Vernon Dalhart
Vernon Dalhart | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Marion Try Slaughter |
Born | Jefferson, Texas, United States | April 6, 1883
Died | September 14, 1948 Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged 65)
Genres | Country |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Years active | 1913–1940 |
Labels | Edison, RCA Victor, Columbia, Old Homestead, Bell |
Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad "Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country song reputed to have sold one million copies, although sales figures for pre-World War Two recordings are difficult to verify.
Biography
Dalhart was born in Jefferson, Texas, on April 6, 1883. He took his stage name from two towns, Vernon and Dalhart in Texas, between which he punched cattle as a teenager in the 1890s. Dalhart's father, Robert Marion Slaughter, was killed by his brother-in-law, Bob Castleberry, when Vernon was age 10.[1] When Dalhart was 12 or 13, the family moved from Jefferson to Dallas, Texas.
He sang and played harmonica and Jew's harp at local community events and attended the Dallas Conservatory of Music.[2] He married Sadie Lee Moore-Livingston in 1901 and had two children, a son and a daughter. In 1910, he moved the family to New York City, where he worked in a piano warehouse and took occasional singing jobs.
Music career
Dalhart's education was rooted in
Between 1927 and 1929 he also recorded with the Vernon Dalhart Trio, composed of Vernon Dalhart, Adelyne Hood, and Carson Robison.[3]
In the 1920s and 1930s, he sang on more than 5000 singles (
Dalhart stated in a 1918 interview amidst criticism of his accent seeming artificial, "When you are born and brought up in the South your only trouble is to talk any other way ...the 'sure 'nough Southerner' talks almost like a Negro, even when he's white. I've broken myself of the habit, more or less, in ordinary conversation, but it still comes pretty easy."[4]
Hits
Dalhart had a hit single with his 1924 recording of "
One of the recordings most associated with Vernon Dalhart, especially in the United Kingdom, is his 1925 track "The Runaway Train" (Talking Machine Co., Camden, New Jersey, Victor 19685-A, Shellac). This was played on BBC Radio's 'Children's Favourites' between 1954 and 1982, and even now almost every compilation of children's records in the UK includes this timeless favourite.
Wanting to repeat the success of the single, the Victor Company sent
Later life and death
By the late 1930s, Dalhart's popularity declined and he had lost much of his income in the Great Depression. Dalhart eventually retired and relocated to Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1940 where he worked as a night clerk for the Hotel Barnum. [7]
He died on September 14, 1948 of a coronary occlusion at the age of 65. He is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport.[1]
Discography
Albums
Title | Year | Recording Date | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Old Time Songs: Original 1925-1930 Recordings | 1976 | 1930 | Davis Unlimited |
1921-1927 | 1977 | 1927 | Golden Olden Classics |
The First Singing Cowboy On Records | 1978 | Mark56 Records | |
First Recorded Railroad Songs | |||
Ballads And Railroad Songs | 1980 | Old Homestead Records | |
On The Lighter Side | 1985 | ||
"The Wreck Of The Old 97" And Other Early Country Hits - Vol. III | |||
Inducted Into The Hall Of Fame 1981 | 1999 | King Records | |
Puttin’ On The Style | 2007 | Document Records |
Awards and honors
- Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1970
- Country Music Hall of Fame, 1981
- Grammy Hall of Fame Award, "The Prisoner's Song", 1998
- Gennett Records Walk of Fame, 2007
- Songs of the Century, "The Prisoner's Song"
- Grammy Hall of Fame Award, "Wreck Of The Old 97", 2021
References
- ^ New York Times. September 17, 1948. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
- ^ a b c Manheim, James. "Vernon Dalhart". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
- ^ "Vernon Dalhart Trio". Discogs.
- ISBN 978-0-19-532509-6
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ^ https://www.wshu.org/off-the-path-from-new-york-to-boston/2016-08-17/why-is-americas-first-country-music-superstar-buried-in-bridgeport
External links
- Partial discography
- Vernon Dalhart, Victor Library
- Dalhart in the Country Music Hall of Fame
- Vernon Dalhart cylinder recordings, from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa BarbaraLibrary.
- Vernon Dalhart recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
- Vernon Dalhart: from opera to country recordings - by Jack Palmer on Thomas Edison's Attic radio program, WFMU, February 7, 2006.
- About The Artist, Vernon Dalhart, By Jack Palmer, from Hillbilly Music Dawt Com.