The Skillet-Lickers – Complete Recorded Works 1926-1934 Vol 1 (1926-1927)

This is the first of six volumes featuring the complete recorded works of The Skillet Lickers. The 6 volume set covers some of the finest, and some of the rarest, hillbilly and string band recordings of what is often called the golden age of old-time music. The core members of the Skillet Lickers on records were fiddlers Clayton McMichen, Gid Tanner, Lowe Stokes and Bert Layne, banjoist Fate Norris and guitarist Riley Puckett. The members were often heard individually or in varying combinations on the radio in the 1920s, and it is possible that when the Skillet Lickers were on the road it might not be the full recording band that appeared. Gid Tanner was credited with leading the group but he appeared to exert less influence over the group than some other members. The Skillet Lickers hailed from Georgia and were to become one of the most important string bands of the 1920s. Over a 5½ year recording period with Columbia they released 58 discs which in total sold more than one and a half million copies. Their first recordings were their most successful, “Bully Of The Town” / “Pass Around The Bottle And We’ll All Take A Drink” logged 207,149 sales alone. The band’s early sides were drawn from the stock of Southern and “Negro” compositions and other published novelty songs of the late 19th and early 20th century and upon which they left their own mark. Includes informative booklet notes by Tony Russell with bibliography and full discographical details.