Thomas Darby
Musician · 1883–1971 · Columbus, Georgia
Best known for
Songwriter
Tom Darby was a Columbus, Georgia guitarist and blues-inflected singer who partnered with steel guitarist Jimmie Tarlton in the duo Darby and Tarlton. The pair cut sixty-three sides for Columbia Records between 1927 and 1933, including “Columbus Stockade Blues” and “Birmingham Jail” — a double-sided 1927 release that sold more than 200,000 copies and entered the standard old-time and bluegrass repertoire.
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- Born January 7, 1883, in Columbus, Georgia, where he learned his vocal style from the city’s Black blues and work-song singers.
- Met Jimmie Tarlton in a Columbus music store; the two were already in their thirties and forties when they began performing as a duo.
- Recorded “Columbus Stockade Blues” backed with “Birmingham Jail” for Columbia on November 10, 1927; the disc became Columbia’s biggest pre-Depression country seller, with sales reportedly above 200,000 copies.
- Cut 63 sides with Tarlton between 1927 and 1933.
- Authorship of “Columbus Stockade Blues” remained contested between the two; their working relationship ended in 1933 amid the dispute, and the duo split.
- Died June 1971 in Dallas, Texas, and was buried at Riverdale Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia.
