Vernon Dalhart Biography-1924
Ironically Vernon Dalhart (April 6, 1883- September 14, 1948), a classically trained singer of light opera, became the biggest star of early Country ‘hillbilly’ music. His Country career started with his first recording of “The Wreck On The Southern Old 97” on May 14, 1924. The Country Music Hall of Famer reportedly has sold over 75 million records and recorded over 1600 songs from 1916 to 1939, working at some point for nearly every record company in the United States.
Early Life
Vernon Dalhart was born Marion Try Slaughter, II, in Jefferson, Texas, the only child of Robert Marion and Mary Jane (Castleberry) Slaughter. Appearing on stage in Puccini's Girl of the Golden West where he did 181 shows, he had changed his name by 1912 after two west Texas towns, Vernon and Dalhart.
Dalhart sang and also played the harmonica, kazoo and Jew's harp on many of his recordings. In 1916 he saw a notice in a paper that the Edison Company was auditioning for new recording artists. He had tried for seven years to get a chance to record with Edison. Having finally passed an audition, he was asked by Thomas A. Edison to sing directly into Edison's ear trumpet- an additional audition of a novel kind. Edison liked Dalhart's tenor voice because he could understand every word that Dalhart sang.
First Recordings for Edison
The first Dalhart records issued in 1916 were Columbia A2108, which featured the Gus Kahn-Egbert Van Alstyne song "Just A Word Of Sympathy" (recorded on September 13, 1916), and two Emerson discs. Emerson 798 featured Turner's "The World Is Hungry For a Little Bit of Love" and Emerson 7104 featured "Can't Yo' Heah Me Callin', Caroline?" one of Vernon’s favorite early recordings. Between 1916 and early 1924 he made well over 400 recordings which appeared on more than 800 sides in the United States and appeared on at least 200 sides outside the States. He had a successful but not a remarkable recording career up to this point. Then, due to one record, he enjoyed an almost unprecedented degree of popularity for any recording artist.
Dalhart’s Country Recordings
By early 1924 folk music, hill music, old time music, or mountain music (hillbilly wasn’t used yet) had already been recorded by Whitter and Carson and was selling fairly well, mostly in the rural South. After Dalhart heard Whitter’s "The Wreck On The Southern Old 97," he was convinced that he could make a better recording and talked Edison executives into letting him record it early in 1924. Legend has it that Edison's son, Charles, suggested that Dalhart record the song (Wolfe says Edison asked him to cover it). In learning the words directly from the Whitter disc, Dalhart misunderstood some phrases, which resulted in slightly different lyrics.
The Edison recording was made on May 14, 1924, issued as Diamond Disc 51361 in August, then issued as Blue Amberol 4898 in September. Frank Ferera played guitar on "The Wreck On The Southern Old 97," and Dalhart sang and played harmonica. It sold reasonably well despite the Diamond Disc's reverse side featuring Ernest Hare singing a "blackface" song titled "I Wasn't Scared But I Just Thought That I Had Better Go," which was a thoughtless match for the B side.
Dalhart next asked Victor to record it. Victor wanted Dalhart to find a suitable selection for the flip side of the record. An old folk song was arranged and titled "The Prisoner's Song." It was recorded with Carson Robison (1890-1957) playing guitar and L. Raderman playing viola. In October 1924, Victor record 19427 was released with "The Wreck Of The Old 97" on Side A and "The Prisoner's Song" became Side B. Within four months the 225,000 copies were sold. Although both songs became hits, "The Prisoner's Song" became enormously popular and by 1926 was the best selling song in the country.
The success of the record led to fifty claims for authorship of the "The Wreck Of The Old 97" and two lawsuits. Dalhart copyrighted "The Prisoner's Song" in 1924 under his cousin’s name, Guy Massey, who got the lyrics from his brother who actually did time in prison and heard the song there. Massey and Dalhart had simply arranged the lyrics and Victor musical director, Nat Shilkret helped arrange the song and titled it “The Prisoner’s Song.” They recorded the song August 13, 1924.
There is no doubt in my mind that the song was derived from the old folk song, “Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight.” Years later, Bobby Gregory, a protege of Dalhart's in the 1930's, stated that Dalhart told him he had only changed a few notes in Massey's song to make it better for his voice. Carson Robison, who was a Victor contract musician at that time, later claimed he had helped write it. Nat Shilkret, the Victor producer also claimed some responsibility for the music. Several years later, probably in protest, Carson Robison printed the song in his songbook as “The New Prisoner’s Song” as written by E.V. Body, his name for a public domain song with no certain author. Dalhart himself earned the substantial royalties when Guy Massey died the following year. Years later, Dalhart turned all rights over to the Massey family.
