Darby and Tarlton were an American 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 – August 20, 1971)[2] and Jimmie Tarlton, (born John James Rimbert Tarlton, May 8, 1892 Cheraw, South Carolina – November 29, 1979 Phenix City, Alabama).[2]
Tarlton grew up on a farm in Chesterfield County, South Carolina,[3] 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.[3] After working as a street musician in the 1920s, Tarlton met Frank Ferera, who taught him how to play the Hawaiian guitar.[3] Tarlton soon moved to Columbus, Georgia, where he met Tom Darby.[3] They began performing together and shortly, they were offered a chance to make a recording for Columbia Records.[3] 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".[3] 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 1933, they became hostile towards each other and went their separate ways professionally.[3] Darby did, however, visit Tarlton occasionally.
Tom Darby formed a short lived duo in 1931 together with Jesse Pitts, called The Georgia Wildcats.[2] Darby and Tarlton both retired in 1935. In 1963, Darby and Tarlton reunited to perform in Weracoba Park (known locally as "Lakebottom") when they agreed to be part of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra's opening pops concert.[4] Thomas P. Darby's nephew, Richard "Ricky" Whitley, claims that he learned guitar from Tom Darby and Jimmy Tarlton.[5] Darby was quoted as saying in a 1963 interview with The Columbus Enquirer (now known as The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) regarding the opening pops concert performance that "Tarlton’s fine wife said we sounded even better than before. Made goose pimples come up on her arms, she said." Darby was drafted during World War I, but was shortly thereafter honorably discharged due to being "unfit to serve" (flat feet).
Darby was married to Alma "Olene" Darby (née Brown) until his death at the Columbus Medical Center, after a long bout with lung cancer. He was interred in Columbus, Georgia's Riverdale Cemetery in the Veteran's section. His wife died in 1984 after a brief illness and is buried beside him. The song "Little Ola" was actually written by Darby as a tribute to his wife ("Olene" Darby was several years his junior). After retiring from the music business, Darby had other business ventures, including a stint "running moonshine". He would row a boat filled with moonshine from a small island near Phenix City, Alabama (where his still was located) to the Columbus, Georgia, side across the Chattahoochee River. A simple yet effective method was employed to avoid prosecution. If "Olene" saw a "revenooer" (as they were called), she would wave a dark handkerchief. If it was safe, she would wave a light-colored handkerchief. On at least one occasion, a "revenooer" had shown up...and a dark-colored handkerchief was waved. Darby reversed course, rowing back to the Alabama side. When the agent approached Mrs. Darby, he asked what she was doing. She replied, "I was waving to my husband." When asked why he had turned around, she replied, "He must have forgotten something."
During the folk revival of the 1960s, Tarlton performed again.[3]
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 143902 | "Down In Florida On a Hog" | Columbia 15197-D | April 5, 1927 | |
| 143903 | "Birmingham Town" | Columbia 15197-D | April 5, 1927 | |
| 145202 | "Birmingham Jail" | Columbia 15212-D | November 10, 1927 | |
| 145203 | "Columbus Stockade Blues" | Columbia 15212-D | November 10, 1927 | |
| 145204 | "Gamblin' Jim" | Columbia 15684-D | November 10, 1927 | |
| 145205 | "Lonesome In the Pines" | Columbia 15684-D | November 10, 1927 | |
| 146042 | "After the Ball" | Columbia 15254-D | April 12, 1928 | |
| 146043 | "I Can't Tell You Why I Love You" | Columbia 15254-D | April 12, 1928 | |
| 146044 | "Irish Police" | Columbia 15293-D | April 12, 1928 | |
| 146045 | "The Hobo Tramp" | Columbia 15293-D | April 12, 1928 | |
| 146046 | "Alto Waltz" | Columbia 15319-D | April 12, 1928 | |
| 146047 | "Sleeping In the Manger" | Columbia unissued | April 12, 1928 | |
| 146048 | "Daddy Won't Have No Easy Rider Here" | Columbia unissued | April 12, 1928 | |
| 146049 | "Mexican Rag" | Columbia 15319-D | April 12, 1928 | |
| 147358 | "Birmingham Jail no.2" | Columbia 15375-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 147359 | "The Rainbow Division" | Columbia 15360-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 147360 | "Country Girl Valley" | Columbia 15360-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 147361 | "Lonesome Railroad" | Columbia 15375-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 147366 | "If You Ever Learn To Love Me" | Columbia 15388-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 147367 | "If I Had Listened To My Mother" | Columbia 15388-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 147368 | "Traveling Yodel Blues" | Columbia 15330-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 147369 | "Heavy Hearted Blues" | Columbia 15330-D | October 31, 1928 | |
