Uncle Dave Macon
Encyclopedia
Uncle Dave Macon born David Harrison Macon—also known as "The Dixie Dewdrop"—was an American
banjo player
, singer, songwriter
, and comedian
. Known for his chin whiskers, plug hat, gold teeth, and gates-ajar collar, he gained regional fame as a vaudeville
performer in the early 1920s before going on to become the first star of the Grand Ole Opry
in the latter half of the decade.
Macon's music is considered the ultimate bridge between 19th-century American folk and vaudeville music and the phonograph and radio-based music of the early 20th-century. Music historian Charles Wolfe wrote, "If people call yodelling Jimmie Rodgers
'the father of country music,' then Uncle Dave must certainly be 'the grandfather of country music'." Macon's polished stage presence and lively personality have made him one of the most enduring figures of early country music
.
), Tennessee
, the son of Confederate
Captain John Macon and his wife Martha Ramsey. In 1884, when young David was 13 years old, his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee
to run the Old Broadway Hotel, which they had purchased. The hotel became a center for Macon and his growing musical interests, as it was frequented by artists and troupers traveling along various vaudeville circuits and circus acts. In 1885, he learned to play the banjo with the assistance of a circus comedian called Joel Davidson. While in Nashville, he attended Hume-Fogg High School
. A tragedy struck the Macon family when his father was murdered in 1886 outside the hotel. The hotel was sold and the family quickly moved to Readyville, Tennessee
, where his mother ran a stagecoach stop. Macon began entertaining the passengers who arrived at the rest stop by playing the banjo from a homemade stage.
In 1889, Macon married Matilda Richardson and moved to a farm near Kittrell, Tennessee, where they in time raised six sons. Around 1900, Macon opened a freight line between Murfreesboro
and Woodbury, Tennessee
. It was called The Macon Midway Mule and Wagon Transportation Company. Often, when Macon was driving along with his mules, hauling freight and produce, he would entertain people by singing and playing the banjo at various stops along the way. In time, his sons became part of the company as they grew up. But the arrival of an automobile-based competitor threatened his mule company, and he was forced to close down in 1920.
as part of a Methodist church benefit show. In 1923, during a performance for the shriners
in Nashville
, he was spotted by Marcus Loew
of Loews Theatres who offered Macon fifteen dollars if he was to perform at a theater in Alabama
. Macon accepted and went to Alabama. After the show he was confronted by the manager of Loews Theatres in Birmingham
who wanted to hire him to perform in Birmingham. Macon's salary was going to be several hundred dollars a week. This led to many offers from other theaters in the Loew's Vaudeville circuit. Thus, at age fifty, Macon became successful as an entertainer and his popularity increased. As a result a rival vaudeville circuit, the Keith-Albee-Orpheum
Corporation, tried to lure him away from the Loew's circuit but to no avail.
In 1923 he began a tour in the south-eastern United States
together with fiddler Sid Harkreader
and five other acts. By this time, the distributors of Vocalion Records
, the Sterchi Brothers Furniture Company, had begun to notice Macon and they realised his potential as a successful recording artist. On July 8, 1924, Macon and Harkreader cut their first recordings for Vocalion in New York
. In this first session which was extended over several days they recorded eighteen songs altogether. In 1925, Macon and Harkreader added a buck dancer
to their act, "Dancing Bob" Bradford. Their continuing tours for the Loew's circuit included comedy, buck-dancing and old time music. In late 1925, Macon met the blacksmith and guitarist Sam McGee
who was to become Macon's regular recording and performance partner. On November 6, 1925, Macon and Harkreader performed at the Ryman Auditorium
—the future home of the Grand Ole Opry
— for the benefit of the Nashville police force. The successful show took place only three weeks before WSM Grand Ole Opry was founded.
Macon was one of the first performers at the newly founded WSM
radio station. It is not known exactly when he was hired but on December 26, 1925, Macon and fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson
appeared together on the WSM Saturday night program. Macon's career at WSM lasted twenty-six years, but because he was constantly touring, he wasn't a regular performer at WSM's Grand Ole Opry. In early 1927, Macon formed the Fruit Jar Drinkers, consisting of Macon, Sam McGee, Kirk McGee
and Mazy Todd. The Fruit Jar Drinkers recorded for the first time on May 7, 1927. Although the group's repertoire mainly consisted of traditional songs and fiddle numbers, they would occasionally record sacred songs and when that occurred, Macon would temporarily alter the group's name to the Dixie Sacred Singers.