Dalhart said that “The Prisoners Song” sold over 25 million records [Archie Greene reports 7 million- both figures are inflated according to figures from my correspondence with Allan Sutton, author of “The Million Seller Fallacy: A Reappraisal of 1920s Record Sales”] with sheet music sales topping one million. Within a year, the song was being sung everywhere. Dalhart was paid $3500 for a two week stint (approx. $50,000 today) at the Strand Theater in New York, the only requirement in the contract; he had to sing “The Prisoners Song.” He performed it on radio and he recorded it for almost every American record company. His recordings of this one song appeared on over 50 labels in the United States alone. In addition, the song was recorded as a waltz and by dance and jazz bands. It continued to sell until the late 1930's and became popular in every English speaking country in the world.
Carson Robison- Biography
From his 1924 recording of “The Prisoner’s Song” to 1928, Dalhart’s most successful years, he teamed up with Carson Robison (Aug. 4, 1890- March 24, 1957), the “Kansas Jayhawk.” A singer, guitarist, whistler, songwriter and actor, Carson Robison was one of the outstanding talents of early Country Music. From the 1920s until the 40s, Robison was one of the most important Country artists; writing songs, recording with many groups and with Dalhart and Frank Luther (Crow). Robison’s sophisticated arrangements and original songs ("My Blue Ridge Mountain Home," "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" and later "Life Gits Tee-Jus, Don't It?")were the perfect compliment toDalhart’s burgeoning fame.
Robison’s Early Life
Robison was born in Oswego, Kansas in 1890. His family soon moved to nearby Chetopa. His father was a cowboy and a stock buyer. His mother played the melodeon, and his father and uncles played fiddle at square dances and social gatherings. By the time he was 14 years old, he was already playing guitar professionally and wrote his first song, “Anthem.” A year later he was playing in bands and singing and by his twenties was proficient on a range of instruments as well as an accomplished whistler. In 1922 he got his first professional radio stint on station KDAF (Kansas City, MO) singing and whistling. He had developed a unique style of whistling two tones in harmony at the same time.
Robison Moves To New York City- Signs With Victor
In 1924 he auditioned for Victor Records, moved to New York City, and was signed to his first recording contract. Carson made his first recordings for Victor on April 30: "Songbirds in Georgia" and "Whistling the Blues Away." In May 1924 Robison recorded with the vaudeville artist Wendall Hall and had a huge hit with “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’.” He became the house accompanist for Victor and other labels recording with such early Country groups as the Fiddlin’ Powers Family, Kelly Harrell, and Buell Kazee.
From 1924 until 1928 he teamed with Dalhart, and the two recorded and toured together. Robison also worked with the Crow Brothers (Frank Luther Crow and Phil) from Kansas and co-wrote songs with Frank Luther Crow, known as Frank Luther ("My Blue Ridge Mountain Home," "Barnacle Bill the Sailor") from 1928 until 1932. Robison then went to England and made several recordings and also recorded on return visits from 1936-1939. And there’s the story told by his son about how Carson gave the Queen of England a pair of cowboy boots after a concert on condition she parade around the concert hall lobby with them. Other artists with whom Robison performed and recorded include singers Gene Austin and Frank Crumit and guitarist Roy Smeck.
In 1931, Robison formed his own group, the Pioneers, later rechristened the Buckaroos, which included John and Bill Mitchell, Frank Novak, and Pearl Pickens. The first Country group to tour England, they had a considerable recording and broadcast career abroad as well as in America before World War II. Robison had a hit in 1942 with the old standard "Turkey in the Straw" and wrote songs on behalf of the war effort, including "We're Gonna Have to Slap That Dirty Little Jap." In the mid to late 1940s he formed the group "The Pleasant Valley Boys." In 1947 Carson signed long-term exclusive recording contract with M-G-M Records and the next year had a chart entry with "Life Gits Tee-Jus, Don't It?" I’ve seen my friend Doc Watson sing “Tee-Jus” many times and he does a great version of the song. Robison appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in late 1940s and early 1950s. The year before his death, he recorded the novelty rock & roll number "Rockin' and Rollin' With Grandmaw."
A fine musician as well as a good judge of songs, Robison was perhaps too sophisticated to be grouped only with hillbilly singers, cowboy singers, or even Country Music in general. Under other circumstances, he might've made a name in movies as a singing cowboy, but media exposure beyond the radio eluded him. Carson was especially adept at writing “event” songs, many of which Vernon Dalhart made famous, as the following 1929 article demonstrates.
Carson Robison Event Songs
Event recordings are songs about actual events. Starting with“The Wreck of the Old 97” in 1923, the first Country event hit, a new and profitable market developed which was followed by “The Titanic” and “The Death of Floyd Collins” in 1925. Many of early Country’s biggest hits were songs about events.
