Jimmy Swan
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2014) |
James Eldon Swan (November 18, 1912 – 29 October 1995) was an American country musician[1][2][3] and later, a segregationist political candidate.
Early life
[edit]James Edgar Swan was born on November 18, 1912, in the Sand Hill area of Cullman County, Alabama. After his father left the family, Swan moved with his mother to Birmingham in 1922.[4]
At age 15, he won a talent show at an Alabama radio station. He married at age 17 with Grace Armour, a beauty queen, and quickly had three children, and was unable to put together a band until the beginning of the 1940s, due to him having to provide for his family.[1]
Musical career
[edit]In 1966, Swan was more concerned with his radio station in Hattiesburg, WBKH, than about his singing.[1]
Democratic primary for Governor of Mississippi
[edit]1967 election
[edit]In 1967, Swan ran in the Democratic primary for the governorship of Mississippi on a White supremacy platform, wearing a white suit to stress his political program.[5] His campaign bodyguard Pat Massengale was a member of the Knights of the Green Forrest, a Ku Klux Klan organization.[6]
Swan supported school segregation and the creation of "FREE, private, SEGREGATED SCHOOLS for every white child in the State of Mississippi" in the first twelve months of his term, or else he would resign and publicly apologize, and called to save Mississippi "from the moral degeneracy of total mass integration that Washington has decreed for our children this fall", when schools were to be integrated by the HEW.[7][8]
He supported White supremacy.[7] He described the urban riots as a part of a "Communist-inspired revolution", promising to use extreme force if such riots occurred in Mississippi.[9]
He managed to attract segregationists who disagreed with how Ross Barnett managed the Ole Miss riot of 1962, finding him too moderate.[7]
Finally, he called to "put the Bible, prayer and patriotism back in the schools".[5]
He finished third, with 18.18% of the vote.
1971 election
[edit]Swan ran for the Democratic nomination for governor on a segregationist platform, the lone one alongside Judge Marshall Perry of Grenada.[10]
Although he somewhat tried to soften his rhetoric, he still praised Theodore Bilbo, brandishing in public his book Take Your Choice: Separation Or Mongrelization.[11][12]
Discography
[edit]| Year | Title | Record label |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Juke Joint Mama / I Had A Dream | Trumpet Records |
| 1952 | Triflin’ On Me / I Love You Too Much | Trumpet Records |
| 1953 | The Last Letter / The Little Church | MGM Records |
| 1953 | Losers Weepers / Mark Of Shame | Trumpet Records |
| 1954 | Lonesome Daddy Blues / One More Time | Trumpet Records |
| 1955 | Frost On My Roof / It’s Your Turn To Cry | MGM Records |
| 1956 | Hey, Baby Baby / Why Did You Change Your Mind? | MGM Records |
| 1956 | Country Cattin’ / The Way That You’re Living | MGM Records |
| 1957 | Lonesome Man / Good and Lonesome | MGM Records |
| 1960 | No One Loves A Broken Heart / Don’t Conceal Your Wedding Ring | Decca Records |
| 1965 | Honky Tonkin’ / I Love You Too Much | JB Records |
| 1965 | Rattlesnake Daddy / It Takes A Lonesome Man | JB Records |
| 1966 | Walkin’ My Dog / Asleep In The Deep | JB Records |
| 1968 | Good and Lonesome / Why Did You Change Your Mind? | Big Howdy Records |
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ a b c "Jimmy Swan, "Honky Tonkin' in Mississippi"". bopping. 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
- ^ "mus-coh_swanj_Transcript.pdf | Digital Collections at The University of Southern Mississippi". digitalcollections.usm.edu. Archived from the original on 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
- ^ "Jimmy Swan - Library of Congress". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Ryan 2004, p. 79.
- ^ a b McCain, William David (2008). The Journal of Mississippi History. Mississippi historical society. p. 386.
- ^ Newton, Michael (2009-12-21). The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi: A History. McFarland. p. 174. ISBN 9780786457045.
- ^ a b c J., B. (August 8, 1967). "The Mississippi Election Today". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
- ^ Hawkins, James K. (2010-03-11). A Case Study of the Educational Reform Efforts of Former Mississippi Governor William F. Winter. Universal-Publishers. p. 50. ISBN 9781599423111.
- ^ Wilkie, Curtis (2002-05-16). Dixie: A Personal Osyssey Through Historic Events That Shaped the Modern South. Simon and Schuster. p. 170. ISBN 9780743226042.
- ^ Reed, Roy (1971-08-05). "Mississippi Rebuffs Anti-Negro Politics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
- ^ Reed, Roy (1971-08-04). "Moderate Leads in Mississippi Race for Governor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
- ^ Billington, Monroe Lee (1975). The political South in the twentieth century. Scribner. pp. 128. ISBN 9780684139869.
jimmy swan 1971 bilbo.
Works cited
[edit]- Ryan, Marc (2004). Trumpet Records. University of Mississippi Press. ISBN 9781617035258.
See also
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1912 births
- 1995 deaths
- American country singer-songwriters
- MGM Records artists
- Decca Records artists
- 20th-century American singer-songwriters
- Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama
- Musicians from Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- Country musicians from Alabama
- Country musicians from Mississippi
- Mississippi Democrats
- American segregationists
- Trumpet Records artists
- Singer-songwriters from Alabama
- Singer-songwriters from Mississippi
- Neo-Confederates