Paul Byrd Collection

Collection

Identifier: PC00347

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the activities of Paul Byrd, a mouth harpist, singer, guitarist, and farmer from Johnston County, North Carolina who rose to fame in the early-mid twentieth century primarily by performing country and hymnal music in bands. These bands included an unnamed trio, "The Johnston County Ramblers," and "Paul and his Radio Pals." Activities recorded include the various songs Byrd and his bands performed, the various radio programs, stations, dance venues, stages, etc., that they performed for. The collection also documents slightly Pauls's farming lifestyle. The collection mostly documents Paul's musical career between the late 1920's and mid-late 1940's.

The material is mostly textual, consisting of 1 magazine, 4 booklets, 2 photocopies of books, and 2 photocopies from The Smithfield Herald" newspaper article. In addition to the textual material, there are 8 photocopied pictures of Paul Byrd and/or his band members and one 45 RPM vinyl record. The magazine features a short article on Byrd. Of the four booklets, three are songbooks which contain a list of songs that Paul and his bands would play. Two of the songbooks are exact copies of each other. One of the songbooks "Favorite Songs of Talmadge and Paul the Johnston County Ramblers Radio and Stage Stars" is in frail condition. One of the two photocopied songbooks is a duplicate of the frail songbook. The other photocopied book gives synopsis of performers, mainly musicians, that the "Crazy" Water Crystals Company hosted on its radio program the "Crazy" Barn Dance broadcast. The other part of the book is a songbook featuring songs by the musicians. The 45 RPM vinyl record consists of 4 songs, three of which are by Paul Byrd. One side contains includes the following songs "Moving" (by Paul Byrd), "One Ray of Hope" (by Paul Byrd). The other side includes the following songs "My Baby" (Jimmy Rogers) "Woman I've Been A Friend"

Dates

circa 1930s - circa 1950

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research. Please send requests to heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com or through the ArchivesSpace request form.

Conditions Governing Use

The nature of the Johnston County Heritage Center’s various collections means that copyright and other information about restrictions on the use of materials may be difficult or even impossible to determine. The Heritage Center claims only physical ownership of most materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility in the use of materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal, state, county or municipal right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Johnston County and the Johnston County Heritage Center assumes no responsibility.

Researchers are advised that the Heritage Center maintains physical stewardship of these collections under varying terms and agreements. Collections that are given to the Heritage Center are done so under a Deed of Gift agreement in which the donor transfers physical ownership rights as well as, "all right and title to... items without limiting conditions to the Heritage Center." To more fully understand rights restrictions for particular collections please consult with the Archivist or Director.

Biographical / Historical

Henry Paul Byrd (commonly known as “Paul Byrd”) was a singer, songwriter, mouth harp player, and guitarist who became famous by playing for multiple country music bands in the early-mid 20th century. Byrd was born on June 16, 1906 on Lamb Lassiter farm in Pleasant Grove, Johnston County, North Carolina (henceforth abbreviated N.C.). Byrd’s parents were Mayton B. Byrd and Lula A. Byrd. Though Byrd was born into the farming lifestyle, from his boyhood he developed a passion for producing music. First, Byrd learned how to play a mouth harp. Afterwards, at the age of 12 he purchased a guitar and learned to play it. Byrd also learned how to sing. As Byrd began producing more music, he started to network with other musicians. In 1926, Byrd began playing professionally with Robert Powell of Hopewell, Virginia (henceforth abbreviated V.A.), and Albert Coley in radio stations in Richmond, V.A. and Princeton V.A. This unnamed band went on to play for dances and other entertainment venues around Virginia. However, Byrd ended his time with the Virginia band and returned to North Carolina.

Byrd organized his next band “The Johnston County Ramblers,” who were composed of Byrd, James Thorton, Len Cook, and Talmadge Pollard. The Ramblers became affiliated with WPTF in Raleigh in 1934 on two sponsored programs, the “Crazy” Barn Dance broadcast and the Carolina Theaters. The band would perform at various school auditoriums, such as the Benson School Auditorium, to packed crowds composed of 300-400 people. Rising in popularity, the band began performing for the WEED station in Rocky Mount, N.C. The Ramblers played on the WEED station for four years in a program sponsored by Golden Bell Fertilizer. Eventually, the Ramblers disbanded due to sickness amongst its members.

Afterwards, Byrd went on to organize another band, “Paul Byrd and His Radio Pals,” in Florence, South Carolina. This band was composed of Leon Bryant (bass fiddler), Hayden Ivey and Daughtry Mavis (guitar players), and Ike Person (pianist). Around the 1940s, the Radio Pals began performing at a radio station in Fayetteville, N.C. After Fayetteville, the band performed on the WGBR station in Goldsboro. Byrd and his Radio Pals would go on to perform at a variety of radio stations and entertainment venues, such as the following: WCKB in Smithfield, N.C., radio stations again in Rocky Mount, N.C., the Manor Theatre in Wilmington, N.C., The Rose Hill Theatre in Rose Hill, N.C., etc. Byrd married “Patsy” Pauline Johnson (1905-1958) on March 18, 1924. The couple would go on to have multiple children together including the following: Grace Byrd (1925-1994), Lula Byrd (date of birth 1927), Willis Paul Byrd (1930-2009), Francis Irene Byrd (date of birth 1933), Rebecca Byrd, Shelby Jenette Byrd (date of birth 1945), and Donnie Dale Byrd (1947). Despite being a professional musician, Byrd often returned to living partly as a farmer. Paul and his family moved to a tobacco farm at the edge of Smithfield on Sanders Chapel road. Byrd would die on April 30, 1979.