Earthquakes, shipwrecks, murders and railroad disasters were some of the tearful ballads dashed off quickly following any event in the 1920s. They tell such tales as that of the tragic death of Floyd Collins in his mountain cave, the sinking of the great Titanic, the Scopes trial in Tennessee, the death of Floyd Bennett and innumerable railroad wrecks.
After “The Wreck of the Shenandoah” sold over 150,000 copies record companies began to cast about for other ballads and when the supply was not available they had to find someone to turn them out to order. The new supply dealt with old or recent events but adhered to the old ballad form. Vernon Dalhart, in particular, benefited from his event recordings. His former playing partner, songwriter Carson Robison, specialized in quickly writing the ballads after an event, recording them and getting them released.
Robison wrote “The Wreck of the Shenandoah” under the alias Maggie Andrews. Hugh Leamy interviewed Robison in 1929 at his offices in NYC(Collier's, Vol. 84, No. 18, November 2, 1929, pp. 20; 58-9.) and the next several paragraphs are taken from Leamy’s interview. Curiously, in the article Robison claimed to write the traditional ballad Naomi Wise, a common practice in the 1920s as A.P. Carter often claimed and copyrighted many folk and old songs. Vernon Dalhart made Robison’s re-write of the Naomi Wise, under the alias Maggie Andrews, famous in 1926.
["First I read all the newspaper stories of, say, a disaster," he explains. "Then I get to work on the old typewriter. There's a formula, of course. You start by painting everything in happy colors—“the folks were all happy” stuff. That's sure fire. Then you ring in the tragedy—make it as morbid and gruesome as you can. Then you wind up with a moral."
If you look at Robison ballad of The Miami Storm in 1926 which was finished and out of his typewriter before communication was restored in the stricken area. He opened with a description of the city by the sea—"a spot that was bright and fair. A city of palm trees and flowers. A garden of beauty rare."
A second stanza of sweetness and light, followed by the tragic note:
And then in the darkness of midnight Their laughter was turned to tears;
The wrath of the storm was upon them, That filled every heart with fears.
The wind was the voice of a demon That howled as it crashed through the town;
And great ships were torn from their anchors And broken upon the ground.
And then when the gray dawn came stealing The toll of the storm was known;
And sad were the cries of the injured; The street with the dead were strewn.
And now for the moral:
We cannot explain this disaster, We know not what fate may befall;
And we should be ready each hour To answer the Master's call.
"You mustn't make them too good," says Robison. "The boys of Tin Pan Alley tried to crash thisnew market as soon as they realized that it was rich in possibilities, but they've failed so far because their stuff was too up-to-date and too neat and trim. The "popular" songs sell up into the millions during their brief reign; these other songs are like sugar in the grocery store—they sell steadily through the years. We don't know yet what can be fairly termed the 'life' of such numbers; records we made in 1924 are still selling steadily.”
"These folks for whom we write and sing are finicky," says Robison. "They know the formula they like and they want no changes or improvements. The phonograph and revival meetings are their religion. The radio means little to them, the movies nothing. Take the story of The Wreck of the 12:56, which has sold half a million and is still going strong. There's a simple story and a simple tune. There are only sixteen bars of music to the whole thing, repeated over and over.”
"They pay more attention to the story than to the melody. You've got to stress the moral and you must have a singer who can put over every word clearly. Now I'm teamed up with another singer. He's a Kansan like myself and his name is Frank Luther, although he also sings under the name of Bud Billings."
The famous song, “Death of Floyd Collins” was written by Andrew W. Jenkins, a blind preacher of Atlanta, Georgia. Jenkins has since made a number of records with Robison. He is a gifted fiddler and has a voice which lends itself happily to singing these ballads. His two daughters, who work with him, take down his songs as he hums them.
The day after the sinking of the steamship Vestris in 1928, Hugh Leamy had an appointment to lunch but Robison cancelled. "Listen," Carson said, "we'll have to call that date off today. You know this Vestris sinking? Well, I've got to make four recordings of it this afternoon and I haven't finished the ballad yet." He did finish it in time, however. And it quickly promised to outdistance the sales of Floyd Collins. For the interest in the sea disaster was widespread. On one side of the record is the story of the affair. The other pays tribute to the heroes of the Vestris. Here's how the moral goes, as Robison banged it out on his faithful typewriter:
There on the deck stood the gray-haired captain
Waiting for death to befall. And tho' we know that someone blundered
We should forgive after all. We're all adrift on life's mighty ocean
Where each mistake has its cost And we should learn from this sad story-
If we hesitate we are lost.]
Dalhart and Robison, usually accompanied by fiddler Murray Kellner, made records for almost every company. Many of the records were very popular selling around a million copies with the Death of Floyd Collins selling over three million. Dalhart was so popular that over 100 of his songs appeared on 10 or more labels. Among the most popular were Robison's "My Blue Ridge Mountain Home" on 46 different labels; Gussie L. Davis' "In The Baggage Coach Ahead" on 42 labels; "Golden Slippers" on 38 labels and Hattie Nevada's 1897 song "The Letter Edged In Black" on 35 labels. His version of “Home On the Range” was a big seller in 1927.
