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Roy Acuff

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Roy Acuff
Acuff in 1950.
Acuff in 1950.
Background information
Birth nameRoy Claxton Acuff
Also known asKing of Country Music[1]
Born(1903-09-15)September 15, 1903
Maynardville, Tennessee, United States
DiedNovember 23, 1992(1992-11-23) (aged 89)
Nashville, Tennessee
GenresCountry, Gospel
Occupationsinger and songwriter
Years active1936–1992
LabelsConqueror, Okeh, Columbia

Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music," Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful. In 1952 Hank Williams told Ralph Gleason, "He's the biggest singer this music ever knew. You booked him and you didn't worry about crowds. For drawing power in the South, it was Roy Acuff, then God."[2]

Acuff began his music career in the 1930s, and gained regional fame as the singer and fiddler for his group, the Smoky Mountain Boys. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1938, and although his popularity as a musician waned in the late 1940s, he remained one of the Opry's key figures and promoters for nearly four decades. In 1942, Acuff co-founded the first major Nashville-based country music publishing company—Acuff-Rose Music—which signed acts such as Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, and The Everly Brothers. In 1962, Acuff became the first living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.[3]

Biography

Early life

THC marker along Maynardville Highway (TN-33) in Maynardville, Tennessee, near where Acuff was born

Roy Acuff was born on September 15, 1903[4] in Maynardville, Tennessee[5] to Ida (née Carr) and Simon E. Neill Acuff, the third of five children. The Acuffs were a fairly prominent Union County family. Roy's paternal grandfather, Coram Acuff, had been a Tennessee state senator, and Roy's maternal grandfather was a local physician. Roy's father was an accomplished fiddler and a Baptist preacher, his mother was proficient on the piano, and during Roy's early years the Acuff house was a popular place for local gatherings. At such gatherings, Roy would often amuse people by balancing farm tools on his chin. He also learned to play harmonica and jaw harp at a young age.[6][7]

In 1919, the Acuff family relocated to Fountain City (now a suburb of Knoxville), a few miles south of Maynardville.[6] Roy attended Central High School, where he sang in the school chapel's choir and performed in "every play they had."[8] Roy's primary passion, however, was athletics. He was a three-sport standout at Central, and after graduating in 1925, he was offered a scholarship to Carson-Newman, but turned it down. He played with several small baseball clubs around Knoxville, worked at odd jobs, and occasionally boxed.[3]

In 1929, Acuff tried out for the Knoxville Smokies, a minor-league baseball team then affiliated with the New York (now San Francisco) Giants.[7][8] A series of collapses in spring training following a sunstroke, however, ended his baseball career prematurely. The effects left him ill for several years, and he even suffered a nervous breakdown in 1930.[6] "I couldn't stand any sunshine at all," he later recalled.[8] While recovering, Acuff began to hone his fiddle skills, often playing on the family's front porch in late afternoons after the sun went down. His father gave him several records of regionally-renowned fiddlers, such as Fiddlin' John Carson and Gid Tanner, which were important influences on his early style.[8]

Early music career

In 1932, Dr. Hauer's medicine show, which toured the Southern Appalachian region, hired Acuff as one of its entertainers.[6] The purpose of the entertainers was to draw a large crowd to whom Hauer could sell medicines (of suspect quality) for various ailments.[7] While on the medicine show circuit, Acuff met legendary Appalachian banjoist Clarence Ashley, from whom he learned "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Greenback Dollar", both of which Acuff later recorded.[9] As the medicine show lacked microphones, Acuff learned to sing loud enough to be heard above the din, a skill that would later help him stand out on early radio broadcasts.[7]

In 1934, Acuff left the medicine show circuit and began playing at local shows with various musicians in the Knoxville area. That year, guitarist Jess Easterday and Hawaiian guitarist Clell Summey joined Acuff to form the Tennessee Crackerjacks, which performed regularly on Knoxville radio stations WROL and WNOX (the band moved back and forth between stations as Acuff bickered with their managers over pay).[6] Within a year, the group had added bassist Red Jones and changed its name to the Crazy Tennesseans after being introduced as such by WROL announcer Alan Stout.[8] Fans often remarked to Acuff how "clear" his voice was coming through over the radio, important in an era when singers were often drowned out by string band cacophony.[7] The popularity of Acuff's rendering of the song "The Great Speckled Bird" helped the group land a contract with the ARC, for whom they recorded several dozen tracks (including the band's best-known track, "Wabash Cannonball") in 1936.[7] Needing to complete a 20-song commitment, the band recorded two ribald tunes—including "When Lulu's Gone"—but released them under the pseudonym of "the Bang Boys".[10] The group split from ARC in 1937 over a separate contract dispute.[7]

