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Member Number: 162
Roy Claxton Acuff (15 September 1903 – 23 November 1992) was an American country musician known around the world as the "King of Country Music".
Early life
He was born in Maynardville, Tennessee to Ida Carr and Simon E. Neil Acuff, the third of five children. He played semi-professional baseball, but a sunstroke in 1929 and a nervous breakdown in 1930 ended his aspirations to play for the New York Yankees.
Music career
He then turned his attention to his father's fiddle and began playing in a traveling medicine show, often performing in blackface. He toured the Southern United States and eventually formed a band called "The Crazy Tennesseans".
In 1936, he recorded his two most enduring songs, the traditional The Great Speckled Bird and The Wabash Cannonball. He debuted at the Grand Ole Opry two years later. He was booked as a fiddler, and he should have played the Turkey Buzzard for a square dancin' segment, but he decided to try and sing The Great Speckled Bird. His decision was not well received, however. Acuff became a regular on the Opry, forming a backing band called the Smoky Mountain Boys, led by friend and Dobro player Bashful Brother Oswald. By 1940 he was the star of the show.
Acuff's recording of The House of the Rising Sun on November 3, 1938 is the first known commercial recording of the song. He released several singles in the 1940s such as The Wreck on the Highway, Beneath That Lonely Mound of Clay and The Precious Jewel. During the 1940s he also appeared in six movies.
In 1942, a man of many talents, he formed a music publishing venture with Chicago songwriter Fred Rose. Acuff-Rose Music became a country music phenomenon, owning huge numbers of copyrights including those by Marty Robbins, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and all of the songs of Hank Williams.
As his record sales declined in the late 40s and 50s, Acuff spent most of his time on the road, becoming one of the hottest tickets in country music. In 1962 he was the first living musician elected to The Country Music Hall of Fame. By the 1970s Acuff performed almost exclusively with the Grand Ole Opry, at Opryland USA, greatly legitimizing it as the top institution in country music. He made one rare appearance at Carlton Haney's Camp Spring Bluegrass Festival in 1971. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.
Political career
Acuff had a brief affair with politics, losing a run for the office of Governor of Tennessee as a Republican in 1944 and 1948. Acuff later campaigned in 1970 for his friend Tex Ritter in his campaign for GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Tennessee.
- Born To Be With You: Roy Acuff by Alain Dormoy, September 15, 2002
- Acuff-Ecoff Family Archives
- Who2
- Country Music Hall of Fame
Trivia
* A popular legend is that Japanese troops during World War II would enter battle yelling, "To hell with Roy Acuff",
* In 1962, Roy Acuff was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. For his contribution to the recording industry, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located on 1541 Vine St.
* Acuff was initiated as an Entered Apprentice at the East Nashville Freemasonry Lodge in 1943, and raised to Master Mason in 1944. He was made a 33rd Degree Mason on 21 October 1985.
* Acuff is thought to be one inspiration for Henry Gibson's character Haven Hamilton in Robert Altman's film Nashville. The fictionalized character was reportedly a composite of several well-known musicians, including Acuff and Hank Snow.
* Acuff on recording: "[A] little secret of my policy in the studio ... [w]henever you once decide that you are going to record a number, put everything you've got into it. Don't say, 'Oh, we'll take it over and do it again' because every time you go through it you lose just a little something ... [l]et's do it the first time and to hell with the rest of them" - on the classic album Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
* U.S. Olympian high jumper Amy Acuff is his distant cousin. Some sources erroneously list her as his daughter.
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Photos from the "New Harmonies" exhibit at Watkins Community Museum Lawrence Journal World, KS - For the majority of his career, he was the dobroist for Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys. Indian National Powwow, Verizon Center, Washington, DC, 2005. ... |
Past Heritage Award Winners Murfreesboro Post, TN - 1980 Roy Acuff 1981 Carl Tipton 1982 John Hartford 1983 Curly Fox 1984 Graham Williamson 1985 Herman Crook 1986 Frazier Moss 1987 Zeke Clements 1988 Billy ... |
Renowned author will reside at APSU Clarksville Leaf Chronicle, TN - ... Leaf-Chronicle • July 3, 2008 Austin Peay State University announced today that novelist Louise Erdrich will be the 2008 Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence. ... |
 The Patriot-News - PennLive.com | A selection of history's best recordings The Patriot-News - PennLive.com, PA - The recordings, made in Nashville, showcased traditional songs and country music classics with guest performances by Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, ... |
Randy Travis Applies Old Ideas To New Album Great American Country, TN - Roy Acuff and Grandpa Jones in the cornfield at ‘Hee Haw’—I kept gettin’ that same message. I’ve really stuck by that." The CD includes his new single, ... |
Mellencamp, Travis take on the great beyond Philadelphia Daily News, PA - Also adding interest and insights are the likes of Jerry Garcia, Ricky Skaggs and Roy Acuff. FUNK 'N' BLUES: Devotees of that classic, horn-flecked ... |
Review: 'Guitar and a Pen' makes authors of country music writers Tampabay.com, FL - From the days of Roy Acuff up through the Dixie Chicks' Goodbye Earl era, storytelling is vital to a good country song. Haggard's Mama's Hungry Eyes or the ... |
The Best Seat in the House Wall Street Journal - We all liked Roy Acuff best because he had a yo-yo. This should have been the moment of my musical birth. I was a child with the best seat in the house, ... |
Country Music Hall of Fame Premiers Kitty Wells Exhibit Hall Of Fame Magazine, MA - Hosted by Tammy Wynette, this 1982 Showtime special features performances by Wells and her family, as well as Roy Acuff, Tom T. Hall, Hank Williams Jr., ... |
Music DVD Review: Bill Monroe - Bill Monroe: Father Of Bluegrass Music Blogcritics.org, OH - Other interesting highlights include one of the last interviews with Roy Acuff before his death, a young Dolly Parton singing with Monroe and there is even ... |
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