Uploaded March 2011 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Fiddlin' Boogie -- Curley Williams and his Georgia Peach Pickers -- Columbia #20757 -- Recorded: 9/11/49
Dock Williams was born on June 3, 1914 near Cairo, Georgia and was raised on the family farm in Grady County, Georgia. His father and grandfather were fiddle players, which was the instrument Williams himself took up. Williams was given the name "Dock" because he was a seventh son and a tradition held that seventh sons became doctors.
His debut was with a band named The Santa Fe Trail Riders on WPAX in Thomasville, Georgia around 1940. In December 1942 the band was invited to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry. Because Andrew Smik was already well-known performing as "Doc Williams" with his band The Border Riders, George D. Hay suggested that Williams change his first-name from Dock to Curley, for his curly hair. Hay also suggested that the band become the Georgia Peach Pickers as most of its members were from Georgia (including Williams' brothers Joseph and Sanford on rhythm guitar, and on bass and comedy respectively).
Curley's best-known song, "Half As Much" was written in 1950 while he and his band were working with the WHMA radio station which broadcast to the Alabama cities of Anniston, Birmingham, Montgomery and Dothan. Reputedly, Williams wrote and recorded a demo of "Half as Much" very quickly, in about an hour, at WHMA in Dothan. However, it was a big hit for Hank Williams, to whom it is sometimes credited because the writing credit to "C. Williams" on Hank's record was often taken to be a typo. It was also a hit for Rosemary Clooney, and has been recorded by many artists, including Patsy Cline, Emmylou Harris, and Van Morrison.
Curley Williams passed away on September 5, 1970.
Note: The old fiddler in the photos is none other than Jesse Donald "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson (1848 -- February 17, 1931) was an American old-time fiddle player. He is best remembered as the first performer to play on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (then called the WSM Barn Dance), appearing with founder and host George D. Hay on the evening of November 28, 1925. The positive response generated by Thompson's performance would be an important influence on the show's creative direction in its formative years. While Thompson made only a handful of recordings late in his life, his cantankerous and eccentric personality and his fiddle skills have made him one of the best-known icons of early country music.
Fiddlin' Boogie -- Curley Williams and his Georgia Peach Pickers -- Columbia #20757 -- Recorded: 9/11/49
Dock Williams was born on June 3, 1914 near Cairo, Georgia and was raised on the family farm in Grady County, Georgia. His father and grandfather were fiddle players, which was the instrument Williams himself took up. Williams was given the name "Dock" because he was a seventh son and a tradition held that seventh sons became doctors.
His debut was with a band named The Santa Fe Trail Riders on WPAX in Thomasville, Georgia around 1940. In December 1942 the band was invited to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry. Because Andrew Smik was already well-known performing as "Doc Williams" with his band The Border Riders, George D. Hay suggested that Williams change his first-name from Dock to Curley, for his curly hair. Hay also suggested that the band become the Georgia Peach Pickers as most of its members were from Georgia (including Williams' brothers Joseph and Sanford on rhythm guitar, and on bass and comedy respectively).
Curley's best-known song, "Half As Much" was written in 1950 while he and his band were working with the WHMA radio station which broadcast to the Alabama cities of Anniston, Birmingham, Montgomery and Dothan. Reputedly, Williams wrote and recorded a demo of "Half as Much" very quickly, in about an hour, at WHMA in Dothan. However, it was a big hit for Hank Williams, to whom it is sometimes credited because the writing credit to "C. Williams" on Hank's record was often taken to be a typo. It was also a hit for Rosemary Clooney, and has been recorded by many artists, including Patsy Cline, Emmylou Harris, and Van Morrison.
Curley Williams passed away on September 5, 1970.
Note: The old fiddler in the photos is none other than Jesse Donald "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson (1848 -- February 17, 1931) was an American old-time fiddle player. He is best remembered as the first performer to play on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (then called the WSM Barn Dance), appearing with founder and host George D. Hay on the evening of November 28, 1925. The positive response generated by Thompson's performance would be an important influence on the show's creative direction in its formative years. While Thompson made only a handful of recordings late in his life, his cantankerous and eccentric personality and his fiddle skills have made him one of the best-known icons of early country music.