Dalhart’s Pseudonyms: A Man of Many Names
Throughout his career Dalhart used pseudonyms to avoid copyright infringement and his exclusive contracts at various labels. Although Dalhart himself only used perhaps a half dozen names, the record companies used many others. When a company released the same song on several labels, it would often use a different name for each label. Because of the large number of Dalhart releases, at least a hundred pseudonyms have been verified as used by record companies on Dalhart recordings. There were more than eighty names used in the United States, including more than twenty names of groups in which Dalhart either sang or played the kazoo. Another thirty or more names were used in England, Australia and Canada. In addition, Dalhart sang with many musical groups and often was unidentified on the label.
Including foreign issues, discographers have listed nearly 3800 sides on more than 150 labels released in the United States, with another 1160 sides, or so, released outside the United States. Allowing for the records where Dalhart only appeared on one side, there were well over 3000 Dalhart records issued since 1916. Obviously he did not make this many recordings. Many of the masters were released on a dozen, or more, different labels.
The success of "The Wreck of the Old 97," and “The Death of Floyd Collins,” would inspire Dalhart to record many songs about actual events. His third event song smash hit was the “Wreck of the 1256.” Soon after Charles A. Lindbergh's solo nonstop transatlantic flight on May 20- 21 1927, Dalhart entered many studios and recorded Johnson and Sherman's "Lindbergh (The Eagle of the U.S.A.)" and Baer and Gilbert's "Lucky Lindy." Victor's coupling (20674) and Columbia's coupling (1000-D) were issued in August 1927. He would record several other songs about Lindbergh. In 1925 Dalhart had six of the top seven hits in the Columbia “Old Familiar Songs” country category with five being “events” songs.
Robison and Dalhart Split Up- 1928
While Robison was on vacation in June 1927, Dalhart fired fiddler Kellner and replaced him with Adelyne Hood from Alabama. She was an accomplished violinist and also played the piano and sang. Although Robison respected Hood, he resented Dalhart making a change in their group without his approval. He had already been at odds with Dalhart since Dalhart collected a portion of the royalties on songs that Robison wrote and which Dalhart recorded- which was a common practice among singers at the time. Despite Robison's objections, the trio of Hood, Robison and Dalhart recorded together and some of Dalhart's most popular songs were released during this time.
After Dalhart decided to accept an exclusive two-year contract from Columbia to record for their low price records in June 1928, Robison, who thought it was a bad contract and refused to sign, left Dalhart and teamed up with new partner, Frank Luther. Soon Dalhart also signed a two-year recording contract with Edison. Dalhart managed to complete both contracts, with Ms. Hood and hired musicians.
Carson Robison Discography: Robison’s first recordings were done in 1924 on Victor with Wendall Hall including the hit, “It Ain’t Gooing To Rain No Mo.” He played as house accompanist for other groups such as Fiddlin’ Powers & Family (Carson sang lead on “Ida Red” August 1924), Kelly Harrell and Buell Kazee from 1924 to 1926. From 1926 to 1928 he played mainly with Dalhart and the recordings are listed at the end of Dalhart’s bio. From 1928-32 he recorded mostly with Frank Luther, recording the hit they co-wrote: “Barnacle Bill The Sailor.” In 1932, ‘36 and ‘39 he made records in England, since most on the songs are re-issues I’ve not included the English label in the Discography below. In 1941 he recorded briefly with Columbia and then had a string of hits during World War II on Bluebird (RCA Victor). In 1947 Carson signed with MGM and cut a set of Square Dances [Carson Robison [1947] Reissued as E-557, K-5, and X-5]. His biggest hit in later years was the 1948 song, “Life Gets Tee-jus Don’t It.”
