Roy Acuff
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Biography
The son of a farmer-poster-preacher in the Baptist Church, where he learned to sing, Roy had to give up professional baseball after suffering severe sunstroke. His father introduced him to the violin and, in 1932, he joined the Doc Howers Medicine Show, a troupe of traveling musicians, before founding his own group, The Crazy Tennessians, which hosted local radio shows. Roy Acuff recorded his first songs in Chicago in 1936, including "The Great Speckled Bird" and "Wabash Cannonball", two immortal hits. In 1938, he made his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, and his musicians took the name Smoky Mountain Boys. In 1942, in association with the famous producer Fred Rose, he founded the Rose-Acuff music publishing house and scored another hit, "Wreck On The Highway", followed by "Night Train to Memphis", later covered by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ricky Nelson. He racked up the hits, from "Freight Train Blues" to "Lomesone Old River Blues". In 1974, he was the first artist to perform at the new Grand Ole Opry and scored two more hits, "Back In The Country" and "Old Time Sunshine Song", thirty years after his first chart entry. A true American institution, he was almost elected governor of Tennessee in 1974. A defender of traditional values, Roy Acuff - nicknamed "the king of country music" or "the smoky mountain boy" - drew his inspiration from Appalachian music, combined with gospel-tinged vocals and a high-pitched timbre. An outstanding instrumentalist, he adds a romantic, sometimes plaintive sound that remains a benchmark.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Great Speckle Bird featuring Roy Acuff
- Wabash Cannonball
- I Saw the Light
- The Precious Jewel
- Streamline Heartbreaker
- Fireball Mail
- The Streamlined Cannon Ball
- Sunshine Special
- Sweep Around Your Own Back Door
- Swamp Lily
- Freight Train Blues
- Take These Chains From My Heart
- Lord Help Me Be as Thou featuring Roy Acuff
- Tennessee Waltz
- Thank God
- That Glory Bound Train
- That's What Makes The Juke-box Play
- Great Speckled Bird by Roy Acuff and His Crazy Tennesseans
- The Family Who Prays (Never Shall Part)
- Hold To God's Unchanging Hand
- How Beautiful Heaven Must Be
- Pliney Jane
- The Thief Upon the Tree
- I Closed My Heart's Door