In December 1930, Macon recorded for Okeh Records
and later in 1934 for Gennett Records
. On January 22, 1935, he began recording for Bluebird Records
with the Delmore Brothers and a few years later in 1938 he recorded with Glenn "Smoky Mountain" Stagner. Between 1930 and 1952, Macon was often accompanied by his son Dorris who played the guitar. In 1940 Macon— together with Opry founder George D. Hay
, rising Opry star Roy Acuff
, and Dorris Macon— received an invitation from Hollywood to take part in the Republic Pictures
movie Grand Ole Opry. The film contains rare footage of Macon performing, including a memorable duet of "Take Me Back to My Carolina Home" with Dorris in which the 69-year old Macon jumps out of his seat and dances throughout the second half of the song. Although Macon toured with Bill Monroe
in the late 1940s, he was neither impressed by the new bluegrass
style nor by the banjo picking of Monroe's bandmate Earl Scruggs
.
Every July the town of Murfreesboro celebrates "Uncle Dave Macon Days." This celebration hosts the national competitions for old time clogging, buckdancing, fiddling, and old time singing. In 2007 they celebrated their 30th year of the festival. It was named in honor of Uncle Dave Macon and his work to keep the tradition of old-time music
and dancing alive. David Holt will be the Grand Marshall of "Uncle Dave Macon Days" in 2011.
Macon played an open-backed Gibson banjo on most of his recordings, and while contemporary musicians didn't consider him a particularly skillful banjo player, modern musicologists have identified no less than 19 picking styles on Macon's recordings. Macon's favorite tunes included "A Soldier's Joy", "Bully of the Town", The Arkansas Traveler
, and "Sail Away, Ladies". Macon claimed to have learned the song "Rock About My Saro Jane" from black stevedore
s working along the Cumberland River
in the 1880s. The song "Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line" was inspired by the Coal Creek War
, an East Tennessee labor uprising in the 1890s. In the song "From Here to Heaven", Macon describes his days hauling goods between Woodbury and Murfreesboro for his shipping company. Macon's favorite hymn
was "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be", which is inscribed on his monument near Woodbury.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banjo player
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...
, singer, 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 comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. Known for his chin whiskers, plug hat, gold teeth, and gates-ajar collar, he gained regional fame as a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performer in the early 1920s before going on to become the first star of the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
in the latter half of the decade.
Macon's music is considered the ultimate bridge between 19th-century American folk and vaudeville music and the phonograph and radio-based music of the early 20th-century. Music historian Charles Wolfe wrote, "If people call yodelling 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...
'the father of country music,' then Uncle Dave must certainly be 'the grandfather of country music'." Macon's polished stage presence and lively personality have made him one of the most enduring figures of early country music
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...
.
Early life
Macon was born in Smartt Station (about five miles south of McMinnvilleMcMinnville, Tennessee
McMinnville is the largest city in and the county seat of Warren County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 13,605 at the 2010 census...
), Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, the son of Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
Captain John Macon and his wife Martha Ramsey. In 1884, when young David was 13 years old, his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee
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...
to run the Old Broadway Hotel, which they had purchased. The hotel became a center for Macon and his growing musical interests, as it was frequented by artists and troupers traveling along various vaudeville circuits and circus acts. In 1885, he learned to play the banjo with the assistance of a circus comedian called Joel Davidson. While in Nashville, he attended Hume-Fogg High School
Hume-Fogg High School
Hume-Fogg Academic High School is a public magnet high school located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, teaching grades 9-12.-History:Hume-Fogg's original incarnation, Hume High School, which opened in 1855 on Eighth Avenue and Broad, was the first public school in Nashville.In 1875 Fogg High...
. A tragedy struck the Macon family when his father was murdered in 1886 outside the hotel. The hotel was sold and the family quickly moved to Readyville, Tennessee
Readyville, Tennessee
Readyville is an unincorporated community primarily located in Cannon County, Tennessee, United States. The community was founded by and named for Charles Ready. Downtown Readyville is located along the east fork of the Stones River...
, where his mother ran a stagecoach stop. Macon began entertaining the passengers who arrived at the rest stop by playing the banjo from a homemade stage.
In 1889, Macon married Matilda Richardson and moved to a farm near Kittrell, Tennessee, where they in time raised six sons. Around 1900, Macon opened a freight line between Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
and Woodbury, Tennessee
Woodbury, Tennessee
Woodbury is a town in Cannon County, Tennessee, United States. Woodbury is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located apporoximately 50 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. The population was 2,428 at the 2000 census...
. It was called The Macon Midway Mule and Wagon Transportation Company. Often, when Macon was driving along with his mules, hauling freight and produce, he would entertain people by singing and playing the banjo at various stops along the way. In time, his sons became part of the company as they grew up. But the arrival of an automobile-based competitor threatened his mule company, and he was forced to close down in 1920.
