The history of country music was strongly influenced by a romanticized idea of authenticityToday, celebrations of the genre’s origins often concentrate on a single event: Recording sessions in late July and early August 1927 within the small Appalachian town of Bristol on the border between Tennessee and Virginia.
The musicians got here from the working class of the South, and depictions of the sessions often show an achieved record producer discovering talented but unknown artists.
However, a recording session three years earlier, on August 13, 1924, has a greater claim to establishing country music as a genre. That session involved a classically trained singer from New York City who had previously recorded opera, pop and jazz.
A legendary recording session
In the early Twenties, after years of satisfying middle- and upper-class urban listeners and within the face of accelerating competition from radio, record corporations were on the lookout for recent markets. They found potential recent goal groups Among black individuals who long to listen to performances by black entertainers, and amongst rural white individuals who long to listen to music that reflects their very own tastes and experiences.
After attempting to serve these recent markets with records from established studios within the North, record corporations soon realised that it might be easier to find recent talent by Recording “in the field” – that’s, closer to where the audience for the brand new records lived. Many of those business “location sessions” – to call them sessions of non-commercial documentary recording by John and Alan Lomax and other folklorists – took place within the South.
At a location session in June 1923 in Atlanta, OKeh Records producer Ralph Peer recorded two performances by a musician from the hills of North Georgia, called Violinist John Carson. This 78 rpm release sold out quickly. Edition of 500 copiesand demonstrated the business potential of country music.
Peer moved to Victor Records and produced the Bristol recording sessions. Among the musicians Peer recorded there have been newcomers similar to Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The so-called “Bristol Sessions” produced modest sales And not surpassed other Appalachian sessions of the late Twenties.
But when the Great Depression slowed record sales and dampened the experimental spirit of the record industry, Rodgers – later “the father of country music” – and the Carters, who became referred to as “the first family of country music”, continued to publish recent publications. Due to the continuing influence of those two artists, scholar Nolan Porterfield called the Bristol Sessions “the big bang of country music” in 1988.
The city of Bristol promotes itself as “the birthplace of country music.” Bristol’s story has change into the genesis of mainstream country music and inspired the Smithsonian-affiliated Birthplace of country music Museum.
From country boy to city person
More recently, nonetheless, this story has been re-examined by several music historiansincluding Porterfield, who in 2015 the nickname withdrawn he had shaped.
The Bristol-focused history of the genre negates earlier – but no less vital – contributions to the genre by such groundbreaking musicians as Carson, Uncle Dave Macon, Riley Puckett, Frank Hutchison And Vernon Dalhart.
If there’s one artist who has proven the business viability of country music, it’s Dalhart. Born Marion Try Slaughter II in Jefferson, Texas on April 6, 1883, Dalhart sang for his family and neighbors in his East Texas hometown as a baby. Vernon Dalhart is a pseudonym that mixes the names of two Texas towns near his boyhood town, where he had worked as a ranch hand through the summer.
Dalhart moved to New York City in 1907, hoping to pursue a profession as an opera singer. Before leaving Texas, he had taken voice lessons on the Dallas Conservatory of Music, and in New York he continued his music studies with opera teacher Isador Luckstone. For several years, Dalhart toured nationwide with operetta Productions.
After 1916, Dalhart, in an effort to be closer to some relations who lived near New York City, focused on a recording profession and recorded operetta, pop and jazz records in various studios within the New York City area, including Edison Records, where he was allegedly certainly one of Thomas Edison’s favorite singers.
By the early Twenties, Dalhart was struggling to search out recording opportunities. He had never fulfilled his dream of being recognized as a serious opera singer – and had stopped touring in operettas – and depended mainly on recordings to make a living. But he had did not develop a particular sound and personality that might make him stand out within the pop and jazz worlds.
Then, on August 13, 1924, Dalhart stumbled upon a brand new path forward. That day, he recorded two songs for the brand recent, as yet unnamed country music market: “The wreck of the old 97” And “The Prisoner's Song.“ Victor released the 2 songs on a 78 rpm record.
The first big hit in country music
Musicians from Virginia Henry Whitter had recorded “The Wreck of the Old 97” just a few months earlier under a unique title without much fanfare. Dalhart thought he could improve on Whitter's recording and covered this Appalachian ballad a couple of 1903 train accident. Although he misinterpreted a few of Whitter's lyrics, Dalhart introduced this now-famous narrative song to countless people beyond the mountains.
“The Prisoner's Song” was the true revelation of that session. It was the right template for country music's enduring tradition of singing songs expressing love and unrequited love. Dalhart claimed the song was composed by his cousin Guy Massey and received a share of the publishing royalties. The song ultimately brought Dalhart fame and a modicum of wealth.
In a time before records were played on the radio, this release became the primary major hit in country music and sold estimated 7 million copies (the primary recording and the following versions together) from 1924 to 1934 and an extra Millions of copies as sheet musicBoth of Dalhart's groundbreaking recordings on Victor are within the The Grammy Hall of Fame.
By the time of the Bristol Sessions, Dalhart had already recorded lots of of country songs for dozens of corporations, and a number of other of Dalhart’s records enjoyed great popularity, including “The death of Floyd Collins,” a song from 1925 about an explorer who died in a cave in Kentucky; the huge hit of 1927 “Lindbergh (The Eagle of the USA)“; And “The runaway train”, a well-liked song in Great Britain
In the shadow of Bristol
While he was accountable for an estimated 3,000 business publications and was country music best-selling recording artist of the TwentiesDalhart was marginalized. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1981, but today he has few followers, although many leading country music stars, including Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Dolly Parton And Willie Nelsonhave covered songs from Dalhart’s extensive repertoire.
The neglect of Dalhart might be the results of the impression that he, an opera singer with formal musical training, lacked authenticity to be considered a rustic musician, despite his deep Texan roots. Dalhart recorded for a lot of labels under many pseudonyms, and his extensive discography is difficult to characterize.
The only biography of Dalhart to this point, published in 2004 and written by Dalhart supporter Jack Palmer, was a serious try to portray the singer as “the first star of country music”, however the book quickly sold out.
To mark the centenary of Dalhart’s rise to change into a seminal figure in country music, Rivermont Records plans to release a box set in November 2024 with 100 of the singer's most significant recordings from his entire profession. I imagine it would be a worthy and long overdue commemoration.
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