Grandma Dixie and the Feds

I've already written about my Grandma Dixie a time or two. She had the unique ability to play piano by ear, by just hearing a song and then pounding it out. Consequently she kept very busy, playing solo gigs and with musical groups all around Louisville from the 1930s until the early 1980s.

The groups she performed with most often were Clayton "Pappy" McMitchen and His Georgia Wildcats, and Cliff Gross and His Texas Cowboys. The photo at left shows her with Cliff Gross's group, and just around the time that photo was taken, Cliff Gross got into a little trouble with the gubmint.

In the summer of 1943, we were in the thick of World War II and gas rationing had been in place for about a year.

Except, apparently, for the Cliff Gross musical aggregation.

On June 17, the U.S. Office of Price Administration grounded Gross, all the Cowboys and one Cowgirl, charging them, according to this article from Variety, with purchasing gasoline through the black market. Was Grandma Dixie complicit or did she just go along for the ride? We will never know, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Here's the story:

  

Grandma Dixie Is on the Air!: The Story Continues

My Grandma Dixie was a working musician in the Louisville area from the 1930s until the early 1980s, winding up her career with a weekly gig at the Louisville Boat Club, if memory serves. Her ability to play piano by ear led to her popularity and steady employment over those decades. One of the musicians she performed most often with was Clayton "Pappy" McMichen, leader of the Georgia Wildcats (the group, sans Dixie, is pictured above). Here's a recording from March 1941 of Dixie and the group, with her on vocals and doing a piano solo, playing a kind of country swing song called "I'm a Goin.' " After not hearing her voice in a long time -- she passed in 1998 -- it's a kick for me to hear this. And hey! The song isn't bad, either.

I'm a Goin' (March 3, 1941, WAVE radio -- from Berea College Special Collections and Archives)

Even after she stopped playing for money -- and was made a lifetime member of the local Musician's Union -- Dixie could always be coaxed to sit down and play something at our family gatherings. (Especially if a cold Sterling Beer was involved.) I have some video recordings of her family performances from the mid-1990s. I'll post them when I can dig them up. 

Grandma Dixie Is on the Air!

My dad's mother grew up in Missouri in the early 1900s, and she had a unique talent -- she could play piano by ear. She could hear a song and then, instinctively, pound it out on a keyboard. No training. No lessons. This became her livelihood -- she first earned money accompanying silent movies, and during the Great Depression she helped support her family by playing gigs all over Louisville, often as Dixie Lee. She played on the radio. She played with touring bands, including Clayton "Pappy" McMichen and His Georgia Wildcats, and Cliff Gross and His Texas Cowboys. She played "The Star Spangled Banner" before wrestling matches at the Louisville Armory. She performed with nationally-known musicians who would play the National Theatre, which was located at the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets downtown. (Walnut is now Muhammad Ali Boulevard.) And in 1950, Dixie Lee was part of a morning radio show that originated at a Louisville restaurant -- part of a group, according to Variety, "who have been kicking around this area on hillbilly shows and nitery floors for many a year." Here's the review from Variety:

More to come on Grandma Dixie and her colorful career.