being on every Saturday night National Barn Dance programs since then would speak to that fact.

Born in Garrard County, Kentucky. His father was a farmer, but seemed to enjoy hunting also. The story is that he would come in after a day of work then get the fox horn, get on his horse and go fox hunting in the hills. It was during one of those expeditions that his father traded one of his fox hounds to a Negro friend for an old dilapidated guitar. That guitar became the 'Houn' Dog Guitar'. And of the ten children in the family, Bradley had the first musical instrument any of them had. Though before long, they could all strum a tune.

Bradley had very little schooling until he was 19 years old. That's when he entered the sixth grade in the Foundation department of Berea College in Kentucky. He attended school there for two years and finished the 6th, 7th and 8th grades then volunteered for army service at the age of 21 and spent two years in the service during the World War, one of which was overseas in France. He returned to Berea College at the age of 23 and enered high school, finishing at the age of 26. Later, he went to Chicago and became a student at the YMCA College and got his degree. While at Berea, Bradley met his wife, Mrs. Irma Forman Kincaid (a graduate of the Oberlin College Conservatory).

He enjoyed playing the old, genuine American folk songs and mountain ballads and allowed others to be able to enjoy that with the publication of his folios, which his wife played a role in arranging.

It is written that he collected songs and that the sales of his 12 published song folios were over 100,000 copies.

Most of the above from "My Favorite Mountain Ballads and Old-Time Songs" by Bradley Kincaid from notes attributed to Harold A. Safford, master of ceremonies at the WLS National Barn Dance. (copyright 1928, Bradley Kincaid)

Trivia / Timeline Notes

  • Recorded as:
    • Dan Hughey
    • John Carpneter
    • Harley Stratton
  • In 1926, became regular on WLS National Barn Dance
  • In 1936, discovered Lewis Marshall Jones (who later became known as Grandpa Jones)
  • In 1946, 1947, regular on Grand Ole Opry
  • Bought his own radio station, WWSO in Springfield (Ohio?)

Sound Sample—(YouTube Video Format)


Bury Me Out On The Prairie

Appearance History This Month

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)

 
Bluebird
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  5179 A Long Long Ago
  5179 B Some Little Bug Is Goin' To Get You Someday
  5201 A Old Wooden Rocker
  5201 B My Mother's Beautiful Hands
  5255 A Dog And Gun
  5255 B House Carpenter
  5321 A Little Shirt That Mother Made For Me
  5321 B Sweet Betsy From Pike
  5377 A Death Of Jimmy Rodgers
  5377 B Jimmie Rodgers Life
  5423 A Little Joe
  5423 B Mrs Jimmie Rodgers Lament
  5486 A Death Of Jimmie Rodgers
  5486 B Life Of Jimmie Rodgers
  5569 A I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
  5569 B Ship That Never Returned
  5895 A Little Rosewood Casket
  5895 B Letter Edged In Black
  5971 A Just Plain Folks
  5971 B In The Hills Of Old Kentucky
  8501 A The Blind Girl
  8501 B Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad
 
Brunswick
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  403 A When The Works All Done This Fall
  403 B Give My Love To Nellie, Jack
  420 A Sourwood Mountain
  420 B Methodist Pie
  464 A Cindy
  464 B Pretty Little Pink
  485 A Old Coon Dog
  485 B Old Joe Clark
 
Bullet
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  Unknown-1 A Ain't We Crazy
  Unknown-1 B Now The Table's Turned On You
 
Capitol
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  1276 A Brush The Dust From That Old Bible
  1276 B Legend Of Robin Red Breast
  1465 A Red Light Ahead
  1465 B Now The Table's Turned On You
 
Conqueror
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  7982 A Barbara Allen
  7982 B The Fatal Wedding
  7983 A The Blind Girl
  7983 A The Blind Girl
  7983 B Picture From Life's Other Side
  7983 B A Picture From Life's Other Side
  7984 A After The Ball
  7984 B Somewhere Somebody's Waiting
  8090 A Sourwood Mountain
  8090 B Old Joe Clark
  8091 A Bury Me On The Prairie
  8091 B True And Trembling Brakeman
 
Decca
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  5025 A Ain't We Crazy
  5025 B In The Little Shirt That Mother Made For Me
  5026 A My Mother's Beautiful Hands
  5026 B The Old Wooden Rocker
  5048 A The Cowboy's Dream
  5048 B Red River Valley
 
Majestic
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  6010 A The Blue Tailed Fly
  6010 B Legend Of Robin's Red Breast
  6011 A Those Precious Love Letters
  6011 B Foot Prints In The Snow
  6018 A Red Light Ahead
  6018 B The Miner's Song
  6020 A Humming Bird Special
  6020 B The Fatal Derby Day
 
Mercury
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  6169 A Foot Prints In The Snow
  6169 A Legend Of Robin's Red Breast
 
Montgomery Ward
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  4379 A Some Little Bug Is Goin' To Get You Someday
  4379 B Long, Long Ago
  4405 A The Old Wooden Rocker
  4405 B My Mother's Beautiful Hands
  4421 A Little Shirt That Mother Made For Me
  4421 B Sweet Betsy From Pike
  4457 A Mrs Jimmie Rodgers Lament
  4457 B Little Joe
  4984 A The Blind Girl
  M-4456 A Jimmie Rodgers' Life
  M-4456 B The Death Of Jimmie Rodgers
 
Vocalion
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  02683 A Lightning Express
  02683 B True And Trembling Brakeman
  02684 A Fatal Derby Day
  02684 B Fatal Wedding
  02685 A Barbara Allen
  02685 B The Blind Girl
  02686 A Innocent Prisoner
  02686 B I Wish I Had Someone To Love Me
  02705 A For Sale A Baby
  02705 B Somewhere Somebody's Waiting For You
  04647 A Picture Of Life's Other Side
  04647 B Red River Valley
  05474 A After The Ball
  05474 B Bury Me Out On The Prairie
  05475 B Two Little Girls In Blue
  05475 B Gooseberry Pie
  05476 A Picture Of Life's Other Side
  05476 B Red River Valley


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