Roy Acuff's early career, “The Crazy Tennessean”Young and hoping to become a professional baseball player, Roy Acuff had an opportunity to try out for the NY Yankees at their Florida training camp during the summer of 1929. Raised in the shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains he was soon back home in Maynardsville, Tennessee, his short career ended by severe sun stoke.
Confined to bed for months at his parents home he passed the long hours listening to radio and playing records. His interest quickly changed from baseball to the hill billy music he was hearing. It wasn't long before he took up his father's fiddle, began learning the old fiddle tunes and played with Maynardsville country fiddler John Copeland.Roy's growing local reputation as a fiddle attracted the attention of Dr. Hauer, a Knoxville “doctor” of questionable reputation who asked Roy to join his new medicine show selling Mocoton Tonic. Men calling themselves “doctors” traveled through rural areas selling patent medicines usually made with a generous amount of alcohol and opium. The buyer was guaranteed at least a temporary relief for their ailment. To attract a crowd Medicine shows always featured entertainment. Roy, guitarist Jake Tindell and banjo player Clarence Ashley started the show first doing jokes, comedy routines and music then Doctor Hauer came out to sell “Mocoton Tonic, that cures dyspepsia, sick headaches, constipation, indigestion, pain in the back, side and limbs and torrid liver.”
Roy wasn't making much money but he quickly became “hooked” on performing. By 1936 Roy was performing on WROL in Knoxville. One day William R Callaway, A&R person for the American Recording Company was in the audience. He was looking for new talent and came to see the live radio show. Roy had just gotten a new song “The Great Speckled Bird”. Roy's performance and the song greatly impressed Mr Callaway. After the show he asked Roy to come to Chicago to record the song for ARC.Roy's first recording session at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago in October 1936 is history. Among the twenty songs recorded were his trade mark songs “The Great Speckled Bird”, “Wabash Cannon Ball.” The Crazy Tennesseans featured Roy on fiddle, Clell Summey – dobro, Red Jones – bass, Dynamite Hatcher -harmonica and Jess Easterday -guitar. Their repertoire included pop as well as traditional songs. “When Lulu's gone”, recorded at the end of the session, was later released as the Bang Boys because of it's spicy content.
“Steamboat Whistle Blues”, Gonna Have a Big Time Tonight”, “Charming Betsy”, “Gonna Raise a Rukus Tonight”, “All Night Long” and other songs were performed not only with great skill but with an abundance of ruckus energy and youthful enthusiasm. Dynamite Thatcher played rousing harmonica on “Yes Sir, That's my Baby” and “Please Don't Miss Me When I'm Gone” an unreleased recording from the session. “Singing My Way to Glory” the first recording for the session had a poor arrangement and was later rewritten and a much improved version recorded as “Sailing Along” during their 1937 Birmingham session.An irony of Roy's career is that he neither played or sang on the 1936 recording of “Wabash Cannon Ball”. It wasn't until during WWII while Roy was making movies in Hollywood that he recorded the song with the Smoky Mountain Boys.
With a recording contract the Crazy Tennesseans recorded again for ARC in March 1937 at Birmingham, Alabama. Among the 14 recordings were “Steel Guitar Blues” and “Steel Guitar Chimes”, two landmark recordings. Again their repertoire included traditional as well as pop material, “Old Fashioned Love,”, “My Gal Sal”, “Red Lips Kiss My Blues Away”. “Sailing Along” is an up beat gospel arrangement clearly in the holiness/sanctified tradition. The vocal arrangement on “Lonesome Valley” is very close to the Monroe Brothers recording a year earlier.
During October 1937 Roy had a chance to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in the place of Sam and Kirk McGhee who were performing out of state. The first fiddle tune he played was “Old Hen Cackle” with Clell and Red accompanying. Their next song was “Great Speckled Bird”. Roy was very nervous, uncomfortable and when they finished their reception was polite at best. Roy returned home very discouraged feeling his musical career was at a dead end.
However, in February 1938 Roy received a letter asking him to audition again for the Opry. On a cold, rainy Sunday night in Nashville they performed “Great Speckled Bird” again. This time Roy gave it his best last shot and hit a home run. A country music legend was born.After becoming a regular on the Opry in 1938 Roy decided to change the name of the Crazy Tennesseans to “The Smoky Mountain Boys”. He also wanted to change their repertoire/style somewhat, causing disagreement among the band. The band returned to Knoxville and Roy stayed in Nashville to form his new band, The Smoky Mountain Boys.The two recording sessions with the Crazy Tennesseans produced among the best recordings of Roy's career but subsequent sessions for ARC in Columbia South Carolina (1938), Memphis (1939), Fort Worth Texas (1940) produced a wealth of original and traditional music. Roy wrote and arranged songs, acting in a way as a “Conductor” for his band, often in the background. The skills as a performer, not just a musician, learned traveling with Dr Hauer's medicine show in the early 1930s made his band one of the most entertaining acts of the era.Roy's legacy has stood up to the test of time. His early recordings remained in the Columbia catalog through the 1950s, probably longer than any other Country artist of the era other than Bob Wills. His two most well known recordings “Great Speckled Bird” and “Wabash Cannon Ball” can be found in any compilation of “Country Music Hits”.
