Bradley Kincaid

Induction Year: 1971

Birth Name: William Bradley Kincaid

Birth Date: 07-13-1895

Place of Birth: Point Leavell, Kentucky

Death Date: 09-23-1989

Place of Death: Springfield, Ohio

In his heyday, Bradley Kincaid was one of the most popular country radio performers in America. While he was on the National Barn Dance on WLS in Chicago from 1926 to 1929, he drew 100,000 fan letters a year. During his first four weeks on the air on WLW in Cincinnati, 40,000 people wrote him. People lined up for blocks to hear him sing in theaters. His "Hound Dog" guitar model was sold in Sears catalogs.

Kincaid is unusual among early country entertainers in several respects. Although he was born to a poor farm family in the Kentucky mountains, he earned a college degree. He recorded extensively between 1927 and 1950, but many of his songs were popularized via the sale of his 13 songbooks. In 1928, he became the first country artist to publish a songbook, inaugurating a long and profitable tradition. His publications sold an estimated half a million copies during his lifetime.

His warm tenor voice and simple guitar accompaniment made him wildly popular with listeners throughout the U.S. Following his launch at WLS, he broadcast over KDKA in Pittsburgh, WGY in Schenectady, WEAF and the NBC network from New York City, WBZ in Boston, WTIC in Hartford and WHAM in Rochester. He returned to Cincinnati from 1941 to 1944, then finished his broadcasting career at the Grand Ole Opry on WSM in Nashville from 1946 to 1950.

He retired in 1950. He bought an interest in station WWSO in Springfield, Ohio, and opened a music store. He was coaxed back into the recording studio in 1963, recording 162 songs over a four-day session. His final recordings, done in 1973, were among the few that featured him accompanied by a full band.

In addition to being a songbook-publishing pioneer, Bradley Kincaid's major significance in country music history is that he popularized so many traditional folk songs. He did compose some of his own material, but he is most often remembered for singing "Barbara Allen," "The Fatal Wedding," "Red River Valley," "On Top of Old Smoky," "Sweet Betsy From Pike" and other folk standards.

He discovered Grandpa Jones and influenced such artists as Eddy Arnold, Lulu Belle & Scotty, Bill Monroe and Mac Wiseman. A perennial nominee for the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bradley Kincaid died in 1989 at age 94.

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Song Catalog

 

"Brush the Dust From That Old Bible"

Bradley Kincaid1950 
 

"Captain Bill"

Bradley Kincaid1942 
 

"Cornpone and Molasses"

Bradley Kincaid1963 

"Fifty Years From Now"

Harry "Mac" McClintock1931 
Bradley Kincaid1932 
The Frank Luther Trio1933 
 

"Fond of Chewing Gum"

Bradley Kincaid1940 
 

"Hummingbird Special"

Bradley Kincaid1946 
 

"I Love My Rooster"

Bradley Kincaid1931 

"I Wish I Had Someone to Love Me"

Bradley Kincaid1930 
 

"I Won't Be Back in a Year, Little Darling"

Bradley Kincaid1942 
 

"Little Darling, Don't Say We Are Through"

Bradley Kincaid1941 
 

"Mammy's Precious Baby"

Bradley Kincaid1933 
 

"Now the Table's Turned on You"

Bradley Kincaid1950 
 

"Paddle Your Own Canoe"

Bradley Kincaid1937 
 

"Sleepy Head"

Bradley Kincaid1936 
 

"Some Little Bug Is Going to Get You Someday"

Bradley Kincaid1933 
 

"That Old Tintype Picture"

Bradley Kincaid1941 

"The Death of Jimmie Rodgers"

Gene Autry1933 
Bradley Kincaid1934 

"The Innocent Prisoner"

Bradley Kincaid1930 
The Frank Luther Trio1933 

"The Legend of Robin's Red Breast"

Bradley Kincaid1941 
Frank Ifield1957 
Cowboy Copas1963 
 

"The Life of Jimmie Rodgers"

Gene Autry1933 
Bradley Kincaid1934 
 

"The Little Red Rooster and the Old Black Hen"

Bradley Kincaid1940 
 

"There's a Red Light Ahead"

Bradley Kincaid1945 

Other Media

Bradley Kincaid

Induction Year: 1971