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 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

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—(RealAudio Format) Bury Me Out On The Prairie Appearance History This Month Get The Music Hillbilly Music.com Amazon Music Store Ernest Tubb Record Shop Printer Friendly Version Recordings   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 A Picture From Life's Other Side   7983 B 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 Legend Of Robin's Red Breast   6169 A Foot Prints In The Snow   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   2683 A Lightning Express   2683 B True And Trembling Brakeman   2684 A Fatal Derby Day   2684 B Fatal Wedding   2685 A Barbara Allen   2685 B The Blind Girl   2686 A Innocent Prisoner   2686 B I Wish I Had Someone To Love Me   2705 A For Sale A Baby   2705 B Somewhere Somebody's Waiting For You   4647 A Picture Of Life's Other Side   4647 B Red River Valley   5474 A After The Ball   5474 B Bury Me Out On The Prairie   5475 B Gooseberry Pie   5475 B Two Little Girls In Blue   5476 A Picture Of Life's Other Side   5476 B Red River Valley Artist Lists A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z