Jerry Pevahouse
Confined to bed for months at his parents home he passed the long hours listening to radio and playing records. His interest quickly changed from baseball to the hill billy music he was hearing. It wasn't long before he took up his father's fiddle, began learning the old fiddle tunes and played with Maynardsville country fiddler John Copeland.Roy's growing local reputation as a fiddle attracted the attention of Dr. Hauer, a Knoxville “doctor” of questionable reputation who asked Roy to join his new medicine show selling Mocoton Tonic. Men calling themselves “doctors” traveled through rural areas selling patent medicines usually made with a generous amount of alcohol and opium. The buyer was guaranteed at least a temporary relief for their ailment. To attract a crowd Medicine shows always featured entertainment. Roy, guitarist Jake Tindell and banjo player Clarence Ashley started the show first doing jokes, comedy routines and music then Doctor Hauer came out to sell “Mocoton Tonic, that cures dyspepsia, sick headaches, constipation, indigestion, pain in the back, side and limbs and torrid liver.”
Roy wasn't making much money but he quickly became “hooked” on performing. By 1936 Roy was performing on WROL in Knoxville. One day William R Callaway, A&R person for the American Recording Company was in the audience. He was looking for new talent and came to see the live radio show. Roy had just gotten a new song “The Great Speckled Bird”. Roy's performance and the song greatly impressed Mr Callaway. After the show he asked Roy to come to Chicago to record the song for ARC.Roy's first recording session at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago in October 1936 is history. Among the twenty songs recorded were his trade mark songs “The Great Speckled Bird”, “Wabash Cannon Ball.” The Crazy Tennesseans featured Roy on fiddle, Clell Summey – dobro, Red Jones – bass, Dynamite Hatcher -harmonica and Jess Easterday -guitar. Their repertoire included pop as well as traditional songs. “When Lulu's gone”, recorded at the end of the session, was later released as the Bang Boys because of it's spicy content.
“Steamboat Whistle Blues”, Gonna Have a Big Time Tonight”, “Charming Betsy”, “Gonna Raise a Rukus Tonight”, “All Night Long” and other songs were performed not only with great skill but with an abundance of ruckus energy and youthful enthusiasm. Dynamite Thatcher played rousing harmonica on “Yes Sir, That's my Baby” and “Please Don't Miss Me When I'm Gone” an unreleased recording from the session. “Singing My Way to Glory” the first recording for the session had a poor arrangement and was later rewritten and a much improved version recorded as “Sailing Along” during their 1937 Birmingham session.An irony of Roy's career is that he neither played or sang on the 1936 recording of “Wabash Cannon Ball”. It wasn't until during WWII while Roy was making movies in Hollywood that he recorded the song with the Smoky Mountain Boys.
With a recording contract the Crazy Tennesseans recorded again for ARC in March 1937 at Birmingham, Alabama. Among the 14 recordings were “Steel Guitar Blues” and “Steel Guitar Chimes”, two landmark recordings. Again their repertoire included traditional as well as pop material, “Old Fashioned Love,”, “My Gal Sal”, “Red Lips Kiss My Blues Away”. “Sailing Along” is an up beat gospel arrangement clearly in the holiness/sanctified tradition. The vocal arrangement on “Lonesome Valley” is very close to the Monroe Brothers recording a year earlier.
During October 1937 Roy had a chance to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in the place of Sam and Kirk McGhee who were performing out of state. The first fiddle tune he played was “Old Hen Cackle” with Clell and Red accompanying. Their next song was “Great Speckled Bird”. Roy was very nervous, uncomfortable and when they finished their reception was polite at best. Roy returned home very discouraged feeling his musical career was at a dead end.
However, in February 1938 Roy received a letter asking him to audition again for the Opry. On a cold, rainy Sunday night in Nashville they performed “Great Speckled Bird” again. This time Roy gave it his best last shot and hit a home run. A country music legend was born.After becoming a regular on the Opry in 1938 Roy decided to change the name of the Crazy Tennesseans to “The Smoky Mountain Boys”. He also wanted to change their repertoire/style somewhat, causing disagreement among the band. The band returned to Knoxville and Roy stayed in Nashville to form his new band, The Smoky Mountain Boys.The two recording sessions with the Crazy Tennesseans produced among the best recordings of Roy's career but subsequent sessions for ARC in Columbia South Carolina (1938), Memphis (1939), Fort Worth Texas (1940) produced a wealth of original and traditional music. Roy wrote and arranged songs, acting in a way as a “Conductor” for his band, often in the background. The skills as a performer, not just a musician, learned traveling with Dr Hauer's medicine show in the early 1930s made his band one of the most entertaining acts of the era.Roy's legacy has stood up to the test of time. His early recordings remained in the Columbia catalog through the 1950s, probably longer than any other Country artist of the era other than Bob Wills. His two most well known recordings “Great Speckled Bird” and “Wabash Cannon Ball” can be found in any compilation of “Country Music Hits”.
Jerry Pevahouse
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