The Grand Ole Opry

In 1938, the Crazy Tennesseans moved to Nashville to audition for the Grand Ole Opry. Although their first audition went poorly, the band's second audition impressed Opry founder George D. Hay and producer Harry Stone, and they offered the group a contract later that year. On Hay and Stone's suggestion, Acuff changed the group's name to the "Smoky Mountain Boys," referring to the mountains near where Acuff and his bandmates grew up.[7] Shortly after the band joined the Opry, Clell Summey left the group, and was replaced by dobro player Beecher (Pete) Kirby—best known by his stage name Bashful Brother Oswald—whom Acuff had met in a Knoxville bakery earlier that year.[7] Acuff's powerful lead vocals and Kirby's dobro playing and high-pitched backing vocals gave the band its distinctive sound. By 1939, Jess Easterday had switched to bass to replace Red Jones, and Acuff had added guitarist Lonnie "Pap" Wilson and banjoist Rachel Veach to fill out the band's line-up. Within a year, Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys rivaled long-time Opry banjoist Uncle Dave Macon as the troupe's most popular act.[7]

In spring 1940, Acuff and his band traveled to Hollywood, where they appeared with Hay and Macon in the motion picture, Grand Ole Opry. Acuff appeared in several subsequent B-movies, including O, My Darling Clementine (1943), in which Acuff plays a singing sheriff, Night Train to Memphis (1946), the title of which comes from a song Acuff recorded in 1940, and the 1949 movie, Home in San Antone, in which he starred with Lloyd Corrigan and William Frawley.

Acuff and his band also joined Macon and other Opry acts at various tent shows held throughout the southeast in the early 1940s. The crowds at these shows were so large that roads leading into the venues were jammed with traffic for miles.[7] Starting in 1939, Acuff hosted the Opry's Prince Albert segment, but left the show in 1946 after a dispute with management.[1]

Acuff-Rose

In 1942, Acuff and songwriter Fred Rose (1897–1954) formed Acuff-Rose Music. Acuff originally sought the company in order to publish his own music, but soon realized there was a high demand from other country artists, many of whom had been exploited by larger publishing firms.[11] Due in large part to Rose's ASCAP connections and gifted ability as a talent scout, Acuff-Rose quickly became the most important publishing company in country music. In 1946, the company signed Hank Williams, and in 1950 published their first major hit, Patti Page's rendition of "Tennessee Waltz".[12]

A life-size statue of Roy Acuff sits on a pew alongside a statue of Minnie Pearl in the lobby of Ryman Auditorium.

Political ambitions

In 1943, Acuff was initiated into the East Nashville Freemasonic Lodge in Tennessee, to which he would remain a lifelong member.[13] Later that same year, Acuff invited Tennessee Governor Prentice Cooper to be the guest of honor at a gala held to mark the nationwide premier of the Opry's Prince Albert show. Cooper rejected the offer, however, and lambasted Acuff and his "disgraceful" music for making Tennessee the "hillbilly capital of the United States."[11] A Nashville journalist reported the governor's comments to Acuff, and suggested Acuff run for governor himself. While Acuff initially did not take the suggestion seriously, he did accept the Republican Party nomination for governor in 1948.[7][11]

Acuff's nomination caused great concern for E.H. Crump, the head of a Memphis Democratic Party political machine that had dominated Tennessee state politics for nearly a quarter-century. Crump was not worried so much about losing the governor's office—in spite of Acuff's name recognition—but did worry that Acuff would draw large crowds to Republican rallies and bolster other statewide candidates. While Acuff did relatively well and helped reinvigorate Tennessee's Republicans, his opponent, Gordon Browning, still won with 67 percent of the vote.[14][15]

Later career

After leaving the Opry, Acuff spent several years touring the Western United States, although demand for his appearances dwindled with the lack of national exposure and the rise of musicians such as Ernest Tubb and Eddy Arnold, who were more popular with younger audiences.[3] He eventually returned to the Opry, although by the 1960s, his record sales had dropped off considerably. After nearly losing his life in an automobile accident outside of Sparta, Tennessee, in 1965, Acuff pondered retiring, making only token appearances on the Opry stage and similar shows,[7] and occasionally performing duos with long-time bandmate Bashful Brother Oswald.

