Discover DeFord Bailey
The Harmonica Wizard
DeFord Bailey was an influential harmonica player in both country music and blues, one of the Grand Ole Opry’s most popular early performers, and country’s first African-American star.
Who Was DeFord Bailey?
One of the early stars in country music was DeFord Bailey. A Black musician who was born in 1899, DeFord grew up in rural Tennessee as part of a music-making family. He had many musical skills, such as singing and writing songs, playing the guitar and the banjo, and keeping a beat with the bones, a percussion instrument made up of two pieces of wood. But DeFord was best known for being an expert harmonica player. He earned the nickname the “Harmonica Wizard,” and he was one of the most famous harmonica players in the United States during the 1930s. DeFord began his career in the 1920s on the radio, and he quickly became a fan favorite. His playing impressed other musicians and wowed audiences. He was especially good at keeping rhythms going on the harmonica while mixing in melodies, and he could imitate real-world sounds, from machines to animals. DeFord not only developed his own versions of popular tunes of his day—including country, blues, and pop—but he also composed and improvised brilliantly. DeFord Bailey died in 1982 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. His long-lasting and important legacy continues to inspire and delight listeners and musicians to this day.
Want to learn more about DeFord Bailey? See his Hall of Fame member page.
“A harp ought to talk just like you and me. All the time I’m just playing, I’m talking, but most people don’t understand it. In blowing a harp, it’s just like going to school to learn foreign languages. You got to learn how to make it talk in all sorts of ways. I can make it say whatever I want to.”
–DeFord Bailey
Artifact Bytes: Deford Bailey
Who was DeFord Bailey and why was he important to country music?
Watch
DeFord Bailey performs his song “Pan American Blues,” inspired by the sounds of trains, on the National Life Grand Ole Opry television show in 1967.
DeFord Bailey performs his legendary song “Fox Chase” on the National Life Grand Ole Opry television show in 1965.
Hosted by the Museum’s Adam Ollendorff, Carlos DeFord Bailey, grandson of DeFord Bailey; Ketch Secor, multi-instrumentalist and front man of the band Old Crow Medicine Show; and Jake Groves, harmonica player for Colter Wall and host of WXOX Louisville’s Faint of Harp Radio Hour, talk about the influence Country Music Hall of Fame member DeFord Bailey had on the harmonica and their styles.
Dom Flemons, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, pays tribute to and performs in the style of DeFord Bailey during a performance at the museum in 2018.
DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost
Watch DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost, a short documentary that features interviews with DeFord’s children and his biographer and friend, David Morton. This award-winning film was made Nashville Public Television in 2002.
Hear Carlos DeFord Bailey play the harmonica and share insights on the instrument, music and his grandfather, DeFord Bailey.
Listen to Carlos DeFord Bailey, DeFord Bailey’s Grandson play part of “Pan American Blues.”
Do you know what the harmonica is made of and how it works? Watch this video to learn about this pocket-sized instrument.
DeFord Bailey drew inspiration from sounds he heard in daily life. Here’s how DeFord came up with his legendary harmonica song, “Fox Chase.”
When DeFord Bailey retired from professional music, he started a successful shoeshine business in Nashville. Learn more about the history behind his grandfather’s legendary shoeshine box.
Harmonica Lessons
Now it's your turn to play! Watch these videos to learn about the harmonica and how to play it.
Resources
Gallery Seek and Find
Use this activity to learn about the life and music of Country Music Hall of Fame member DeFord Bailey, one of early country music’s most popular performers and the first Black star of the Grand Ole Opry radio program.
Harmonica Coloring Sheet
Personalize this harmonica by adding colors and symbols to show off your creativity. Share your design with us at FamilyFun@CountryMusicHallofFame.org. We will add it to our online art gallery!
DeFord Bailey Biography
Learn more about DeFord Bailey, his music, and his impact on country music with this short biography.
Photos of DeFord Bailey
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DeFord Bailey with his harmonica, which he called a harp. He started playing the instrument at age three.
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Bailey’s County Music Hall of Fame plaque on display in the Hall of Fame Rotunda at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
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DeFord Bailey grew up in a musical family and learned to play multiple instruments. Here, Bailey sits with his guitar.
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DeFord Bailey also played guitar and banjo. Because he was left-handed, he played them upside down.
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DeFord Bailey returns to the Grand Ole Opry stage with musician Roy Acuff looking on. Bailey and Acuff toured together in the 1930s and 1940s.
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DeFord Bailey holds the megaphone he used to amplify his harmonica.
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DeFord Bailey visits with students at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 1981.
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DeFord Bailey holds a photograph of the train that inspired his song “Pan American Blues.” Circa 1927*
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Bailey poses with his foot on a Coca-Cola crate, 1930s. During this time, he was touring throughout the South, in addition to weekly performances on the Grand Ole Opry.*
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Bailey with his guitar and a microphone. In 1928, Bailey stepped up to another microphone, taking part in the first commercial recording session in Nashville, Tennesse.
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Bailey plays his banjo. Growing up, Bailey had a homemade banjo he would play with his family.
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Bailey poses for a photograph in the 1930s. He was a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry at this time, the world’s longest-running radio program that began broadcasting in 1925. *Photo courtesy of David Morton.
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Bailey in the 1920s, the decade radio stations first came to Nashville, Tennessee. *Photo courtesy of David Morton.
Listen
DeFord Bailey was well known as a harmonica player, although he also played the banjo and guitar, and he sang. Hear his voice and some banjo and guitar tunes below.
These DeFord Bailey recordings were taped between October 1974 and October 1976 inside Mr. Bailey’s Nashville, Tennessee, apartment by David Morton and were released on the collection The Legendary DeFord Bailey: Country Music’s First Black Star (Tennessee Folklore Society Records, 1998). The recordings are used with the permission of David Morton.
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