Topic: Kid Bailey

[Randy Meadows]

 _____ Bailey - Memphis 1930, listed as MUSICIAN.

[dj]

That's mighty slim evidence for "Kid" Bailey.  I think you need more detail before you declare a hit on this one.

[Randy Meadows]

I agree....
I am going to search his bio based on this address and see if he ever lived with a known delta musician...
I have his first name, I just didn;t post it.  too many avenues to go down right now....
Ill save it for a rainy day...

I already have a theory on Kid, this would be a matter of seeing if this guy fits, he may not....
But this is the first new lead that Ive had in a few months....on any Kid info...
I do know that there is only ONE "Bailey" listed as Musician for 1930 in Ms, Ar, or Tn...
I also have the testimony from Mr Wardlow's Interviews to use to compare facts...
This is a good lead to check out, to say the least....

[uncle bud]

If you solve this one, Randy, you'll have cracked one of the top blues mysteries. Keep digging! I look forward to hearing more.

[dj]

If you solve this one ... you'll have cracked one of the top blues mysteries.

Agreed.  I can't wait to see what you come up with.  But it may well be a mystery that's not solvable, with nothing but a surname to go on from the recording session (copyright registrations for Bailey's two songs are to Kid McCoy and a mysterious Bob Jones.)  Kid Bailey may have been listed in census enumerations and city directories as a musician, or he may not have been.  And the few scattered remembrances that Wardlow turned up may have been misremembrances or someone else taking advantage of the fact that the name was on a record (i.e. the huge number of Blind Lemon Jefferson sightings throughout the south, and Son House's story about people not believing that he, Patton, and Willie Brown were really the people on the record, which would indicate that counterfeit performers of more localized artists were not unheard of).

Have you read David Evans' article putting forth the suggestion that Kid Bailey may have been Willie Brown?  I know you've been working with Gayle Dean Wardlow, and I know Evans and Wardlow are not the best of friends, but Evans raises some points that might help in an identification of Bailey and at least would have to be addressed in any attempt to pin down Bailey's identity.

Still, with all the difficulties you face on this one, I wish you luck and hope you can shed some light on this mystery.  Every little bit of information helps.   

[uncle bud]

I don't buy the Brown argument, based on simple auditory evidence. Their voices are simply different. Brown has a constant gravelly growl to his vocals, Kid Bailey has a much gentler, smoother voice. To be the same person, both voices would have to be put-ons, IMO, and neither sounds like that. The Willie Brown-like guitar part on "Mississippi Bottom Blues" certainly isn't enough for me.

That said (and I shouldn't have said it, it just perpetuates these discussions, when facts would be so much better) - I agree that reading the article could only be worthwhile.

[Randy Meadows]

Yes, Ive read the David Evans material. Extremely well done but not as accurate today as it once was.
This is true with everyone. It is a continuing depth of information. Depends on what you see... I appreciate all of these guys for documenting what they did and who they talked to back then. Their results are the basis of all of my research...
That being said;

I personally think that Kid Bailey is his own person. I beleive that he knew Willie Brown from their residence.
He may have asked Willie to back him up on record at Peabody in Memphis that day...

In my opinion, the copyright of the song by McCoy and Jones is an "after the fact" issue...
If my theory is correct, I believe McCoy to be "Henry" McCoy.

* The Bailey that I am currently researching, living in Memphis 1930 as listed, died of gunshot wounds (homocide) by 1932 .

[Randy Meadows]

"And the few scattered remembrances that Wardlow turned up may have been misremembrances or someone else taking advantage of the fact that the name was on a record (i.e. the huge number of Blind Lemon Jefferson sightings throughout the south, "

Ive talked with Mr Wardlow personally about his interviewees....
I believe that Elizabeth Moore was being honest and she contributed a crazy  amount of facts that I can find to be true...
Thanks,
Randy

[Randy Meadows]

Another interesting fact from the death certificate is this:
Written on side of paper.