NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We're saying goodbye to a longtime Nashville performer and someone a few of us at NewsChannel 5 knew well. After living with cancer, Carlos DeFord Bailey has died at 66. He did tireless work to promote the story of his Grand Ole Opry star grandfather, DeFord Bailey. We take a look back at stories forever connected, a grandfather and grandson.
Over nine years, I had many visits with Carlos DeFord Bailey.
"This is DeFord Bailey," he told me in a 2022 interview, sitting next to a picture of his grandfather. "He traveled throughout the south with Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, and he was one of the superstars known as the harmonica wizard. It feels like my grandfather's blood runs through my veins. Very proud."
DeFord Bailey began getting hits on the radio in the 1920s. He was a Black artist traveling during the Jim Crow era and couldn't be in many of the same hotels and restaurants as the other performers. In the 1940s, DeFord Bailey was in a deal that didn't allow him to play his own songs. For decades, he shined shoes on Nashville's 12th Ave. and lived in a nearby apartment building. DeFord Bailey died in 1982. Carlos DeFord Bailey wanted everyone to know the story of his grandfather.
"The younger generation needs to know about their history and where country music originated from," he said in 2022.
Flash forward to Wednesday, I spoke with Carlos DeFord Bailey's brother, Herchel Bailey, and his niece, Shemika Wiley.
"He wanted my grandfather to get the flowers he should have gotten when he was alive," said Herchel Bailey. "Sometimes, I didn't think he could do it, but he sure showed a whole lot of people wrong, man."
"He was a go-getter for DeFord Bailey," Wiley agreed.
Carlos DeFord Bailey was part of the efforts to get his grandfather named on the Music City Walk of Fame and inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Then came this. Carlos DeFord Bailey performed on the Grand Ole Opry, just like his grandfather did in the 1920s.
"I was overwhelmed!" Herchel Bailey said. "He really worked hard to get where he was going."
"It makes me proud," Wiley added.
Herchel Bailey and Wiley said with the death of Carlos DeFord Bailey, the rest of the family will continue to promote the story of DeFord Bailey. Wiley runs the DeFord Bailey LLC. for that purpose.
I think back to a day in 2023 that was an especially good one for the Bailey family. After a lot of work, Carlos DeFord Bailey was part of the effort to get a street in the Edgehill community renamed DeFord Bailey Ave.
"My brother was extraordinary," Herchel Bailey said. "I love you so much, Carlos."
"Uncle, I will not let DeFord Bailey's legacy die," Wiley said.
This is a story I immediately went home and showed my boys - young athletes with big dreams. The Vanderbilt football team's success has stolen the spotlight - what I love about Steve Layman's story is he reveals the individual hardships it took to get there. As Clark Lea says, "we all have scuff marks." This team proves perseverance pays off!
- Carrie Sharp