In 1972, Acuff's career received a brief resurgence in the folk revival movement after he appeared on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken.[15] The appearance paved the way for one of the defining moments of Acuff's career, which came on the night of March 16, 1974, when the Opry officially moved from the Ryman Auditorium to the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland. The first show at the new venue opened with a huge projection of a late-1930s image of Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys onto a large screen above the stage. A recording from one of the band's 1939 appearances was played over the sound system, with the iconic voice of George Hay introducing the band, followed by the band's performance of "Wabash Cannonball". That same night, Acuff showed President Richard Nixon, an honored guest at the event, how to yo-yo, and convinced the president to play several songs on the piano.[7]

In the early 1980s, after the death of his wife, Mildred, Acuff, then in his 80s, moved into a small house on the Opryland grounds and continued performing daily on stage. He arrived early most days at the Opry before the shows and performed odd jobs, such as stocking soda in backstage refrigerators. In 1991, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts,[16] and given a lifetime achievement award by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the first Country music act to receive the esteemed honor. Roy Acuff died in Nashville on November 23, 1992 of congestive heart failure at the age of 89.[1]

Repertoire and legacy

Many of Acuff's songs show a strong religious influence, most notably "Great Speckled Bird", "The Prodigal Son" and "Lord, Build Me a Cabin". Such songs were typically set to a traditional Anglo-Celtic melody, which is most apparent on "Great Speckled Bird" and the 1940 recording "The Precious Jewel". Acuff performed popular songs of the day, including Pee Wee King's "Tennessee Waltz" and Dorsey Dixon's "I Didn't Hear Nobody Pray", the latter of which he appropriated and renamed "Wreck on the Highway".[17] He also recorded a version of Cajun fiddler Harry Choates' "Jole Blon". Traditional recordings included "Greenback Dollar", which he probably learned from Clarence Ashley while on the medicine show circuit, and "Lonesome Old River Blues", which he recorded with the Smoky Mountain Boys in the 1940s. Acuff and the Crazy Tennesseans recorded "Wabash Cannonball"—another traditional song—in 1936, although Acuff did not provide the vocals on this early recording. The better-known version of the song with Acuff providing the vocals was recorded in 1947.[11]

In 1979, Opryland opened the Roy Acuff Theatre, which was dedicated in Acuff's honor (it was demolished in 2011 after suffering extensive damage in the 2010 Tennessee floods). Dunbar Cave State Natural Area was established in 1973 from a recreational area the state had purchased from Mrs. McKay King. The cave was owned by Acuff from 1948 to 1963.[18] Two museums have been named in Acuff's honor—the (now-closed) Roy Acuff Museum at Opryland and the Roy Acuff Union Museum and Library in his hometown of Maynardville. Acuff has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 1541 Vine Street. He is pictured with other Country singers at the new Smoky Mountain Opera in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Discography

Albums

Year Album US Country Label
1949 Songs of the Smoky Mountains — Columbia HL 9004
1951 Old Time Barn Dance — Columbia HL 9010
1955 Songs of the Smoky Mountains — Capitol T 617
1958 The Great Speckled Bird — Harmony HS 11289
Favorite Hymns — MGM E 3707
1959 Once More - It's Roy Acuff — Hickory LPM 101
1961 That Glory Bound Train — Harmony HL 7294
1962 Hymn Time — MGM E 4044
King of Country Music — Hickory LPS 109
1963 Star of the Grand Ole Opry — Hickory LPS 113
The World is His Stage — Hickory LPS 114
American Folk Songs — Hickory LPS 115
1964 The Great Roy Acuff — Capitol DT 2103
Hand Clapping Gospel Songs — Hickory LPS 117
Country Music Hall of Fame — Hickory LPS 119
1965 The Great Roy Acuff — Harmony HL 7342
The Voice of Country Music — Capitol DT 2276
Sacred Songs — Metro MS 508
Great Train Songs — Hickory LPS 125
1966 Waiting For My Call To Glory — Harmony HL 7376
Sings Hank Williams — Hickory LPS 134
Roy Acuff — Hilltop JS 6028
1967 Famous Opry Favorites — Hickory LPS 139
1968 A Living Legend — Hickory LPS 145
1969 Treasury of Country Hits — Hickory LPS 147
1970 Greatest Hits — Columbia CS 1034
Night Train to Memphis — Harmony HS 11403
Time — Hickory LPS 156
Country — Hilltop JS 6090
1971 I Saw the Light — Hickory LPS 158
1972 Why Is — Hickory LPS 162
1974 Back in the Country 44 Hickory/MGM H3F 4507
1975 Smoky Mountain Memories — Hickory MGM H3G 4517
That's Country — Hickory MGM H3G 4521
Wabash Cannonball — Hilltop JS 6162
1978 Greatest Hits Vol. 1 — Elektra 9E 302
1980 Greatest Hits Vol. 2 — Elektra 9E 303
1982 Back in the Country 53 Elektra E1 60012
1983 Roy Acuff — Time Life
1984 Steamboat Whistle Blues — Rounder 23
1985 Fly Birdie Fly — Rounder 24
Roy Acuff — Columbia 39998
1987 All Time Favorites — Opryland 101
2007 Greatest Hits — Curb D2-78980

