Clayton McMichen (1900 to 1970) was the lead fiddler of Gid Tanner’s Skillet Lickers, the best-selling string band of the 1920s. He played on their Columbia records from 1926 to 1931, then led his own Georgia Wildcats from 1931 to 1939. He wrote Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia for Jimmie Rodgers, and he billed himself as the national fiddling champion for 15 years, from 1934 to 1949.
Why McMichen matters
McMichen was an early star fiddler who wanted out of the old-time box. He grew up on Georgia breakdowns, but he heard jazz and pop and wanted his fiddle to go there too. With the Skillet Lickers he played hard-driving dance music. With the Georgia Wildcats he played swing. Contest fiddlers who add a jazzy turnaround to Arkansas Traveler are doing what he did in 1930. So are bluegrass fiddlers who slide a blues lick into a breakdown.
Life and career
McMichen was born on January 26, 1900, at Allatoona in Cobb County, Georgia. His father played fiddle and his grandfather played banjo. He started fiddle at age 11 and learned the family’s tunes from his father and uncle. The family moved to Atlanta in 1913, and he worked as an automobile mechanic.
In 1918 he formed a band called Lick the Skillet, later renamed the Home Town Boys. On September 18, 1922, six months after WSB went on the air, the Home Town Boys played on the station. He stayed on WSB for four years with a mix of fiddle tunes, jazz, and ballads. His first documented convention placing came in 1922, when he took second with Arkansas Traveler. In 1923 he won the Macon fiddlers’ contest and picked up the nickname “The North Georgia Wildcat.”
In 1926 Columbia put McMichen together with Gid Tanner, guitarist Riley Puckett, and banjoist Fate Norris as Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Between 1926 and 1931 the band cut 88 sides for Columbia, with 82 issued. McMichen was the lead fiddler, and he ran the sessions when Tanner and Puckett were absent. His own record Sweet Bunch of Roses sold more than 100,000 copies in 1927. He also recorded crooner ballads under the name Bob Nichols, including My Carolina Home. His last WSB broadcast came on January 13, 1931, and the Skillet Lickers broke up that year.
Jimmie Rodgers recorded McMichen’s Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia in 1932. McMichen formed the Georgia Wildcats in 1931 and led them until 1939. The band recorded for Decca from 1935 to 1938 and included guitarist Slim Bryant, fiddler Carl Cotner, and, for a time, a young Merle Travis. McMichen worked radio in Pittsburgh, Covington, Cincinnati, and Nashville, where he was a Grand Ole Opry member, then settled in Louisville in the late 1930s.
He retired in 1955 after years of local radio and television work in Louisville. The folk revival brought him back. He played the Newport Folk Festival and Bill Monroe’s Bean Blossom festival in 1964 and kept performing until his death. He died in January 1970 in Battletown, Kentucky, at age 69.
Playing style
McMichen played with a clean, polished tone that stood out in a 1920s string band. Where Gid Tanner sawed, McMichen phrased. He played breakdowns fast and in tune, with clear separation between notes and a firm downbeat for dancers. The New Georgia Encyclopedia calls his fiddling “jazzy but polished.”
On the Georgia Wildcats records he moved toward swing. He used slurred, syncopated bowing, chromatic passing notes, and jazz-style turnarounds at the ends of phrases. He also arranged Dixieland-style ensemble parts for the band. His Wildcats recordings of Devil’s Dream and Fiddler’s Dream show both sides: a straight fiddle tune melody on top of a swing rhythm section.
Influences and legacy
McMichen learned from his father and uncle, then from the jazz and pop records of the 1920s. His Skillet Lickers bandmates were Gid Tanner, Riley Puckett, and later members Lowe Stokes and Bert Layne. He shared stages with Clark Kessinger and cut songs for Jimmie Rodgers.
His influence runs in two lines. Old-time fiddlers copy the Skillet Lickers sides, and contest players who add swing to breakdowns follow the Georgia Wildcats. Merle Travis, who had played guitar in the Wildcats, joined Mac Wiseman and Joe Maphis for a 1981 double album called The Clayton McMichen Story.
Signature tunes and songs
Arkansas Traveler Sweet Bunch of Roses Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia McMichen’s Reel Devil’s Dream Fiddler’s Dream.
Awards and honors
Macon fiddlers’ contest, first place (1923) Billed as National Fiddling Champion (1934 to 1949)
Watch and listen
McMichen plays McMichen’s Reel. Listen for the clear note separation and the firm dance beat.
The Georgia Wildcats play Devil’s Dream in 1941. The fiddle tune stays straight while the band swings under it.
What to learn from McMichen
Learn Arkansas Traveler from his records. It placed him in his first contest, and it shows up in every jam. The technique to steal is his swing turnaround. At the end of a phrase, instead of landing on the root and stopping, play a short chromatic run down to the next chord tone. Do it once per pass, not every phrase.
Sources
Clayton McMichen (1900 to 1970), New Georgia Encyclopedia Clayton McMichen, Wikipedia Skillet Lickers, Wikipedia Clayton McMichen, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more old-time and early recording fiddlers. Gid Tanner led the Skillet Lickers. Fiddlin’ John Carson recorded in Atlanta in the same years. Clark Kessinger shared stages with him. Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith took the same rag and swing ideas onto the Opry.