25 Facts About Dan Hornsby

Isaac Daniel Hornsby was an American singer-songwriter, musician, recording artist, producer and arranger, studio engineer, band leader, artists and repertoire man with Columbia Records, and radio personality.

Dan Hornsby often played multiple roles, from an idea for a song, to when it was produced.

Dan Hornsby's songs were a combination of country and folk music.

Dan Hornsby acquired country, folk, and blues talent for Columbia Records and MGM, including Bessie Smith and other talents.

Dan Hornsby was inducted into the Atlanta Music Hall of Fame in 1986.

Dan Hornsby's father was a contractor and a part-time Baptist minister.

Dan Hornsby lived in Fulton County, Georgia, at that time.

Dan Hornsby died on May 18,1951, and was buried at the Crest Lawn Cemetery in Upper Westside, Atlanta.

Nikki Hornsby, Dan Hornsby's granddaughter, became a singer and songwriter in the late 20th and early 21st century.

Dan Hornsby inherited her grandfather's music archive after her parents died and has worked to keep the memory of his music career alive.

Dan Hornsby formed the Dan Hornsby Quartet with Perry Bechtel, Taylor Flanagan, and Sterling Melvin.

Besides his quartet and trio, Dan Hornsby created or joined Skillet Lickers, Young Brothers Tennessee Band, Georgia Organ Grinders, Lowe Stokes and His North Georgians, and Bamby Baker Boys.

Dan Hornsby had his own program, sponsored by a bakery, on Atlanta's WSM Radio station where he acquired the nickname "Cheerful Dan".

Dan Hornsby sang in two octaves and had speaking roles under the name "Tom Dorsey" for drama shows.

Dan Hornsby often wrote the scripts and performed for recordings with Gid Tanner and the Skillet-Lickers for Columbia Records.

Dan Hornsby discovered Hank Williams for MGM and Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers, Riley Puckett, Bessie Smith, Clarence Ashley, and Charlie Poole at Columbia.

Dan Hornsby recruited African American musicians, including Robert Hicks, a blues singer who played the guitar.

Dan Hornsby, who met Hicks at a barbecue restaurant, named him "Barbecue Bob" and used an image of Hicks in a chef's apron and hat, by a barbecue pit of roasting pork for marketing.

Dan Hornsby had white bands and performers in recording sessions with Black musicians, which was highly unusual at that time in the South.

Dan Hornsby produced recordings with the Young Brothers Tennessee Band, like "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" and "Little Brown Jug".

Dan Hornsby wrote, sang, and produced a few original folk songs for Columbia.

The Great Depression affected the phonographic industry, and Dan Hornsby lost his job with Columbia Records despite selling over 9,000 copies of "The Shelby Disaster".

Dan Hornsby returned to radio and worked with several stations, including WGST and WSB, where he was a scriptwriter, announcer, and entertainer until his death.

In 1986, Dan Hornsby was inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame, joining some of his friends and associates: Gid Tanner, Clayton McMichen, and Riley Puckett.

In 2013, Dan Hornsby was given a display for the Columbia Records display in the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California, for one year.