Ernest Stoneman
Encyclopedia
Ernest Van "Pop" Stoneman (May 25, 1893 – June 14, 1968) ranked among the prominent recording artists of country music
's first commercial decade.
, Virginia
, near what would later become Galax
, Stoneman was left motherless at age three and was raised by his father and three musically inclined cousins, who taught him the instrumental and vocal traditions of Blue Ridge mountain
culture. He became a singer and songwriter
, and proficient musician
on the guitar
, autoharp
, harmonica
, clawhammer banjo
, and jaw harp.
When he married Hattie Frost in November 1918, he entered another musically involved family. He and Hattie had 23 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood: Eddie L. (deceased), I. Grace (deceased), John C.(deceased), Patsy I., J. William (Billy) (deceased), Gene A. (deceased), Dean C. (deceased), C. Scott (deceased), Donna L., O. James (deceased), Veronica L. (Roni)
, Van H. (deceased).
Stoneman worked at a variety of jobs, in mines, mills, but mostly carpentry, and played music for his own enjoyment and that of his neighbors, but when he heard a Henry Whitter
record in 1924, he determined to better it and changed his life as well. Stoneman went to New York in September 1924 and cut two songs for the Okeh Records
label. The record was shelved and he had to return for another recording session in January 1925. Ralph Peer
directed him through several sessions for Okeh and Victor, and he freelanced on other labels such as Edison
, Gennett
and Paramount Records
. In 1926, he added family musicians to his group for a full string band sound.
In July and August 1927, Stoneman helped Peer conduct the legendary Bristol sessions
that led to the discovery of the Carter Family
and Jimmie Rodgers
. He continued to be active in recording through 1929. Between 1925 and 1929 Stoneman recorded more than 200 songs.
Falling on hard times during the Depression
, the Stonemans and their nine surviving children moved to the Washington, D.C.
area in 1932 after losing their home and most of their possessions. There they had four more children and struggled through dire poverty, with Stoneman taking whatever work he could find and trying to revive his musical career.
In 1941, Stoneman bought a lot in Carmody Hills
, Maryland
, where he built a shack for the family and eventually obtained a more or less regular job at the Naval Gun Factory. In 1947, the Stoneman Family won a talent contest at Constitution Hall that gave them six months' exposure on local television. In 1956, Pop won $10,000 on the NBC
-TV quiz show The Big Surprise
and sang on the show as well. That same year, the Blue Grass Champs, a group composed largely of his children, were winners on the CBS-TV program Arthur Godfrey's
Talent Scouts
, and Mike Seeger
recorded Pop and Hattie for Folkways.
Stoneman retired from labor and the Champs went full time to become the Stonemans. They did albums for Starday in 1962 and 1963 and in 1964, went to Texas
and California
, cutting an album for World Pacific, playing at Disneyland, on some network shows and at several folk festivals.
In 1965, they went to Nashville
, where they signed a contract with MGM Records and started a syndicated TV show. They received CMA's
"Vocal Group of the Year" in 1967.
Pop Stoneman died in 1968 at age 75. He is interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery
in Nashville.
On February 12, 2008, Ernest "Pop" Stoneman was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and in 2009 he and his wife Hattie Frost Stoneman were enshrined in the Gennett Records Walk of Fame.
The first major retrospective of his musical career "Ernest Stoneman: The Unsung Father of Country Music 1925-1934" (5 String Productions) was issued in 2008 by the Grammy award winning reissue team of Christopher C. King and Henry Sapoznik
and was nominated for a 2009 Grammy award for "Best Album Notes."
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
's first commercial decade.
Biography
Born in a log cabin in Monarat (Iron Ridge), Carroll CountyCarroll County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 29,245 people, 12,186 households, and 8,786 families residing in the county. The population density was 61 people per square mile . There were 14,680 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, near what would later become Galax
Galax, Virginia
Galax is an independent city in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is bounded to the northeast by Carroll County and to the southwest by Grayson County. The population was 7,042 as of 2010...
, Stoneman was left motherless at age three and was raised by his father and three musically inclined cousins, who taught him the instrumental and vocal traditions of Blue Ridge mountain
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
culture. He became a singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, and proficient musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
on the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, autoharp
Autoharp
The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, clawhammer banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, and jaw harp.
When he married Hattie Frost in November 1918, he entered another musically involved family. He and Hattie had 23 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood: Eddie L. (deceased), I. Grace (deceased), John C.(deceased), Patsy I., J. William (Billy) (deceased), Gene A. (deceased), Dean C. (deceased), C. Scott (deceased), Donna L., O. James (deceased), Veronica L. (Roni)
Roni Stoneman
Veronica Loretta "Roni" Stoneman is a noted bluegrass banjo player and former member of the Hee Haw gang having played the role of Ida Lee Nagger, the ironing, nagging wife of Laverne Nagger ....
, Van H. (deceased).
Stoneman worked at a variety of jobs, in mines, mills, but mostly carpentry, and played music for his own enjoyment and that of his neighbors, but when he heard a Henry Whitter
Henry Whitter
Henry Whitter was an early country musician.-Biography:...
record in 1924, he determined to better it and changed his life as well. Stoneman went to New York in September 1924 and cut two songs for the Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
label. The record was shelved and he had to return for another recording session in January 1925. Ralph Peer
Ralph Peer
Ralph Sylvester Peer was an American talent scout, recording engineer and record producer in the field of music in the 1920s and 1930s...
directed him through several sessions for Okeh and Victor, and he freelanced on other labels such as Edison
Edison Records
Edison Records was one of the earliest record labels which pioneered recorded sound and was an important player in the early recording industry.- Early phonographs before commercial mass produced records :...
