Henry D. "Homer" Haynes
| Henry D. Haynes | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Henry Doyle Haynes |
| Also known as | Homer |
| Born |
July 27, 1920 near Knoxville, Tennessee, USA |
| Died | August 7, 1971 (aged 51) Hammond, Indiana, USA |
| Genres | Comedy, country, jazz |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1936–1971 |
| Labels | King, RCA |
| Associated acts | Homer and Jethro (with Kenneth C. Burns), Chet Atkins |
Henry Doyle Haynes (July 27, 1920 – August 7, 1971) was an American comedy entertainer and musician who gained fame on radio and television as a country and jazz guitarist and as the character Homer of the country music comedy and parody duo Homer and Jethro with Kenneth C. Burns for 35 years beginning in 1936.
Haynes was born near Knoxville, Tennessee on July 29, 1920. He met Kenneth Burns during a WNOX-AM audition in 1936 when they were both 16 years old. Haynes strummed the guitar and Burns played the mandolin. Known as Junior and Dude (pronounced "dood'-ee"), the duo was rechristened Homer and Jethro when WNOX Program Director Lowell Blanchard forgot their nicknames during a 1936 broadcast. In 1939 they became regulars on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance radio program.
Haynes was drafted into the US Army and served in the medical corps in the Pacific. He reunited with Burns, who had served in Europe, in Knoxville in 1945. In 1947, the duo moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and were working at WLW-AM on the station's Midwestern Hayride. They signed with King Records, where they worked as a house band and recorded singles on their own, and two years later signed with RCA Records. The pair was fired along with several other stars by new management at WLW in 1948, and after a brief tour, they moved to Springfield, Missouri and performed on KWTO-AM with Chet Atkins, the Carter Family and Slim Wilson.
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