Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band was a Choctaw Indian string band from Oklahoma, United States. The band was composed of members of the Hall family—Henry, father, on vocals and fiddle; and sons Clarence on guitar and Harold on banjo. They played from Wichita, Kansas.Sisson, The American Midwest, p. 385: "Big Chief Henry Hall of Wichita, Kansas, recorded commercially in Dallas in 1929, ..."
H. C. Speir, a music promoter from Jackson, Mississippi, heard them playing at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He got them a recording contract with RCA Victor, who recorded a number of songs in Dallas, October 14, 1929.Wardlow, Chasin' That Devil Music, pp. 146-147: "He [HC Speir] loved white fiddle music. He found a Choctaw Indian fiddle band from Oklahoma that was at the Philadelphia Choctaw Festival in the summertime and got them on Victor. Big Chief Henry was his name."
Discography Original recording date October 14, 1929, Dallas.Spottswod, Ethnic Music on Records, p. 2928. {| border="2" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" rules="all" style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0; border-style:solid; border-width:1px; border-collapse:collapse; empty-cells:show; " |- bgcolor='#FFDEAD' !Session !Title !Recording |- |BVE 56382-2 |Blue Bird Waltz |V-40225 |- |BVE 56383-2 |Choctaw Waltz |V-40225 |- |BVE 56384-2 |Indian Tom-Tom |V-40281 |- |BVE 56385-2 |The Indian's Dream |V-40281 |- |BVE 56386-2 |Cherokee Rag |V-40195 |- |BVE 56387-2 |On The Banks Of The Kaney |V-40195
References
Bibliography Sisson, Richard; Christian K. Zacher; Andrew Robert Lee Cayton (eds.). The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press, 2007. Spottswood, Richard K. Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942 & etc. (Vol. 5). University of Illinois Press. 1990. Wardlow, Gayle Dean. Chasin' That Devil Music: Searching for the Blues. Backbeat Books, 1998.
External links Choctaw Indian Fair—Philadelphia, Mississippi.