, Gennett
Gennett Records
Gennett was a United States based record label which flourished in the 1920s.-Label history:Gennett records was founded in Richmond, Indiana by the Starr Piano Company, and released its first records in October 1917. The company took its name from its top managers: Harry, Fred and Clarence Gennett....
and Paramount Records
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label, best known for its recordings of African-American jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson.-Early years:...
. In 1926, he added family musicians to his group for a full string band sound.
In July and August 1927, Stoneman helped Peer conduct the legendary Bristol sessions
Bristol sessions
The Bristol sessions are considered the "Big Bang" of modern country music. They were held in 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee by Victor Talking Machine Company company producer Ralph Peer. They marked the commercial debuts of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family....
that led to the discovery of the Carter Family
Carter Family
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
and Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
. He continued to be active in recording through 1929. Between 1925 and 1929 Stoneman recorded more than 200 songs.
Falling on hard times during the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the Stonemans and their nine surviving children moved to the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area in 1932 after losing their home and most of their possessions. There they had four more children and struggled through dire poverty, with Stoneman taking whatever work he could find and trying to revive his musical career.
In 1941, Stoneman bought a lot in Carmody Hills
Carmody Hills, Maryland
Carmody Hills is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County in the State of Maryland in the United States of America. Because it is not formally incorporated, it has no official boundaries, but the United States Census Bureau has defined a census-designated place consisting of Carmody...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, where he built a shack for the family and eventually obtained a more or less regular job at the Naval Gun Factory. In 1947, the Stoneman Family won a talent contest at Constitution Hall that gave them six months' exposure on local television. In 1956, Pop won $10,000 on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-TV quiz show The Big Surprise
The Big Surprise
The Big Surprise is a television quiz show broadcast in the United States by NBC from October 8, 1955 to June 9, 1956 and from September 18, 1956 to April 2, 1957. It was hastily created by NBC in response to the overwhelming ratings success of The $64,000 Question, which had premiered on CBS in...
and sang on the show as well. That same year, the Blue Grass Champs, a group composed largely of his children, were winners on the CBS-TV program Arthur Godfrey's
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, The Old Redhead...
Talent Scouts
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts is an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958...
, and Mike Seeger
Mike Seeger
Mike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary...
recorded Pop and Hattie for Folkways.
Stoneman retired from labor and the Champs went full time to become the Stonemans. They did albums for Starday in 1962 and 1963 and in 1964, went to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, cutting an album for World Pacific, playing at Disneyland, on some network shows and at several folk festivals.
In 1965, they went to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, where they signed a contract with MGM Records and started a syndicated TV show. They received CMA's
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
"Vocal Group of the Year" in 1967.
Pop Stoneman died in 1968 at age 75. He is interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery
Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville)
Mount Olivet Cemetery is a 250-acre cemetery located in Nashville, Tennessee.Mount Olivet has been continuously operated since its establishment in 1856. It serves as the final resting place for many of Middle Tennessee's political and business leaders, including several former governors of...
in Nashville.
On February 12, 2008, Ernest "Pop" Stoneman was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and in 2009 he and his wife Hattie Frost Stoneman were enshrined in the Gennett Records Walk of Fame.
The first major retrospective of his musical career "Ernest Stoneman: The Unsung Father of Country Music 1925-1934" (5 String Productions) was issued in 2008 by the Grammy award winning reissue team of Christopher C. King and Henry Sapoznik
Henry Sapoznik
Henry "Hank" Sapoznik העניק סאַפאַזשניק is an award winning author, record and radio producer and performer of traditional Yiddish and American music. With MacArthur Fellow David Isay, he produced the 10-week radio series the on the history of Jewish broadcasting for NPR’s All Things Considered...
and was nominated for a 2009 Grammy award for "Best Album Notes."
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Bluegrass Champs | — | Starday |
| 1964 | Big Ball in Monterey | — | World Pacific |
| 1966 | Those Singin' Swingin' Stompin' Sensational Stonemans | 39 | MGM |
| 1967 | Stoneman's Country | 13 | |
| 1968 | All in the Family | 42 | |
| The Great Stonemans | 45 | ||
| Pop Stoneman Memorial Album | — | ||
| Stoneman Christmas | — | ||
| 1969 | Dawn of the Stonemans' Age | — | RCA |
| 1970 | In All Honesty | — | |
| California Blues | — |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1962 | "Talking Fiddle Blues" | — | — | Bluegrass Champs |
| 1964 | "Ground Hog" | — | — | Big Ball in Monterey |
| 1966 | "Tupelo County Jail" | 40 | — | Those Singin' Swingin' Stompin' Sensational Stonemans |
| "The Five Little Johnson Girls" | 21 | — | Stoneman's Country | |
| 1967 | "Back to Nashville, Tennessee" | 40 | — | |
| "West Canterbury Subdivision Blues" | 49 | — | All in the Family | |
| 1968 | "Cimarron" | — | — | |
| "Christopher Robin" | 41 | 17 | The Great Stonemans | |
| "Travelin' Man" | — | — | single only | |
| 1969 | "Tecumseh Valley" | — | — | Dawn of the Stonemans' Age |
| 1970 | "Get Together" | — | — | In All Honesty |
| "Who Will Stop the Rain" | — | — | ||
| "California Blues" | — | — | California Blues |