Carson Robison Solo (or with Roy Smeck) April 1924-March 1928 Various labels: Just Whistle; Nola; Songbirds in Georgia; Tough Pickin’; Twilight Echoes; Whistle-it is; Whistling the Blues Away;
Carson Robison and Frank Luther (also as Bud Billings); Carson Robison Trio (with Luther); Carson Robison and His Pioneers (Buckaroos); June 1928- 1942: Abraham; Alabama Flood; Baby On The Doorstep; Back In The Hills of Colorado; Barbara Allen; Barnacle Bill The Sailor; Beneath Montana Skies; Big Ranch Boss; (In The) Big Rock Candy Mountain; Birmingham Jail; Blue Ridge Mountain Home; Blue River Train; Blue Yodel No. 4; Bowery Bums; Buffalo Bill; Bum Song; Bum’s Rush; Butcher Boy; By The Old Oak Tree; Cabin in The Hills; Carolina Moon; Carry Me Back To The Mountains; Carson Robison’s Story; Chaw of Tobacco and a Little Drink; Climbing Up De Golden Stairs; Choir Boy Sings Alone Tonight; Christmas Holds No Joy For Me; Church Bells are Ringing Fro Mary; Columbus Stockade Blues; Come Back Tonight In My Dreams; Cornpone in Pot Likker; Cowboy Romeo; Cowboy’s Home In Heaven; Cross-Eyed Sue; Custer’s Last Fight; Dance At Jones Place; Darling Nellie Gray; Death Of Jesse James; Death of Stonewall Jackson; Didn’t He Ramble; Dive For The Oyster; Divorce Blues; Dixie Way; Do You Still Remember; Don’t Let My Spurs Get Rusty When I’m Gone; Don’t You Believe It; Down in De Cane Break; Down In The Hills; Down On The Old Plantation; Dreamy Rocky Mountain Moon; Drifting And Dreaming; Eastern Train; Engineer’s Dying Child; Everybody Does It In Hawaii; Everything Happens for the Best; Farm Relief Song; Fate Of The Fleagle Gang; Four Thousand Dollars Reward; Frankie and Johnny; Gay Caballero; Get Away Old Man; General Robert E. Lee; Get Your Gun And Come Along; Girl I Loved In Sunny Tennessee; Goin’ To Have A Big Time Tonight; Goin’ Back To Texas; Goin’ To Lay Me Down In The Cold, Cold Ground; Hallelujah I’m A Bum; Hand Me Down My Walking Cane; Hanging of Charles Birger; He Left His Religion in the Country; He Once Was Some Mother’s Boy; Hello Young Lindy; Here I Go To Tokyo; His Journey’s End; His Old Coronet; Hitler’s Reply to Mussolini; Home on The Range; Home Sweet Home On The Prairie; Hot Time In New Orleans Tonight; How To Make Love; Howdy Old Timer; I Don’t Work For A Living; I Got A Gal in Kansas; I Tore Up Your Picture; I Wish I was Single Again; Ida Red (Fiddlin’ Pwers & Family); I’m A Pris’ner Of War; I’m Drifting Back To Dreamland; I’m A-Gittin’ Ready To Go; I’m An Old Cowhand; I’m Goin’ Back To Whur I Come From; I’m In The Army Now; In The Cumberland Mountains; It’s just a Matter of Time; It’s The Same The World Over; Jack of All Trades; Jacob’s Ladder; Jesse James; Jesus Light of The World; John The Drunkard; Left My Gal In The Mountains; Leave The Purty Gals Alone; Letter Edged in Black; ‘Leven Cent Cotton; Life Get Tee-Jus Don’t It; Little Brown Jug; Little Green Valley; Little Lost Child; Little Old Church In The Valley; Little Sweetheart of The Mountains; Little Sweetheart of The Prairie; Lonesome Railroad; Long Long Ways From Home; Lullaby Yodel; May I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister; Memphis Yodel; Missouri Valley; Moonlight On The Colorado; Mother Was A Lady; Mussolini’s Letter To Hitler; Mother’s Plea; My Carolina Sunshine Girl; My Heart Is Where The Mohawk Flows; My Little Home Down In New Orleans; My Little Lady; Naw I Don’t Wanna Be Rich; Never Leave You’re Gal Too Long; Never No Mo’ Blues; Ninety-Nine Years; Nobody’s Darlin’ But Mine; Oh Bury Me Not In The Lone Prairie; Oh Dem Golden Slippers; Oh Jailer Bring Back That Key; Oh That Dumb-bell; Ohio River Blues; Oklahoma Blues; Oklahoma Charley; Old Fashioned Sweetheart of Mine; Old Grey Mare is Back Where She Used To Be; Old Kentucky Cabin; Old Man’s Story; Old Parlor Organ; On A Blue Lagoon; Open Up Dem Pearly Gates For Me; Pappy’s Buried On The Hill; Peg Leg Jack; Polly Wolly Doodle; Plain Talk; Poor Man’s Heaven; Porto Rico Storm; Possum In The Simmons Tree; Prairie Town; Prison Fire; Railroad Boomer; Ramblin’ Cowboy; Red River Valley; Remember Pearl Harbor; Rocky Mountain Lullaby; Rovin’ Gambler; Settin’ By The Fire; She Sat in Her Parlor; She Waits and Waits; She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain; Silver Haired Daddy of Mine; Since Mother’s Gone; Sinking of the Vestris; Six Feet of Earth; Sleepy Rio Grande Waltz; Smokey Mountain