THE JUG BAND

Dating to the 1940s, this short film presents "The Jug Band", a group which was better known as the "Dixieland Jug Band" or the "Henry Miles Jug Band" after its leader, Henry Miles of Louisville. Miles worked in an orchestra but could also play the fiddle, guitar, violin, and mandolin. Oh and did we mention he could sing and dance too? He is probably most remembered for his fiddle playing with the Ballard Chefs (1929-1932). The group performs "I Had a Dream Dear" (;27), "Shine" (1:57) and "Who's Sorry Now" (4:23). Not much is known about the band shown here, other than that they were from Louisville. Henry Miles is the violinist and was still playing in Louisville (and elsewhere) with his jug band into the '80s and died in 1984. Noted music historian Mark Cantor says he believes the lineup with Miles is Bee Ferguson, rhythm guitar; Rudoph Thompson, jug; James Hardy, spoons, and George Stewart playing the four-string tenor Dobro.