Salty Holmes
Floyd Holmes (March 6, 1910 – January 1, 1970), better known as Salty Holmes, was an American country musician and Western B-movie actor. Holmes was born in Glasgow, Kentucky. He became a virtuoso on the harmonica, specializing in the style known as "talking harp" which imitated the human voice (much like Sonny Terry). He also played the jug and guitar. He formed the group The Kentucky Ramblers in 1930, who changed their name to The Prairie Ramblers in 1933 and began broadcasting on Chicago radio station WLS-AM with new vocalist Patsy Montana. They continued performing and recording under this name until 1952, playing country, hillbilly music, gospel, and pop songs. They were the backing group on Montana's platinum hit "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart". Group members included Jack Taylor on bass, Chick Hurt on mandolin, and Alan Crocket and, later, Tex Atchison on fiddle. They made over 100 recordings between 1933 and 1940, including as session musicians. The Prairie Ramblers have been called a "hot string band" and "a hot fiddler band". Both their "aggressive rhythms" and Chick Hurt's mandolin playing inspired Bill Monroe, the "Godfather of bluegrass", and a mandolin virtuoso. While a member of the Prairie Ramblers, Holmes befriended Gene Autry, who invited him to Hollywood to star in Westerns in 1936 and 1944; among the films Holmes appeared in are Arizona Days and Saddle Leather Law. In a scene of Arizona Days, Holmes played two harmonicas using his mouth and nose. The Prairie Ramblers also backed Autry on some of his recordings in the 1930s. He collaborated with Jean Chapel as Mattie & Salty, playing regularly on the Grand Ole Opry; the two married in 1947 and divorced in 1956 and had two daughters named Barbara Holmes Hale and Lana (Chapel) who was part of their act as a young child. |
Birth and Death Data: Born March 6, 1909, Died January 1, 1970
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1933 - 1954
Roles Represented in DAHR: guitar, vocalist, harmonica, lead vocal
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 26-42 of 42 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | C3374 | 10-in. | 10/7/1940 | Booley wooger | The Prairie Ramblers | String band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, guitar | |
Columbia | C3548 | 10-in. | 1/22/1941 | I'll be back in a year (little darlin') | The Prairie Ramblers | String band, with male vocal duet | instrumentalist, guitar | |
Columbia | C3870 | 10-in. | 6/10/1941 | Answer to I'll be back in a year, little darlin' | The Prairie Ramblers | String band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, guitar | |
Vocalion | 16582 | 10-in. | 1/17/1935 | Old Missouri moon | Gene Autry ; Jimmy Long | Male vocal duet, with string band | instrumentalist, guitar | |
Vocalion | 16629 | 10-in. | 1/11/1935 | Tumbling tumbleweeds | Gene Autry Trio | Male vocal trio, with string band | instrumentalist, guitar | |
Vocalion | 17306 | 10-in. | 4/16/1935 | Jim's windy mule | Sweet Violet Boys | String band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, guitar | |
Decca | 74261 | 12/12/1947 | Mama blues | Salty Holmes | instrumentalist, harmonica, vocalist | |||
Decca | 74262 | 12/12/1947 | John Henry | Salty Holmes | instrumentalist, harmonica, vocalist | |||
Decca | 74711 | 1/21/1949 | Blue eyes crying in the rain | Salty Holmes | instrumentalist, harmonica, vocalist | |||
Decca | 74712 | 1/21/1949 | Just a farm for sale | Salty Holmes | instrumentalist, harmonica, vocalist | |||
Decca | 75105 | 8/1/1949 | Cannon ball special | Salty Holmes | vocalist | |||
Decca | 75106 | 1/8/1949 | Harmonica boogie | Salty Holmes | vocalist | |||
Decca | 75107 | 8/1/1949 | Virginia on a Saturday night | Salty Holmes | vocalist | |||
Decca | 75108 | 8/1/1949 | Nine times out of ten | Salty Holmes | vocalist | |||
Decca | NA 3373 | 10/6/1954 | The Mama doll song | Salty Holmes | vocalist | |||
Decca | NA 3374 | 10/6/1954 | The ghost song | Salty Holmes | vocalist | |||
Decca | NA 3375 | 10/6/1954 | [Unknown title(s)] | Salty Holmes | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Holmes, Salty," accessed November 23, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/204647.
Holmes, Salty. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/204647.
"Holmes, Salty." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 23 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Holmes, Floyd - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nb99185451
Wikidata: Salty Holmes - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7406247
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/1605147484231449360004
MusicBrainz: Salty Holmes - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b8f8355b-4879-496e-99e4-ccf3a1cde6ba
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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