Bill; So I Joined The Navy; Somewhere In Old Wyoming; Song of The Prune; South Of The Border; Steamboat Keep Rockin’; Stop Your Playin’; Strawberry Roan; Swanee Kitchen Door; Sweet Virginia In Old Virginia; Texas Dan; There must be A Bright Tomorrow; There’s A Bridle Hanging On The Wall; There’s A Whippoorwill Calling; Tree That Stand By The Road; Tribute To Knute Rockne; (1942) Turkey in The Straw; Twenty-one Years; Utah Trail; Wabash Moon; Waiting For A Train; Wanderer’s Warning; Wednesday Night Waltz; Went To See My Gal Last Night; We’re Gonna Have to Slap That Dirty Little Jap; West Plains Explosion; When It’s Nighttime in Nevada; When It’s Springtime in The Rockies; When The Bloom Is On The Sage; When The Moon Is Shining; When The Roses Bloom For The Bootlegger; When The work’s All Done This Fall; When Your Hair has Turned To Silver; Where The Silv’ry Colorado Wends Its Way; Where The Sunset Turns The Ocean Blue To Gold; Who Said I Was A Bum; Why Did I Get Married; Why I Ain’t Got No Sweetheart; Will The Angels Play There Harps For Me; Will The Circle Be Unbroken; Will There Be A Santa Claus in Heaven; Wolf At The Door; Woman Down In Memphis; Wreck Of The Royal Palm; Wreck Of Number Nine; Wreck Of The Titanic; You Can’t Take my Memories from me; You Never Miss Your Mother Till She’s Gone; You’re As Welcome As the Flowers In May;
Vernon Dalhart and Adelyne Hood- Depression Years
By the time the contracts had ended, the stock market had crashed in 1929, and Edison went out of the record business. Between the depression and free radio, the recording business became almost non-existent. Many country artists moved to the radio and personal appearances to supplement their income.
When the stock market crashed in October 1929, Dalhart lost a majority of his investments. His livelihood, making records, had slowed and Edison Records, which gave him his start went bankrupt. He was still recording with combos with Adelyne Hood but his popularity was quickly fading.
In 1955 Ralph Peer wrote: “Vernon Dalhart was never a hillbilly and never a hillbilly artist. He had the peculiar ability to adapt hillbilly music to suit the taste of a non-hillbilly population.” The success of Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family had taken early Country Music by storm. The record companies were no longer interested in his style of singing.
Dalhart made no personal appearances and relatively few recordings after 1930, he finally appeared on a radio program in 1931 with Adelyne Hood. Sponsored by Barbasol, the program was on the air less than two months when Dalhart and Hood left the show and headed for England where they made eight recordings in London, four of which were issued. After returning to the States, Dalhart and Hood made a few more recordings, then Ms. Hood went on to a career on the radio using the name Betsy White.
Dalhart’s Later Years
In 1938, Dalhart finally went back on the radio along with personal appearances in upstate New York. Hood, as Betsy White appeared with him on stage and radio, playing the violin and singing. The radio program didn't generate much interest so it was soon cancelled. The two did make several personal appearances before returning home.
Finally in 1939, Dalhart signed an exclusive recording contract with RCA-Victor and cut six sides on their Bluebird label with a hired back up group. The records didn't sell well and one, “The Lavender Cowboy,”was barred from the air because it referred to a feminine cowboy with “three hairs on his chest.” Dalhart never recorded again. Instead he took a security job in Bridgeport, Connecticut during the War.
After the war he tried teaching singing without much luck. Finally he took a job as a night baggage clerk at Barnum's Hotel in downtown Bridgeport when he had a heart attack in January 1948. He never fully recovered and died from a second attack on September 15, 1948. He is buried in Bridgeport's Mountain Grove Cemetery. His gravestone reads simply: MARION TRY SLAUGHTER, SR. APRIL 6, 1883-SEPTEMBER 15, 1948.
Dalhart’s Recordings: Dalhart recorded more than any other early Country artist; his country career spanned 15 years from 1924-1939. He recorded in many combinations under dozens of pseudonyms so he could record the same song with different labels. His main collaborators were Carson Robison, who also wrote many songs for him, and after that Adelyne Hood.