Professional career
Although Macon had performed as an amateur for years, and was well known for his showmanship, Macon's first professional performance came in 1921 at a schoolhouse in Morrison, TennesseeMorrison, Tennessee
Morrison is a town in Warren County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 684 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Morrison is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
as part of a Methodist church benefit show. In 1923, during a performance for the shriners
Shriners
The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870, is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States...
in 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...
, he was spotted by Marcus Loew
Marcus Loew
Marcus Loew was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loews Theatres and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .-Biography:...
of Loews Theatres who offered Macon fifteen dollars if he was to perform at a theater in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. Macon accepted and went to Alabama. After the show he was confronted by the manager of Loews Theatres in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
who wanted to hire him to perform in Birmingham. Macon's salary was going to be several hundred dollars a week. This led to many offers from other theaters in the Loew's Vaudeville circuit. Thus, at age fifty, Macon became successful as an entertainer and his popularity increased. As a result a rival vaudeville circuit, the Keith-Albee-Orpheum
Keith-Albee-Orpheum
The Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation was the owner of a chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres. It was formed by the merger of the holdings of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II and Martin Beck's Orpheum Circuit, Inc..-History:...
Corporation, tried to lure him away from the Loew's circuit but to no avail.
In 1923 he began a tour in the south-eastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
together with fiddler Sid Harkreader
Sid Harkreader
Sidney Harkreader was an American Old-time fiddle player and string band leader. He was an early member of the Grand Ole Opry, at first accompanying banjoist Uncle Dave Macon and later performing on the program with his own band...
and five other acts. By this time, the distributors of Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
, the Sterchi Brothers Furniture Company, had begun to notice Macon and they realised his potential as a successful recording artist. On July 8, 1924, Macon and Harkreader cut their first recordings for Vocalion in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. In this first session which was extended over several days they recorded eighteen songs altogether. In 1925, Macon and Harkreader added a buck dancer
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
to their act, "Dancing Bob" Bradford. Their continuing tours for the Loew's circuit included comedy, buck-dancing and old time music. In late 1925, Macon met the blacksmith and guitarist Sam McGee
McGee Brothers
The McGee Brothers were an American old-time performing duo consisting of brothers Sam McGee and Kirk McGee . Sam typically played guitar and Kirk usually played banjo or fiddle, although they were both proficient in multiple string instruments...
who was to become Macon's regular recording and performance partner. On November 6, 1925, Macon and Harkreader performed at the Ryman Auditorium
Ryman Auditorium
The Ryman Auditorium is a 2,362-seat live performance venue, located at 115 5th Avenue North, in Nashville, Tennessee and is best known as the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry....
—the future home of the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
— for the benefit of the Nashville police force. The successful show took place only three weeks before WSM Grand Ole Opry was founded.
Macon was one of the first performers at the newly founded WSM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...
radio station. It is not known exactly when he was hired but on December 26, 1925, Macon and fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson
Uncle Jimmy Thompson
Jesse Donald "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson was an American old-time fiddle player. He is best remembered as the first performer to play on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry , appearing with founder and host George D. Hay on the evening of November 28, 1925...
appeared together on the WSM Saturday night program. Macon's career at WSM lasted twenty-six years, but because he was constantly touring, he wasn't a regular performer at WSM's Grand Ole Opry. In early 1927, Macon formed the Fruit Jar Drinkers, consisting of Macon, Sam McGee, Kirk McGee
McGee Brothers
The McGee Brothers were an American old-time performing duo consisting of brothers Sam McGee and Kirk McGee . Sam typically played guitar and Kirk usually played banjo or fiddle, although they were both proficient in multiple string instruments...
and Mazy Todd. The Fruit Jar Drinkers recorded for the first time on May 7, 1927. Although the group's repertoire mainly consisted of traditional songs and fiddle numbers, they would occasionally record sacred songs and when that occurred, Macon would temporarily alter the group's name to the Dixie Sacred Singers.
In December 1930, Macon recorded for 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:...
and later in 1934 for Gennett Records
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....
. On January 22, 1935, he began recording for Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
with the Delmore Brothers and a few years later in 1938 he recorded with Glenn "Smoky Mountain" Stagner. Between 1930 and 1952, Macon was often accompanied by his son Dorris who played the guitar. In 1940 Macon— together with Opry founder George D. Hay
George D. Hay
George Dewey Hay was an American radio personality. He was the founder of the original Grand Ole Opry radio program on WSM-AM in Nashville, Tennessee, from which the country music stage show of the same name evolved....
, rising Opry star Roy Acuff
Roy Acuff
Roy Claxton Acuff 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.Acuff...
, and Dorris Macon— received an invitation from Hollywood to take part in the Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
movie Grand Ole Opry. The film contains rare footage of Macon performing, including a memorable duet of "Take Me Back to My Carolina Home" with Dorris in which the 69-year old Macon jumps out of his seat and dances throughout the second half of the song. Although Macon toured with Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
in the late 1940s, he was neither impressed by the new bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
style nor by the banjo picking of Monroe's bandmate Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
.
