Background

Henry Doyle Haynes was born on July 27, 1920 in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. He was the son of Laura Mae Hopkins and Henry Alfred Haynes, a cotton mill worker.

Education

Haynes received his high school diploma from the Knoxville city school system.

He was a natural musical talent, self-taught on the guitar at an early age.

Career

By the age of nine, Haynes appeared on radio station WNOX in Knoxville. In 1932, he met his lifelong partner, mandolin player Kenneth Burns, another Knoxville native and three months Haynes's senior. They auditioned for the same WNOX amateur show, and both were disqualified for sounding too professional. Haynes and Burns soon formed a guitar-mandolin duo, an instrumentation format that came to prominence in country music in the 1930s. Many of these groups were "brother" acts, such as the Louvin Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, the Monroe Brothers, and years later in early rock the Everly Brothers. They modeled their act after the Blue Sky Boys, Earl and Bill Bolick, two brothers who specialized in gentle arrangements of traditional, sentimental parlor songs and gospel music. The Blue Sky Boys also peppered their act with cornball humor and skits, inspiring Haynes and Burns to develop their comedic skills as well.

They got their stage names, "Homer and Jethro, " when a WNOX announcer forgot their real names during his introduction and made up two names on the spot. Their new characters, from "Hoot'n Holler, Tennessee, " were set for the rest of their careers. Both men intermingled freelance instrumental work with their new Homer and Jethro act until 1938, when they committed themselves to the group full-time. Homer and Jethro appeared occasionally on WNOX's "Plantation Party" show until 1948, and they began touring and appearing on other prominent country radio programs in the late 1930s. One of the first of these radio shows was the "Renfro Valley Barn Dance" in Kentucky.

The Homer and Jethro act was interrupted by World War II. Both men served in the military. Haynes was an army corporal serving as a clerk and medical technician. Burns was stationed in the South Pacific. When the act resumed, Homer and Jethro did a stint on WLW, a clear-channel radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio, affiliated with the National Broadcasting Company.

In 1946, they made their first recordings for the King label, also in Cincinnati. They later appeared on KWTO in Springfield, Missouri. Their popularity as a comedy musical duo gained momentum, climaxing with their 1949 appearance on the "National Barn Dance, " broadcast on clear-channel WLS in Chicago. They continued as a staple act on the show until 1960. They also made appearances on WSM's "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville, Tennessee. By 1950, they were making television appearances, such as on a Roy Rogers special on NBC and Eddy Arnold's variety show on ABC.

Haynes and Burns eventually made their home in the Chicago area, Haynes settling in Lansing, Illinois. In 1949, Homer and Jethro signed with RCA Victor records, a move facilitated in part by their association with guitarist Chet Atkins, Ken Burns's brother-in-law, member of Homer and Jethro's band, and eventual executive at RCA's Nashville studio. The RCA contract initially led to a brief association (1950-1951) with Spike Jones's City Slickers, the widely known musical comedy band known particularly for their parodies of classical and popular music. From this experience Homer and Jethro began using the parody idea in their own routines, satirizing material as diverse as "How Much Is That Doggy (Hound Dawg) in the Window" and "Vesti la giubba" from the opera Pagliacci. This material was blended with their existing "cornpone" repertoire of songs such as "I'm My Own Grandpaw" and "The Battle of Kookamonga. " They also incorporated spoken dialogues and stories, including a country bumpkin's account of witnessing his first hockey game, very similar to Andy Griffith's famous "What It Was, Was Football" routine in the 1950's. A popularity contest in Billboard magazine named Homer and Jethro the Favorite Comedy Team of 1952.

Homer and Jethro continued recording comedy albums and making live appearances throughout the 1950s. By the 1960s, they were making more mainstream television appearances (outside of country-music programs), including an appearance on Johnny Carson's NBC "Tonight Show. "

Homer and Jethro probably became best known to the general public when they appeared in a Kellogg's Corn Flakes commercial in the 1960s. Similar in circumstance to pianist-comedian Thomas "Fats" Waller, few of Homer and Jethro's fans ever realized or appreciated their instrumental abilities. In his youth Haynes had aspired to be a serious concert guitarist and, early on, was a respected studio session rhythm guitarist.

Among professional musicians in jazz and country music, Ken Burns was acknowledged as one of the premier mandolin players. Haynes's and Burns's talents were best exhibited in the early 1960s when Chet Atkins produced the RCA album Homer and Jethro Play It Straight, an album of jazz and popular music instrumentals demonstrating their flawless musicianship.

In 1971, while preparing for a performance at the Great Midwest Fair in Crete, Illinois, Haynes collapsed and was taken to a hospital in Hammond, Indiana, where he died. Eulogies appeared in the newspapers of the many small towns where the two men had entertained.

Burns canceled all appearances for a time, eventually trying to return as a solo act. In 1976, he added twenty-seven-year-old Ken Eidson as the "new Homer. " The Homer and Jethro act was soon retired. Jethro finished out his career in the 1980s as Ken Burns, a mandolin virtuoso, appearing on American Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" and other programs.

Achievements

• Henry Doyle Haynes went down in history as a prominent entertainers and musicians. He gained his fame on radio and television as a country and jazz guitarist and as the character Homer of the country music comedy and parody duo Homer and Jethro with Kenneth C. Burns. The pair recorded more than 50 albums during their career and won a Grammy for the best comedy performance in 1959 for "The Battle of Kookamonga, " a parody of Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans. " Haynes and Burns were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001 as Homer and Jethro.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Homer & Jethro Assault The Rock & Roll Era

    (Thirty-one classic parodies and novelties from country mu...)

  • Slaughter The Standards ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED 2CD SET

    (There was a lot more to the cornball antics of Homer & Je...)

  • Take Off Your Gloves And Play - Early Recordings 1946-1948 ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED

    (Homer Haynes and Jethro Burns were country music's most s...)

  • The Best Of: Hall Of Fame 2001

    (NEW Combo BLUWAVS CD and FLAC FILE)

  • PLAYING IT STRAIGHT + IT AINT NECESSARLY SQUARE

    (CD ALBUM)

  • Goodnight Irene
  • Oh Give Me a Home
  • The Battle Of Kookamonga
  • America's Song Butchers: The Weird World Of Homer & Jethro
  • HOMER & JETHRO-musical madness AUDIO LAB (LP vinyl record)
  • Barefoot Ballads

Personality

Short, blond, and boyish looking, Haynes was famous for his relaxed demeanor and trademark gum chewing. When asked by Carson why he always chewed gum, Homer, unperturbed, replied simply, "What the hell else are you gonna do with it?"

Connections

Haynes was married to Elizabeth Louise Coleman. They had three children.

Father:

Henry Alfred Haynes

Mother:

Laura Mae (Hopkins) Haynes

Spouse:

Elizabeth Louise (Coleman) Haynes

colleague:

Kenneth Charles "Jentro" Burns

References

• Country Music: The Encyclopedia