Biography
Every string band has long relied on a frontman to handle rhythm guitar and lead vocals, a custom extending into the bluegrass era. Dallas Jones, a native Mississippian despite his nickname, served as that figure in the Leake County Revelers, a widely popular old-time string band from the state. The ensemble entered the studio in the late 1920s, becoming one of the first Mississippi groups to make commercial recordings. H.C. Speir, who unearthed much of the era’s blues and early country talent from the region and earned comparison to the Sam Phillips of Mississippi music in the 1920s and 1930s, discovered the Revelers and arranged their sessions for Okeh and Columbia. Besides Jones the lineup included fiddler Will Gilmer, banjoist Jim Wolverton, and R.O. Moseley on the uncommon banjo-mandolin hybrid. The group quickly gained recognition for pieces performed at a slow, relaxed pace, a deliberate departure from prevailing string-band practice and a relief for the rhythm guitarist’s wrists. Between 1927 and 1930 Jones cut forty-four sides with the band; the releases proved commercially successful and later resurfaced on Document and County reissues. The full catalog has appeared across multiple volumes on those labels, while individual tracks have surfaced on anthologies devoted to yodeling, early American string bands, and historic primitive country music. The Revelers stood out for their original waltzes and intricate vocal harmonies, typically anchored by Jones’s clear, piercing voice, an approach that contrasted sharply with the largely instrumental focus of other Mississippi string bands, a choice possibly dictated by label marketing priorities rather than group repertoires. The band displayed both its humor and preference for deliberate tempos by naming a stately, near-classical parlor piece “Mississippi Breakdown,” a title as distant from an actual breakdown as the city of Dallas is from the state. “Wednesday Night Waltz,” one of the first two records the group issued in 1927, became its biggest hit; the song has since been recorded by numerous artists, especially fiddlers, and remains a dance standard sometimes retitled “Kitty Waltz.” During the 1930s politician Huey Long employed the Leake County Revelers for his campaign appearances to underscore his image as a grassroots populist. In the 1990s the ensemble received a nomination for the Mississippi Hall of Fame and has influenced later revival acts such as the Old Hat String Band and the Hinds County Revelers.
Albums
