Charlie Bailey

Charlie Bailey - Music Legend

   After the war, Mr. Bailey resumed his musical career with his brother Danny. The boys sang mostly folk songs and old-time hymns. Both were composers and had their own recording company know as the Canary Recording Company. The Bailey Brothers had begun their radio career in Bristol Tn/Va in 1936 at WOPI. They have the distinction of appearing on the original Carter Family program at Clinch High shcool in the early 1930's. The Carter Famly consisted of A.P. Carter, his wife Sarah, and sister-in-law Maybelle.
   A few years later, the Bailey Brothers picked up players Junior Gladson, Henry Buckner and Lawrence Freeman, and called themselves the Happy Valley Gang. They then took a gig to play on WJHL radio station on a show called the "Barrel Of Fun" Radio program. After a few months they moved to the "Barn Dance" program at WNOX in Knoxville,Tennessee in 1939. In 1941 the band went on to work at WROL in Knoxville. Also on the WROL radio station was a newcomer named Ernie Ford who gave the news, sports and weather. The announcer soon joined the Bailey Brothers band as the bass singer. This was the beginning of Tennessee Ernie Ford's illustrious career.
   When Charlie had gotten the call to serve his country, Danny took over the band and carried on until Charles could come home. They even joined the Grand Ole Opry. In late 1946, the Bailey Brothers left the Opry and moved to WALB radio in Albany, Georgia. In 1952, the boys were the popular featured stars on the WWVA Jamboree. The band moved all over the southeast taking jobs on radio programs for the next few years until Danny became ill and quit the road for health reasons. Charlie continued on with the band until 1957 when Charlie returned to Knoxville where he and Danny teamed up again. They played together on the "Tennessee Barn Dance" and the ever popular "Mid Day Merry-go-round" until Charlie got an offer from a radio station in Canada. After a short stay performing in Canada, Charlie moved to Maine to work on a television show on WABI.
   Over the years, the brothers got the band together and cut records, which was quite a task since the boys were scattered all over the country.
   The Bailey Brothers got together to play on the mall at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC in 1970 for a week, and again in 1976 for the bi-centennial to play for another week. In 1982, they were honored to play at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee for a total of six weeks.
   In April of 2002, the Bailey Brothers were placed in the International Bluegrass Music Musuem in Owensboro, Kentucky, and the Birth Place of Country Music Museum in Bristol Virginia along with the Carter family and Jimmie Rogers. Jimmie Rogers was known as the father of country music and was, in the opinion of Charlie Bailey, the greastest of them all.
   In their 14 years in show business, the Bailey Brothers toured the entire United States. The song "Have You Forgotten?" was written by Charlie and was one of their best sellers.

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Charlie Bailey, the singer	Danny and Charlie Bailey	Charlie and Danny Bailey WPTF
Charlie and Danny Bailey WWVA	Charlie and Danny Bailey and the Happy Valley Gang were the popular featured stars of the WWVA Jamboree. The Bailey Brothers began their career by winning an amateur contest, continued on WPTF in Raleigh, NC, and were with the Grand Ole Opry before joining WWVA. They were both composers and owned their own recording company, the Canary Recording Co.	Tennessee Strings Article
Charles Bailey Smithsonian Certificate	Grand Ole Opry acknowledgement of the Bailey Brothers	Grand Ole Opry program with the Bailey Brothers