Song:Little Birdie
Album:Lily May, Rosie and Susie
The Coon Creek Girls were the very first all female bluegrass group. They had success mostly on the radio in the late 30s. Their style of music is best described as Appalachian. The leader of Coon Creek Girls was Lily May Ledford. She was born Mar. 17, 1917 in Powell County, KY. She was the seventh of fourteen children of tenant farmers and amateur musicians. Lily May's father taught her to play banjo when she was a child. By age 12 she was also playing fiddle. She formed the Red River Ramblers with sister Rose and brother Cayen. At a 1935 audition, Lily May was chosen to appear on Chicago radio station WLS's Barn Dance. Show announcer John Lair got her a regular spot on the show. He became her manager. Lair moved to Cincinnati to start his own radio show Renfro Valley Barn Dance. He decided to form Coon Creek Girls around Lily May with her sister Rosie on guitar, Daisy Lange on bass and Violet Koehler on mandolin. The Coon Creek Girls recorded for Vocalion in 1938. Little Birdie and Pretty Polly were among the songs recorded. They also recorded for Lair's Renfro Valley label. The Coon Creek Girls performed at The White House in 1939 for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, King George VI of England and Queen Elizabeth. Though the Coon Creek Girls were popular on the radio, they were never a successful recording act. You can get all their 30s recordings on this comp first released in 1968. It's available as a digital download. Daisy and Violet left in 1939 and they were replaced by Lily May's sister Susie. The Coon Creek Girls continued to perform on the radio. But they wouldn't record again until they released a couple of singles on Capitol in 1955. The Coon Creek Girls retired when the radio show ended in 1957. Musicologist Ralph Rinzler rediscovered Lily May and she started touring after appearing on the 1968 Newport Folk Festival. She was surprised and delighted at the crowd response to her music. She released an album in 1983. Lily May Ledford was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship just before her death from cancer on July 14, 1985 at age 68. Here's a video for Little Birdie by Coon Creek Girls.
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