Dalhart’s Complete Country Recordings in Alphabetical Order: A Boy’s Best Friend Is His Mother;A Memory That Time Cannot Erase; After The Ball;Ain’t Gonna Grieve My Mind;Airship That Never Returned;Ain’t Gonna Grieve My Mind;Ain’t You Comin’ Out Tonight (Buffalo Gals); Alabama Flood; Among My Souvenirs; Bad Companions; At Father Power’s Grave; Baggage Coach Ahead (In the Baggage Coach Ahead); Barbara Allen; Barnacle Bill The Sailor; Be Careful What You Say; Behind The Clouds; Betsy Brown (Pretty Little Dear); Better Get Out of My Way; Big Rock Candy Mountains; Billy The Kid; Billy Richardson's Last Ride; Billy The Kid; Blue Ridge Mountain Blues; Blue Ridge Sweetheart; Boston Burglar; Bring Me A Leaf From The Sea; Buffalo Bill; Bully Song (Bully of the town); (The) Bum Song; (The) Bum Song No. 2; Bury Me Not On The Old Prairie; Calamity Jane; Call Of Mother Love; Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister?; Casey Jones; Chain Gang Song; Chamberlain and Lindy; Charley Boy; Christofo Colombo; Cindy; Choir Boy Sings All Alone Tonight; Climbing Up the Golden Stairs; Clouds Are Gwine To Roll Away; Conversation with Death; Convict and the Rose; Cowboy’s Evening Song; Cowboy’s Herding Song; Crepe On The Old Cabin Door; Crow Song; Curse Of An Aching Heart; Custer’s Last Fight; Dear Oh Dear; Death of Floyd Bennett; Death of Floyd Collins; Death Of Lura Parsons; Dear Little Darling; Dixie Way; Don’t Cry Sweetheart Don’t Cry; Don’t Marry A Widow; Doodle Doo Doo; Down on the Farm; Dream of the Miner’s Child; Dreams Of The Southland; Drifting Down the Trail of Dreams; Drunkard’s Hell; Drunkard’s Lone Child; Dying Cowboy (Bury Me Not); Dying Girl’s Message; Eleven Cent Cotton; Eleven More Months and Ten More Days; Empty Cradle; Engineer’s Child; Engineer’s Dream; Engineer’s Dying Child; ‘Er Something; Erie Canal; Faded Knot Of Blue; Faded Letter; Farewell To Boys; Farewell To Girls; Farm Relief Song; Fatal Wedding; Fate of Mildred Doran; Fiddler Joe; Flood Song; Floral Wreaths; Floyd Collins Dream; Floyd Collins Waltz; For The First Time In Twenty-Four Years;Frank Dupree; Frank Dupree; Freight Wreck at Altoona; Frog Song; Gay Cabellero; Get Away, Old Man, Get Away; Girl I left Behind Me; Go Long Mule; Going Down To New Orleans; Going To Have A Big Time Tonight; Gold Star Mothers; Golden Slippers; Golden West; Good Old Country Town; Governor’s Pardon; Great Titanic; Guy Massey’s Farewell; Gypsy's Warning; Hallelujah, There's a Rainbow in the Sky; Halls-Mills Case; Hand me Down My Walking Cane; Hanging of Charles Birger; Hear Dem Bells; Hanging Of Charles Birger; Hanging Of Eve Dugan; Hanging of The Fox; He Sure Can Play The Harmonica; He will Lead me Home; Hear Dem Bells; Hero’s Last Flight; Hillbilly Love Song (Liza Jane); Hoe Down; Home In The Mountains; Home on The Range; Home Sweet Home; Hoopy Scoopy; House at The End Of The Lane; I Know There is Somebody Waiting; I Long To See The One I Left Behind; I Want A Pardon For Daddy; I Wish I was A Single Girl Again; I’d Like To Be Back in Texas; I’ll Be With You When The Roses Bloom Again; I’ll Get Along Somehow; I’ll Meet her When The Sun Goes Down; I’m Doing The Best I Can; I’m Just Going Down To The Gate; I’m Satisfied with You; I’m Writing A Letter To Heaven; If I Could See Mother Tonight; If Your Love Like A Rose Will Die; In 1992; In A Mansion of Aching Hearts; In The Baggage Coach Ahead; In the Hills of Old Kentucky; In The Hills of Tennessee; In The Valley of Yesterday; It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More; It’s Sinful To Flirt; It’s Time To Say Aloha To You; Jealous Lover Of The Lone Green Valley; Jesse James; Jim Blake's Message; John T. Scopes Trial; John The Baptist; Johnny Darlin’; Jones and Bloodworth Execution; Just A Melody; Just An Old Spanish Custom; Just Break The News To Mother; Just Tell Them You Saw Me; King of Borneo; Kinnie Wagner (‘s Surrender); Kitty Wells; Land Where We'll Never Grow Old; Letter Edged in Black; Last Flight; Lavender Cowboy; Lay Down Doggies; Lay My Head Beneath A Rose; Let Me Call You Sweetheart; Life of Tom Watson; Lightning Express; Lindberg; Little Birdie; Little Black Mustache; Little Brown