Tom Darby & Jimmy Tarlton- 1927 Columbus Stockade Blues

Tom Darby & Jimmy Tarlton-Columbus Stockade Blues Columbia 1927

Darby and Tarlton was an early country music duo, who achieved some level of success in the late 1920s. The duo consisted of Tom Darby (born August 25, 1891[1] Columbus, Georgia - died August 20, 1971) and Jimmie Tarlton, (born May 8, 1892 Cheraw, South Carolina - died November 29, 1979 Phenix City, Alabama).

Tarlton grew up on a farm in Chesterfield County, South Carolina learning folk songs from an early age. His parents were sharecroppers and he had to help out with the chores. He still managed to find the time to learn the slide guitar and banjo. After working as a street musician in the 1920s, Tarlton met Frank Ferera who taught him how to play the Hawaiian guitar. Tarlton soon moved to Columbus, Georgia where he met Tom Darby. They began performing together and shortly, they were offered a chance to make a recording for Columbia Records. Two songs were cut on April 5, 1927 and the recording sold well enough to allow a second recording session. On November 10, 1927 they recorded four songs, among them "Birmingham Jail" and "Columbus Stockade Blues". The two songs, coupled on one record, became the duo's biggest hits selling more than 200 000 copies. Darby and Tarlton recorded 63 songs between 1927 and 1933. In the early 1930s they became hostile towards each other and went their separate ways. Their hostility seemed to be about royalty issues. Tom Darby formed a short lived duo in 1931 together with Jesse Pitts, called "The Georgia Wildcats". Darby and Tarlton both retired in 1935, and although they lived in the same town, they never spoke to one another again.
During the folk revival of the 1960s, Tarlton found himself performing once more.