CALL IT BEAUTY: THE OLD TIME FIDDLE TUNE “CANDY GIRL” BY UNCLE BUNT STEPHENS.

 

In 1926, a man named John L. “Uncle Bunt” Stephens recorded an unforgettable tune—“Candy Girl”—as part of one-day recording stint at Columbia Records in New York. He had drifted out of obscurity after he may have won (or placed highly in) a series of fiddling contests sponsored by Henry Ford. We say “may have won” because there may have been fewer contests than claimed, or rather no contests at all. Uncle Bunt toured that year and made some notable appearances before drifting back to the rural area of Tennessee where he lived with his second wife.

In the mid-1920s, Ford dealerships apparently sponsored local fiddling contests. Uncle Bunt seems to have competed in these, placing highly or triumphing. Then, according to legend, Uncle Bunt and other highly-placing fiddlers traveled to Detroit in early 1926, where Henry Ford himself held a supreme fiddling competition that Uncle Bunt claims to have won, by playing “Old Hen Cackled” and “Sail Away Lady.” Furthermore, according to legend, Ford presented the triumphant fiddler with a new car, a rich payday, and a new suit; he also paid to have Uncle Bunt’s teeth fixed. A scholarly article appearing in the Journal of the Society for American Music suggests that therein may lie more fiction than fact. (We wonder if dental records could offer some conclusive evidence.)

A letter from Uncle Bunt to Ford dated August 20, 1926, refers to the “blue ribbon” that Uncle Bunt had been awarded at Ford’s last old time fiddling contest. It also inquires about the prospects of a Ford automobile being made available for Uncle Bunt’s touring. At the very least, this would seem to discredit the notion that Ford had awarded Stephens a car. There is no record of a reply.

However things may have transpired with the Ford Motor Company, Uncle Bunt Stephens enjoyed some fame in 1926. He appeared at the WSN Barn Dance (later renamed the Grand Ole Opry), on radio stations, and at performance venues across the eastern half of the country. He traveled to New York, where he cut “Candy Girl.” Columbia Records would make it Side 1, bundled with “Left in the Dark Blues” as Side 2. Columbia also released “Louisburg Blues” b/w “Sail Away Lady.” It’s possible that Uncle Bunt recorded two additional songs at the same session—“Jenny in the Garden” and “Leather Breeches”—but if he did, these cuts were never released. He recorded these songs on March 29, 1926; he would never record again.

Three days before the recording session, the New Britain Herald (of Conn.) reported that “Uncle Bunt Stephens of Tullahoma, Tenn., who won a Ford fiddling bee, is visiting town. He complains that in Nashville two pairs of pants given him by Henry [Ford] were stolen and he had to pay $1.10 for a shave in Chicago.” Two forms of theft in the big city. Two good reasons to ditch the dangers of densely populated regions for the less-manic tableaux of the countryside.

Importantly, Uncle Bunt’s recordings have been included in Harry Smith’s influential Anthology of American Folk Music as well as the Harry Smith B-sides anthology. The author Allen Lowe also included Uncle Bunt’s music as part of his impressive 30-CD anthology that accompanies his recently released two volume set of books, “Turn Me Loose White Man,” in which Lowe analyzes a wide swath of important American recordings. Uncle Bunt’s four songs made quite an impression.

To our ears, “Candy Girl” walks the line between brightness and mournfulness. Call it beauty. The tune is triumphant, to be sure, yet it expresses the powerful, grating sorrows that inform our systems of remorse. Columbia billed this record as “mountain dance music” and we don’t disagree. It’s hard to imagine folks sitting still, when encountering “Candy Girl” in performance. Of course, we encountered “Candy Girl” while sitting still, and it gouged us. By “gouge” we mean that it clobbered us with its inherent (priceless) weights. The tune played perfectly in the pandemic ravaged world of 2021, as we imagine it played perfectly just scant years after the Spanish Flu receded.

John L. Stephens was born in Tennessee, orphaned at an early age, and raised by an aunt. He was proficient on the harmonica as a boy, and claimed to have bought a fiddle from a tramp; the fiddle was of German manufacture and may have dated to 1699. While “Uncle” is a common title bestowed upon venerable fiddlers, we can’t comment on the man’s full nickname. He didn’t play baseball, and to our knowledge, he didn’t ram anything with his forehead. Uncle Bunt Stephens passed away in 1951 at the age of 72. “Candy Girl” lives on. We hear it and our eyes well-up, simply.

Brownsville Herald (Tex.) April 3, 1926

sources of information
AllMusic Guide page for Uncle Bunt Stephens
Discography of American Historical Recordings page for Uncle bunt Stephens
Paul M. Gifford, “Henry Ford's Dance Revival and Fiddle Contests: Myth and Reality,” Journal of the Society for American Music 4, n. 3 (Aug. 2010): 330-332
National Museum of American History page for the “Candy Girl”
New Britain Herald via Chronicling America (March 26, 1926)
Don Roberson via Internet Archive Way Back Machine article on Uncle Bunt Stephens
Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music at Smithsonian Folkways
Harry Smith B-Sides anthology at Dust-to-Digital
Ryan Thomson, The Fiddler’s Almanac (1985)
Wikipedia page for Uncle Bunt Stephens