J. E. Mainer

J. E. Mainer
Birth name Joseph Emmett Mainer
Also known as J. E. Mainer
Born (1898-07-20)July 20, 1898
Weaverville, North Carolina US
Died June 12, 1971(1971-06-12) (aged 72)
Genres Old-time
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Fiddle, banjo
Labels Bluebird
Associated acts J.E.Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers
Daddy John Love
Leonard Stokes/George Morris

J. E. Mainer (July 20, 1898 June 12, 1971) was an American old time fiddler who followed in the wake of Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers.

Biography

Joseph Emmett Mainer grew up on a farm in the mountains near Weaverville, North Carolina and learned to play the banjo and fiddle from an early age. Since Wade, his brother, also was interested in learning to play the banjo, he left that to Wade and concentrated on the fiddle. Soon, Mainer began performing at local country barn dances. He found work at a textile mill in Knoxville, Tennessee but moved to Concord, North Carolina in 1922 for another work in a mill.

Mainer's fame as a fiddler rose and sponsored by the Crazy Water Crystals in 1933, he and his newly formed band consisting of J. E. on fiddle, Wade Mainer on banjo, and Zeke Morris on guitar, made their radio debut on WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina calling themselves "J.E.Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers." The band appeared on several radio stations in the following years until 1935, when they received a recording contract on. In August the same year, the Mountaineers, with the addition of "Daddy" John Love, recorded for Bluebird Records. Wade Mainer and Zeke Morris temporarily left the band in the early 1936 to form a duo. In the meantime Ollie Bunn, Howard Bumgardner and Clarence Todd replaced Wade, Zeke and "Daddy" John Love on the next recording session. In the summer of 1936, Wade and Zeke returned to record with "the mountaineers". The next year, in 1937, Wade Mainer formed the "Sons of the Mountaineers". Shortly, a new change of personnel occurred when Leonard "Lester" Stokes and George Morris became members of "the mountaineers" calling themselves "Handsome and Sambo". They added Snuffy Jenkins on banjo on the following recording session. In late 1938, Stokes and Morris were once more replaced by Clyde Moody and Jay Hugh Hall. The band continued to perform on radio stations in both North and South Carolina.

The Mountaineers disbanded at the outbreak of World War II, but Mainer continued to record in the late 1940s, together with his sons, Glenn and Curly, for King Records. Between 1967 and 1971, the year of his death, literally hundreds of post-war recordings were released on Rural Rhythm Records. Mainer will be inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame on October 11, 2012.[1]