Jug; Little Green Valley; Little Marian Parker; Little Mary Phagin; Little Rosewood Casket; Lost French Flyers; Long Ago; Low Bridge (Erie Canal); Maple On The Hill; Lucky Lindy; Many Times I’ve Wandered; Many, Many Year Ago; Matrimony Bill; Meet Me At Twilight; Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland; Memory Time Can't Erase; Miami Storm; Mildred Doran’s Last Flight; Miner’s Doom; Miner’s Prayer; Mississippi Flood; Mobile Alabam; Mobile Bay; Molly Darling; Mother Was A Lady; Mother’s Grave; Muddy Water; Mule Song; My Blue Ridge Mountain Home; My Boyhood Happy Days (Down on the Farm); My Boy’s Voice; My Carolina Home; My Little Home In Tennessee; My Mary Jane; My Mother’s Humming Lullaby; My Mother’s Old Red Shawl; Mother And Home; My Blue Ridge Mountain Home; My Darling Nellie Gray; My little Home in Tennessee; My Mother's Old Red Shawl; Naomi Wise; Nelly Dare And Charlie Brooks; New River Train; Ninety And Nine; Oh, Adam Had ‘Em; My Oklahoma Home; Oh Captain, Captain Tell Me True; Oh It’s Great To Be A Doctor; Oh Susanna; Oh You Can’t Fool An Old Hoss Fly; Ohio River Blues; Old Bureau Drawer; Old Covered Bridge; Old Bill Moser’s Ford; Old Faded Rose; Old Fashioned Picture; Old Fiddler’s Song; Old Grey Mare; Old Kitty Kate; Old Plantation Melody; On That Dixie Bee-Line; Out In The Great Northwest; Papa’s Billy Goat; Pappy’s Buried On The Hill; Pardon of Sydna Allen; Pearl Bryan; Picture That Is Turned Towards The Wall; Pearl Bryan; Picnic In The Wildwood; Plucky Lindy’s Lucky Day; Polly Wolly Doodle; Pony Express; Poor Old Mare; Pretty Little Dear; Prisoner's Song; Put My Little Shoes Away; Puttin' on the Style; Razor’s In De Air; Red and Green Signal Lights; Return of The Gay Caballero; Return of Mary Vickery; River Stay Away From My Door; Rope Around My Picture; Roll Dem Cotton Bales; Roll On River; Roving Gambler; Runaway Train; Sad Lover; Sailor Boy’s Farewell; Santa Barbara Earthquake; Sentenced to Life Behind These Gray Walls; Shadow Song; She’s Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain; Shine On Harvest Moon; Ship That Never Returned; Sidewalks of New York; Since Mother’s Gone From The Old Home; Sing Fa-Da-Riddle, Sing dey (Poor Old Mare); Sing Hallelujah; Sing on Brother, Sing; Sinking Of The Submarine; Sinking of the Titanic; Sippin’ Cider; Six Feet of Earth; Sneezing Song; Someday Sweetheart; Song Of The Condemned; Song Of The Failure; Song of The Shut-In; Song Of The Wanderer; Squint-Eyed Cactus Jones; Stars Are The Windows Of Heaven; Steamboat Kept Rockin’; Stone Mountain Memorial; Summertime in Old Kentucky; Sweet Elaine; Sweet Little Old Lady; Sydney Allen; Tale Of A Ticker; Tarriff Bill Song; That Good Old Country Town; There’ll Be one More Fool In Paradise Tonight; There’s A New Star In Heaven Tonight; There's a Whipporwill A-Calling; There’s one Born Every Minute; Three Drowned Sisters; Time Will Come; Tired of Mother; Tom E. Watson; Treasure Untold; Unknown Soldier’s Grave; Wanderin'; Watching The Trains Come In; Way Out West In Kansas; We Sat Beneath The Maple On The Hill; We Will Meet At the End of The Trail; West Plains Explosion; What Does The Deep Sea Say; When I’m With You; When the Moon Shines Down Upon the Mountain; When The Roses Bloom Again; When the Sun Goes Down Again; When The Whole World Turns You Down; When The Works All Done This Fall; When You’re Far Away; Where Is My Mama?; Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight; Where The Coosa River Flows; (Land) Where We Never Grow Old; Whistle Song; Whole World Is Waiting; Who Said I was A Bum; Who’s It Who Loves You; Why Ain’t I Happy At All; Why They Changed My Name To A Number; Wild And Reckless Hobo; William Jennings Byran’s Last Fight; (And The) Wise Old Owl Said Hoo; Wreck Of Old Ninety-Seven; Wreck of the 1256; Wreck of the C & O Number 5; Wreck of The Circus Train; Wreck Of The N & W Cannonball; Wreck Of The Number 9; Wreck of the Royal Palm; Wreck Of The Shenandoah; Wreck of The Titanic; Zeb Turney's Gal; Yazoo Train on The Arkansas Line; You Ain’t Been Living Right; You Can’t Blame Me For That; You’ll Never Take Away my Dreams; You’re Always A Baby To Mother; Yukon Steve And Alaska Ann;