Henry D. "Homer" Haynes was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1920 and
Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns was born in 1920 about 90 miles south of Knoxville in
Conasauga, Tennessee. Their first collaborative musical effort was in 1932 on a
Knoxville radio show, "The Mid-Day Merry Go Round". As members of
The String Dusters" they played everything from jazz and pop to country ballads
and hoedowns. They were originally called Junior and Dude. Soon they moved to
the Renfro Valley barn dance in Kentucky, and from there to their own traveling
tent show.
Homer and Jethro sporadically recorded until WW2 temporarily separated them. One humorous aside is that they were rejected by the Grand Ole Opry early in their career. It seems that the executives were not thrilled with the playing of their lead guitar player, who happened to be the 'no-name' brother-in-law of Jethro. His name was Chet Atkins. Chet went on to produce most of their later material. He was also an invaluable source for guest musicians for Homer and Jethro. Such luminaries as Boots Randolph, Floyd Cramer, and June Carter Cash were participants in Homer and Jethro's musical madness. Even the Spike Jones band helped on a couple of songs. In 1949 Homer and Jethro began writing alternative lyrics to popular songs of that time. Their renditions of "Hound Dog in the Winder" and "Pore Ol' Koo-liger" are truly classics in the same tradition as the best of "Weird Al". Hank Williams loved their parodies so much that he expressed in writing that Homer and Jethro could use any of his music. Moving to Chicago, Homer and Jethro starred in the National Barn Dance there for more than 10 years. They put out a string of successful albums through the 1950's until 1971. Their live show of butchered songs, combined with cornball Southern humor, was well received. In the 1960's they appeared in a series of commercials for Kellogg's Corn Flakes that was truly hysterical. I still remember their "Cornfucious Say" commercials to this day. They are probably to blame, at least in part, for my own warped sense of humor!
In 1971 Mr. Haynes unexpectedly had a heart attack and passed away. This was a tremendous shock to Jethro both personally and professionally. He turned to serious jazz and folk music, appearing with entertainers such as Joe Venuti, Pete Fountain, Don Stiernberg, and Steve Goodman. This was nothing new, as both Homer and Jethro performed over the years as session musicians on various artists' records. Also, they had previously recorded with Atkins and others as members of the Nashville String Band, a serious instrumental group. In 1989 Mr. Burns died in his sleep. Though he had been suffering from bone cancer, he continued performing brilliantly until the very end. Thus ended an era that inspired many in the jazz, bluegrass, and country music genre. Weird Al and others today can thank Homer and Jethro for blazing the trail of musical comedy. Sadly, their contributions to music are forgotten by many of the new listening generation. A few, such as myself, are collecting old Homer and Jethro albums to help preserve this vital part of the past. These records are becoming difficult to find in mint condition. I am missing a number of their more desirable albums and EP's.
If you have few of H&J's songs and wish to hear a sampler, there
is currently one CD compilation available. "America's Song Butchers: The Weird
World of Homer & Jethro (Razor & Tie RE 2130-2) is an *excellent* CD!
They have really cleaned up the background hiss of the old tapes and have
compiled some of the duo's best hits. You can find this CD at a number of
internet shops such as CDNow. Run a search for the title and shop for the best
price. Another CD is called "The Best of Homer and Jethro" (DMC1-1315) by Good
Music Record Co. This is an excellent CD but is apparently out of stock now.
After a year of delays and searching, I *finally* got the Japan 1997 BMG CD
release of their albums "It Ain't Necessarily Square" and "Playing It Straight"
from Funky Junk Music. This item is extremely difficult to come by and is
usually on backorder, so grab it if you find it anywhere. It is a beautiful
example of what they can do with 'serious' songs. Other than that, look for
their old albums at any flea market sale or search on the web. There are many
places that offer their albums, though they are getting harder to find as time
goes by. I tried to put some snippets of music on this webpage, but even the
smallest files just added up to too much space. I guess the only thing to do is
to go out and find their music! One more thing. I have absolutely NO
financial interest in any of the companies mentioned or in RCA or BMG. I made
this page to help honor these great musicians and help spread information about
them. Since this webpage has been in place, I have received an average of 10
emails per week from fans of H&J or people looking for information about
them. I have enjoyed hearing from a number of musicians who played with them, as
well as family members of Homer and Jethro. I love to hear from you and will do
my best to answer any questions I can. I am not claiming to be an expert on
H&J, so take it easy on me! Also, I do not have any H&J music for sale.
Sorry.
"She was eight and I was nine, and that just made us seventeen."
"When he hears Peter Cottontail, the rabbit never cheers. He takes the cotton from his tail and stuffs it in his ears. Kaw-li-ga!"
"...and then that cotton-pickin chicken plucker came across." - Homer and Jethro