Aftermath
Macon continued to perform until March 1, 1952. He died three weeks later on March 22, 1952 at Rutherford County Hospital in Murfreesboro. His funeral was visited by more than five thousand people and his pallbearers were George D. Hay, Kirk McGee, Roy Acuff, and Bill Monroe. He was inducted posthumously into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966. A monument was erected near Woodbury. His son Dorris and several bandmates (often including Sam and Kirk McGee) made sporadic appearances on the Grand Ole Opry as the Fruit Jar Drinkers until the early 1980s.Every July the town of Murfreesboro celebrates "Uncle Dave Macon Days." This celebration hosts the national competitions for old time clogging, buckdancing, fiddling, and old time singing. In 2007 they celebrated their 30th year of the festival. It was named in honor of Uncle Dave Macon and his work to keep the tradition of old-time music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
and dancing alive. David Holt will be the Grand Marshall of "Uncle Dave Macon Days" in 2011.
Repertoire and style
While Uncle Dave Macon recorded over 170 songs between 1924 and 1938, in his day he was most notable for his polished and lively stage presence. Bandmate Kirk McGee later described Macon's personality as a never-ending performance— "All day long, from morning till midnight, it was a show." While playing, Macon would often kick and stomp, and shout sporadically, taxing the skills of WSM's early volume-control engineers. His performance style can be discerned to some extent from his early recordings, in which he whoops and hollers amidst relatively aggressive vocal deliveries.Macon played an open-backed Gibson banjo on most of his recordings, and while contemporary musicians didn't consider him a particularly skillful banjo player, modern musicologists have identified no less than 19 picking styles on Macon's recordings. Macon's favorite tunes included "A Soldier's Joy", "Bully of the Town", The Arkansas Traveler
The Arkansas Traveler (song)
"The Arkansas Traveler" was the state song of Arkansas from 1949 to 1963; it has been the state historical song since 1987. The music was composed in the 19th century by Colonel Sanford C...
, and "Sail Away, Ladies". Macon claimed to have learned the song "Rock About My Saro Jane" from black stevedore
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
s working along the Cumberland River
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
in the 1880s. The song "Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line" was inspired by the Coal Creek War
Coal Creek War
The Coal Creek War was an armed labor uprising that took place primarily in Anderson County, in the American state of Tennessee, in the early 1890s. The struggle began in 1891 when coal mine owners in the Coal Creek watershed attempted to replace free coal miners with convicts leased out by the...
, an East Tennessee labor uprising in the 1890s. In the song "From Here to Heaven", Macon describes his days hauling goods between Woodbury and Murfreesboro for his shipping company. Macon's favorite hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
was "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be", which is inscribed on his monument near Woodbury.
Albums
- Early Recordings (Uncle Dave Macon)Early Recordings (Uncle Dave Macon)Early Recordings are the early recordings of Uncle Dave Macon, released in 2001 and recorded between 1924-1925.-Track listing:# Old Man's Last Hope – 2:29# Keep My Shkillet Good and Greasy – 2:28# Hill-Billie Blues – 2:51...
- County RecordsCounty RecordsCounty Records also expanded into the bluegrass music genre, although Freeman preferred those artists who stayed the closest to their old-time roots. The label's first bluegrass release was 1965's Blue Ridge Bluegrass featuring Larry Richardson and the Blue Ridge Boys.-Related businesses:Freeman...
(1971) - Go Long MuleGo Long Mule-Track listing:#"Over The Road I'm Bound To Go" #"I'm Goin' Away In The Morn" #"Go Long Mule" #"Oh Baby, You Done Me Wrong" #"Jordan Am A Hard Road To Travel"...
- County RecordsCounty RecordsCounty Records also expanded into the bluegrass music genre, although Freeman preferred those artists who stayed the closest to their old-time roots. The label's first bluegrass release was 1965's Blue Ridge Bluegrass featuring Larry Richardson and the Blue Ridge Boys.-Related businesses:Freeman...
(1972) - The Gayest Old Dude In Town - Folk Variety Records (1973)
- At Home - Bear Family RecordsBear Family RecordsBear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:...
(1976) - Laugh Your Blues Away - Rounder RecordsRounder RecordsRounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
(1979) - Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy - Old Homestead Records (1979)
- Country Music Hall of Fame Series - MCA RecordsMCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
(1992) - Travelin' Down the Road - County/BMG Records (1995)
- Uncle Dave Macon (1963) (FolkwaysFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
) - Country Gospel Song (1971) (FolkwaysFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
) - Anthology of American Folk Music (1997) (FolkwaysFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
)
External links
- Pbs.org
- Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
- Folkways at the Smithsonian