Legendary J.e Mainer 4

Mainer's fame as a fiddler rose and sponsored by the Crazy Water Crystals in 1933, he and his newly formed band consisting of J. E. on fiddle, Wade Mainer on banjo, and Zeke Morris on guitar, made their radio debut on WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina calling themselves J. E. Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers. The band appeared on several radio stations in the following years until 1935, when they received a recording contract on. In August the same year, the Mountaineers, with the addition of Daddy John Love, recorded for Bluebird Records. Wade Mainer and Zeke Morris temporarily left the band in the early 1936 to form a duo. In the meantime Ollie Bunn, Howard Bumgardner and Clarence Todd replaced Wade, Zeke and Daddy John Love on the next recording session. In the summer of 1936, Wade and Zeke returned to record with the mountaineers. The next year, in 1937, Wade Mainer formed the Sons of the Mountaineers. Shortly, a new change of personnel occurred when Leonard Lester Stokes and George Morris became members of the mountaineers calling themselves Handsome and Sambo. They added Snuffy Jenkins on banjo on the following recording session. In late 1938, Stokes and Morris were once more replaced by Clyde Moody and Jay Hugh Hall. The band continued to perform on radio stations in both North and South Carolina.