Walter Bailes
Musician · 1920–2000 · West Virginia
Best known for
Songwriter
Walter Bailes was a West Virginia country singer, songwriter, and minister and one of the four Bailes Brothers, the gospel-leaning Grand Ole Opry act that helped launch the Louisiana Hayride in 1948 and that gave the postwar country repertoire the standards “Dust on the Bible” and “Give Mother My Crown.” The Smithsonian’s Songwriters Museum holds his “Dust on the Bible” manuscript among its core gospel-music materials.
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- Born January 19, 1920, in West Virginia.
- Wrote most of the Bailes Brothers’ songbook, including “Dust on the Bible” (with brother Johnnie Bailes) and “Give Mother My Crown.”
- The Bailes Brothers cut “Dust on the Bible” in 1946; the song has since been recorded by Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, Wanda Jackson, and many others.
- Were Grand Ole Opry performers through much of the 1940s.
- Helped launch the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport in 1948 alongside Webb Pierce and Hank Williams.
- Played a role in the early career of Hank Williams, who learned to sing harmony from the Bailes Brothers’ act.
- Stepped away from the duo in 1947 to enter the evangelical ministry; brother Homer Bailes took his place.
- Rejoined brother Johnnie as a gospel duo on the King label in 1953.
- Later founded the White Dove label and recorded a string of solo gospel albums.
- Died November 27, 2000.