| 148293 | "The New York Hobo" | Columbia 15452-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148294 | "All Bound Down In Texas" | Columbia 15477-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148295 | "Touring Yodel Blues" | Columbia 15419-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148296 | "Slow Wicked Blues" | Columbia 15419-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148297 | "Black Jack Moonshine" | Columbia 15452-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148298 | "Ain't Gonna Marry No More" | Columbia 15477-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148303 | "Down In the Old Cherry Orchard" | Columbia 15403-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148304 | "Where the Bluebirds Nest Again" | Columbia 15403-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148305 | "Beggar Joe" | Columbia 15624-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148306 | "When You're Far Away From Home" | Columbia 15624-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148307 | "Birmingham Rag" | Columbia 15436-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 148308 | "Sweet Sarah Blues" | Columbia 15436-D | April 15, 1929 | |
| 149308 | "Where the River Shannon Flows" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149309 | "Little Bessie" | Columbia 15492-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149310 | "I Left Her At the River" | Columbia 15492-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149311 | "Jack and May" | Columbia 15528-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149312 | "Captain Won't You Let Me Go Home" | Columbia 15528-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149313 | "The Blue and the Grey" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149322 | "Going Back To My Texas Home" | Columbia 15715-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149323 | "The Whistling Songbird" | Columbia 15511-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149324 | "Freight Train Ramble" | Columbia 15511-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149325 | "Lonesome Frisco Line" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149326 | "Down Among the Sugar Cane" | Columbia 15715-D | October 31, 1929 | |
| 149327 | "What Is Home Without Love" | Columbia unissued | October 31, 1929 | |
| 150247 | "The Black Sheep" | Columbia 15674-D | April 16, 1930 | |
| 150248 | "Little Ola" | Columbia 15591-D | April 16, 1930 | |
| 150249 | "Once I Had a Sweetheart" | Columbia 15674-D | April 16, 1930 | |
| 150250 | "The Maple On the Hill" | Columbia 15591-D | April 16, 1930 | |
| 150251 | "My Father Died a Drunkard" | Columbia 15552-D | April 16, 1930 | |
| 150252 | "Frankie Dean" | Columbia 15701-D | April 16, 1930 | |
| 150263 | "Pork Chops" | Columbia 15611-D | April 17, 1930 | |
| 150264 | "On the Banks of a Lonely River" | Columbia 15572-D | April 17, 1930 | |
| 150265 | "Faithless Husband" | Columbia 15552-D | April 17, 1930 | |
| 150266 | "Hard Time Blues" | Columbia 15611-D | April 17, 1930 | |
| 150267 | "Rising Sun Blues" | Columbia 15701-D | April 17, 1930 | |
| 150268 | "My Little Blue Heaven" | Columbia 15572-D | April 17, 1930 | |
| 71627 | "Thirteen Years In Kilbie Prison" | Victor 23680 | February 28, 1932 | |
| 71628 | "Once I Had a Fortune" | Victor 23680 | February 29, 1932 | |
| 13432 | "Let's Be Friends Again" | (ARC) Ba 32810 | June 7, 1933 | |
| 13433 | "I Long For the Pines" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 | |
| 13437 | "Black Sheep" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 |
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 151000 | "Careless Love" | Columbia 15651-D | December 3, 1930 | |
| 151001 | "By the Old Oaken Bucket Louise" | Columbia 15763-D | December 3, 1930 | |
| 151002 | "Lowe Bonnie" | Columbia 15763-D | December 3, 1930 | |
| 151003 | "After the Sinking of the Titanic" | Columbia unissued | December 3, 1930 | |
| 151004 | "New Birmingham Jail" | Columbia 15629-D | December 3, 1930 | |
| 151005 | "Roy Dixon" | Columbia 15629-D | December 3, 1930 | |
| 151010 | "Moonshine Blues" | Columbia 15651-D | December 4, 1930 | |
| 151011 | "Over the Hills Maggie" | Columbia unissued | December 4, 1930 | |
| 71629 | "Dixie Mail" | Victor 23665 | February 29, 1932 | |
| 71630 | "The Weaver's Blues" | Victor 23700 | February 29, 1932 | |
| 71631 | "Sweetheart of My Dreams" | Victor 23665 | February 29, 1932 | |
| 71632 | "Ooze Up To Me" | Victor 23700 | February 29, 1932 | |
| 13434 | "Hitch Hike Bums" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 | |
| 13435 | "By the Old Oaken Bucket Louise" | (ARC) Ba 32810 | June 7, 1933 | |
| 13436 | "Baby I Can't Use You" | ARC unissued | June 7, 1933 |
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69365 | "She's Waiting For Me (Fort Benning Blues)" | Victor 23640 | May 27, 1931 | |
| 69378 | "The Bootlegger Song" | Victor unissued | May 29, 1931 | |
| 69379 | "The Monkey Song" | Victor unissued | May 29, 1931 | |
| 69380 | "Goin' Down That Lonesome Frisco Line" | Victor 23640 | May 29, 1931 | |
| 69398 | "Broke Man Blues" | Victor unissued | May 30, 1931 | |
| 69399 | "High Sheriff From Georgia" | Victor unissued | May 30, 1931 |