Original discography

J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers

Matrix Title Record # Recording date Notes
94328 "Ship's Sailing Now" Bluebird 6088 August 6, 1935
94329 "This World Is Not My Home" Bluebird 6088 August 6, 1935
94330 "Maple On the Hill" Bluebird 6065 August 6, 1935
94331 "Take Me In the Lifeboat" Bluebird 6065 August 6, 1935
94332 "Seven and a Half" Bluebird 6792 August 6, 1935
94333 "New Curly Headed Baby" Bluebird 6104 August 6, 1935
94336 "Broken Hearted Blues" Bluebird 6090 August 6, 1935
94337 "Greenback Dollar" Bluebird 6090 August 6, 1935 Daddy John Love
94338 "Let Her Go God Bless Her" Bluebird 6104 August 6, 1935
94339 "City On the Hill" Bluebird 6160 August 6, 1935
94340 "The Longest Train" Bluebird 6222 August 6, 1935
94341 "Write a Letter To Mother" Bluebird 6194 August 6, 1935
94342 "Lights In the Valley" Bluebird 6160 August 6, 1935
94343 "Searching For a Pair of Blue Eyes" Bluebird 6194 August 6, 1935 Daddy John Love
99106 "My Wife Went Away and Left Me" Bluebird 6294 February 14, 1936 Daddy John Love
99107 "Railroad Blues" Bluebird 6624 February 14, 1936 Daddy John Love
99109 "Over the Hills In Carolina" Bluebird 6675 February 14, 1936 Daddy John Love
99110 "Budded Roses" Bluebird 6675 February 14, 1936
99111 "What Makes Him Do It" Bluebird 6624 February 14, 1936
99112 "My Little Red Ford" Bluebird 6294 February 14, 1936 Daddy John Love
99113 "Goin' Back West In the Fall" Bluebird 6440 February 14, 1936
99114 "New Lost Train Blues" Bluebird 6424 February 14, 1936
99115 "Number 111" Bluebird 6424 February 14, 1936
99116 "I Am Walking In the Light" Bluebird 6385 February 14, 1936
99117 "Don't Cause Mother's Hair To Turn Grey" Bluebird 6324 February 14, 1936
99118 "When I Reach My Home Eternal" Bluebird 6385 February 14, 1936
99119 "Fatal Wreck of the Bus" Bluebird 6290 February 14, 1936
99120 "Behind the Parlor Door" Bluebird 6440 February 14, 1936
99121 "Satisfied" Bluebird 6324 February 14, 1936
99122 "One To Love Me" Bluebird 6290 February 14, 1936
99138 "Maple On the Hill, Part 2" Bluebird 6293 February 15, 1936
99139 "Going To Georgia" Bluebird 6423 February 15, 1936
99140 "Nobody's Darling But Mine" Bluebird 6423 February 15, 1936
102600 "On a Cold Winter Night" Bluebird 6629 June 15, 1936
102601 "John Henry Was a Little Boy" Bluebird 6629 June 15, 1936
102602 "The Old and Faded Picture" Bluebird 6479 June 15, 1936
102603 "Take Me Home To the Sweet Sunny South" Bluebird 6479 June 15, 1936
102604 "Walk That Lonesome Valley" Bluebird 6596 June 15, 1936
102605 "Got a Home In that Rock" Bluebird 6539 June 15, 1936
102606 "Johnson's Old Grey Mule" Bluebird 6584 June 15, 1936
102607 "Won't Be Worried Long" Bluebird 6738 June 15, 1936
102608 "Going Down the River of Jordan" Bluebird 6539 June 15, 1936
102609 "Why Do You Bob Your Hair Girls" Bluebird 6792 June 15, 1936
102610 "Down Among the Budded Roses" Bb unissued June 15, 1936
102611 "Watermelon On the Vine" Bluebird 6584 June 15, 1936
2530 "They Said My Lord Was a Devil" Bluebird 6653 October 1936
2533 "Just One Way To the Pearly Gates" Bluebird 6784 October 1936
2534 "Dear Daddy You're Gone" Bluebird 6752 October 1936
2537 "Cowboy's Pony In Heaven" Bluebird 6653 October 1936
11815 "I'm Not Turning Backward" Bluebird 7165 August 2, 1937
11818 "Mountain Sweetheart" Bluebird 7587 August 2, 1937
11819 "Don't Forget Me Lil Darlin'" Bluebird 7587 August 2, 1937
11987 "We Can't Be Darlings Anymore" Bluebird 7151 August 5, 1937
11988 "Tell Mother I'll Meet Her" Bluebird 7222 August 5, 1937
11989 "In a Little Village Church Yard" Bluebird 7222 August 5, 1937
11990 "Carry Your Cross With a Smile" Bluebird 7523 August 5, 1937
11991 "Swing the Door of Your Heart Open Wide" Bluebird 7401 August 5, 1937 Leonard Stokes/George Morris
11992 "Answer To Greenback Dollar" Bluebird 7151 August 5, 1937
11993 "There's A Green Hill Far Away" Bluebird 7401 August 5, 1937
11995 "Floating Down the Stream of Time" Bluebird 7523 August 5, 1937
11996 "Don't Go Out" Bluebird 7349 August 5, 1937
11997 "Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind" Bluebird 7289 August 5, 1937
11998 "Kiss Me Cindy" Bluebird 7289 August 5, 1937
18763 "Lonely Tomb" Bluebird 7424 January 27, 1938
18765 "All My Friends" Bluebird 7424 January 27, 1938
18767 "Don't Get Too Deep In Love" Bluebird 7483 January 27, 1938
18768 "Don't Leave Me Alone" Bluebird 7561 January 27, 1938
18769 "I Won't Be Worried" Bluebird 7561 January 27, 1938
18770 "Where Romance Calls" Bluebird 7753 January 27, 1938
18771 "Another Alabama Camp Meeting" Bluebird 7753 January 27, 1938
26981 "Farther Along" Bluebird 8023 September 1938
26982 "Dear Loving Mother and Dad" Bluebird 8152 September 1938
26983 "Can't Tell About These Women" Bluebird 7965 September 1938
26985 "If I Had Listened To Mother" Bluebird 8137 September 1938
26986 "She Is Spreading Her Wings For a Journey" Bluebird 8023 September 1938
26997 "Mother Still Prays For You" Bluebird 8137 September 1938
27702 "More Good Women Gone Wrong" Bluebird 7965 September 1938
32625 "Sparkling Blue Eyes" Bluebird 8042 February 1939
32626 "We Will Miss Him" Bluebird 8042 February 1939
32627 "I Left My Home In the Mountains" Bluebird 8091 February 1939
32628 "I Met Her At a Ball One Night" Bluebird 8091 February 1939
32629 "You May Forsake Me" Bluebird 8120 February 1939
32630 "Look On and Cry" Bluebird 8120 February 1939
32631 "One Little Kiss" Bluebird 8145 February 1939
32632 "Mama Don't Make Me Go To Bed" Bluebird 8145 February 1939
32635 "Drunkard's Hiccoughs" Bluebird 8400 February 4, 1939
32636 "Country Blues" Bluebird 8187 February 4, 1939
32637 "I'm A Poor Pilgrim" Montgomery W. 7880 February 4, 1939
32638 "Concord Rag" Bluebird 8187 February 4, 1939
? "Crying Holy" Bluebird 8203 1939
? "Heaven's Bells Are Ringing" Bluebird 8203