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Album
US Country US CAN Country
1938 "Great Speckled Bird" — — — singles only
"Steel Guitar Blues" — — —
1939 "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven" — — —
"Smokey Mountain Rag" — — —
1940 "Streamlined Cannonball" — — —
"Old Age Pension Check" — — —
1941 "The Precious Jewel" — — —
"Worried Mind" — — —
1942 "It Won't Be Long (Till I'll Be Leavin'") — — —
"Fireball Mail" — — —
1943 "Wreck On the Highway" — — —
"Don't Make Me Go To Bed (And I'll Be Good)" — — —
1944 "Night Train to Memphis" — — —
"The Prodigal Son" 4 13 —
"I'll Forgive You But I Can't Forget" 3 21 —
"Write Me Sweetheart" 6 — —
1945 "We Live In Two Different Worlds" — — —
1946 "Glory Bound Train" — — —
"Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" — — —
1947 "Wabash Cannonball" — — —
"Freight Train Blues" — — —
"Our Own (Jole Blon)" 4 — —
1948 "The Waltz of the Wind" 8 — —
"Unloved and Unclaimed" 14 — —
"This World Can't Stand Long" 12 — —
"A Sinner's Death" 14 — —
1949 "Tennessee Waltz" 12 — —
"Black Mountain Rag" — — —
1958 "Once More" 8 — — Once More - It's Roy Acuff
1959 "So Many Times" 16 — —
"Come and Knock (On the Door of My Heart)" 20 — —
1965 "Freight Train Blues" 45 — — single only
1973 "Just a Friend" — — 77 Smoky Mountain Memories
1974 "Back in the Country" 51 — 15 Back in the Country
"Old Time Sunshine Song" 97 — —
1989 "The Precious Jewel" (w/ Charlie Louvin) 87 — — single only

Guest singles

Year Single Artist US Country Album
1971 "I Saw the Light" Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 56 Will the Circle be Unbroken
1985 "One Big Family" Heart of Nashville 61 single only

References

  1. ^ a b c Don Cusic, "Roy C. Acuff." Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved: 11 February 2013.
  2. ^ Escott, Colin (2004). Hank Williams: The Biography. Back Bay Books. p. 22.
  3. ^ a b c John Rumble, "Roy Acuff". The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 4–5.
  4. ^ "Acuff, Roy Claxton". Who Was Who in America, with World Notables, v. 10: 1989–1993. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who. 1993. p. 2. ISBN 0-8379-0220-7.
  5. ^ Randel, Don Michael, ed. (1996). "Acuff, Roy (Claxton)". The Harvard biographical dictionary of music. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-674-37299-9. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin (ed.), "Roy Acuff." The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 38–39.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jack Hurst, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1975), pp. 27–28, 37, 108-111, 119-122, 138-139, 303.
  8. ^ a b c d e Doug Green, Charles Wolfe (ed.). "Roy Acuff Recalls His Early Days in Knoxville." Old Time Music, Vol. 12 (Spring 1974), p. 21. Large .PDF file.
  9. ^ Joe Wilson, "Tom Ashley." In Greenback Dollar: The Music of Clarence "Tom" Ashley [CD liner notes]. County Records, 2001.
  10. ^ Schlappi, Elizabeth. Roy Acuff, the Smoky Mountain Boy, p. 28. 1997 reprint of Pelican Publishing (Gretna), 1978.
  11. ^ a b c d Colin Escott, "Roy Acuff." In The Essential Roy Acuff: 1936–1949 [CD liner notes]. Sony Music Entertainment, 1992.
  12. ^ Don Cusic, "Acuff-Rose. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved: 11 February 2013.
  13. ^ Research, Masonic. "Famous Freemasons". Pinal Lodge No. 30. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  14. ^ Paul Bergeron, et al. Tennesseans and Their History (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1999), p. 288.
  15. ^ a b Charles Faber. "Roy Acuff." Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), p. 1116.
  16. ^ Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts. Retrieved: 15 February 2010.
  17. ^ "Wreck On The Highway, Dorsey Dixon, I Didnt Hear Nobody Pray" on YouTube
  18. ^ Carroll Van West, "Dunbar Cave State Natural Area." Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved: 11 February 2013.
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