Daddy John Love

Matrix Title Record # Recording date
102725 "I Am Dreaming of Mother" Bluebird 6583 June 20, 1936
102726 "Cotton Mill Blues" Bluebird 6491 June 20, 1936
102727 "Blue Days" Bluebird 6583 June 20, 1936
102728 "There's No Place Like Home" Bluebird 6491 June 20, 1936
102729 "Homeless Child" Bluebird 8199 June 20, 1936
102730 "Where Is My Mama" Bluebird 8199 June 20, 1936

Leonard Stokes/George Morris

Matrix Title Record # Recording date
18600 "Your Best Friend Is Always Near" Bluebird 7586 January 23, 1938
18601 "Lamp Lighting Time In Heaven" Bluebird 7412 January 23, 1938
18602 "When the Light's Gone Out In Your Soul" Bluebird 7586 January 23, 1938
18603 "Once I Loved a Young Man" Bluebird 7659 January 23, 1938
18604 "Somebody Cares" Bluebird 7659 January 23, 1938
18605 "I'm Living the Right Life Now" Bluebird 7412 January 23, 1938
18606 "Just Over In the Glory Land" Bluebird 7730 January 23, 1938
18607 "I'm In the Glory Land Way" Bluebird 7730 January 23, 1938
18608 "If I Lose Let Me Lose" Bluebird 7471 January 23, 1938
18609 "Great Reaping Day" Bluebird 7958 January 23, 1938
18610 "Oh Why Did I Ever Get Married" Bluebird 7471 January 23, 1938
18611 "Back To Johnson City" Bluebird 7845 January 23, 1938

Album discography

Album Title Record Label Record # Release Year
"Good Ole Mountain Music" King Records 666 1958
"The Legendary Family From The Blue Ridge Mountains" Arhoolie Records F-5002 1963
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer & The Mountaineers: Old Time Mountain Music" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-185 1967
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer & The Mountaineers: More Old Time Mountain Music Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-191 1967
"Happy 70th Birthday" Blue Jay Records A-101 1968
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 3: with Red Smiley & His Blue Grass Cut-Ups" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-198 1968
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 4" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-208 1968
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 5" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-215 1968
"J.E. Mainer's Crazy Mountaineers Volume 1" Old Timey Records OT-106 1969
"J.E. Mainer's Crazy Mountaineers Volume 2" Old-Timey Records OT-107 1969
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 6: Fiddling With His Girl Susan Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-222 1969
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 7: Whittlin', Fiddlin', and....." Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-225 1969
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 8" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-227 1970
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 9" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-228 1970
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 10: The Good Old Rebel" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-229 1970
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 11" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-230 1970
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 12" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-231 1970
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 13" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-234 1970
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 14" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-240 1971
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 15: with Morris Herbert" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-241 1971
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 16" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-246 1972
"The Legendary J.E. Mainer Volume 17: With Morris Herbert" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-247 1972
"The Gospel Music of the Legendary J.E. Mainer - Volume 18" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-248 1972
"The Fiddle Music of the Legendary J.E. Mainer - Volume 19" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-249 1972
"The Fiddle Music of the Legendary J.E. Mainer - Volume 20" Rural Rhythm Records RRJEM-250 1972
"Precious Memories (with E.P. Williams)" Blue Jay Records LPA-102 1982
"J.E. Mainer at home with Family & Friends" Old Homestead Records OHCS-146 1983

References

  1. "N.C. Music Hall of Fame offers tickets". The Salisbury Post. August 29, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
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