Roy Acuff

American country singer, songwriter, and fiddle player

Acuff grew up immersed in the rich musical climate of southeast Tennessee: lonesome mountain ballads, fiddle tunes, and church hymns. After World War II, when country artists were going for a smooth, pop-oriented style, Acuff never abandoned his Southern roots.

Member of Roy Acuff and His Smokey Mountain Boys

The Life

Roy Claxton Acuff (AK-uhf) was born in a small town in the Smokey Mountains near Knoxville, Tennessee. Acuff’s main interests as a child were sports, and he excelled at baseball. He was scheduled for a tryout with the Yankees, but severe sunstroke contracted on a fishing trip in Florida, and a subsequent nervous breakdown, confined him to bed for all of 1930. He picked up his father’s fiddle to pass the time, and when he recovered he was good enough to join Doc Haur’s traveling medicine show. Acuff found he enjoyed pitching the cure-all Mocoton Tonic and entertaining crowds. He honed his showmanship skills and his singing on the road, and in 1932 he formed his own band, the Crazy Tennesseans. After they performed for local radio stations, they were asked to try out for the Grand Ole Opry in 1938, and they were hired.

The 1940’s were a productive period for Acuff. During World War II, he was as popular as the big band leaders among the soldiers. It is said that Japanese soldiers in Pacific would taunt U.S. Marines by shouting, “To hell with Roy Acuff!” In 1942, with songwriter Fred Rose, Acuff formed Acuff-Rose Music Publishing, turning country-music songwriting into a professional business. By 1985 the company held twenty thousand copyrights.

After touring in the 1950’s and 1960’s—including shows with Elvis Presley—Acuff observed record sales declining, so he decided to perform mainly at the Grand Ole Opry. However, the folk boom in the 1960’s gave acoustic music new life and a new audience: urbanites and college students. In 1971 Acuff sang on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s crossover album “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” with several other veteran country stars, exposing him to a new generation of fans.

The Music

Acuff grew up immersed in the rich musical climate of southeast Tennessee: lonesome mountain ballads, fiddle tunes, and church hymns. After the war, when many country artists were going for a smooth, pop-oriented style, Acuff never abandoned his Southern roots.

“Great Speckled Bird.”A famous and widely performed song in the country-music canon, “Great Speckled Bird” clearly demonstrates early country’s close connections to gospel and Anglo-American ballads. The title refers to a phrase from the King James Version of the Bible (Jeremiah 12:9), allegorically describing the persecution of the Christian church. Acuff heard the song performed by Charlie Swain and his group, the Black Shirts, in 1935, paying fifty cents for a copy, and he immediately incorporated the song into his repertoire. A talent scout for the American Record Company (which later became Columbia Records) looking for the song signed Acuff and recorded his rendition in 1936.

“Wabash Cannonball.”When Acuff and his band first recorded this song in 1936, Sam “Dynamite” Hatcher handled the vocals. Published in 1904, and recorded by several country artists, including the Carter Family in 1929, this song is still a bluegrass and country standard. Though the Wabash Railroad did have a Cannonball speedster running in the 1880’s between various Midwest locations, the song exaggerates its exploits, making it America’s mythical train. Acuff recorded his version in 1947, with its memorable train-whistle introduction. This was one of Acuff’s most requested numbers, played at every public performance. In 1965, after being asked how many times he had played the song, Acuff supposedly said, “About three times a day, 365 days a year, for thirty years.” “Precious Jewel.”As a boy Acuff said that he had wondered how the earth could hold all sorts of treasures, but when a body is buried, it cannot contain the soul. While driving in the car late one night in 1940, with band members Pete “Bashful Brother Oswald” Kirby and “Sister” Rachel Veal, Acuff imagined an inspirational tune about the premature death of a young woman, a jewel on earth and in heaven. Within half an hour, he finished writing the song. Acuff and his band recorded “Precious Jewel” in April, and it became one of their most enduring pieces. In the 1980’s, Acuff experienced the death of his wife and his band members Howdy Forrester and Jimmie Riddle. He rereleased this poignant song in 1987, this time as a duet with fellow veteran country superstar Charlie Louvin (a video came out in 1989). This version hit number eighty-seven on the country charts, the last time Acuff would appear on the charts.

“Wreck on the Highway.”In 1938 the Dixon brothers recorded a maudlin song about a severe drunk-driving car accident in rural North Carolina. Their “I Didn’t Hear Anybody Pray” met with only modest success. However, Acuff, thinking it was in the public domain, changed the melody slightly, deleted several stanzas, and altered the words in a few places. His more powerful version—“Wreck on the Highway”—went on to become a hit in 1942. In 1946 Acuff became concerned that Dorsey Dixon was indeed the composer, and he arranged for Dixon to receive credit. The song has many of the indispensable features of folk and early country music: the pain of needless and violent death always present in the background of daily life, the evils of drink, and the perils of neglecting Jesus.

Musical Legacy

In 1943 the governor of Tennessee, Prentice Cooper, declared that hillbilly music was disgracing the state. In protest Acuff entered the gubernatorial primaries in 1944. In 1948 he won the Republican nomination, although he was soundly defeated in the election. While Acuff’s political career was modest, he left an impressive musical impact. In 1962 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (the first living person ever elected). He received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1987; in 1998 it gave him a Hall of Fame Award for “Wabash Cannonball.” He was the first recipient of the Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award in 1989. He received the American National Medal of the Arts from the National Endowment of the Arts in 1991. Acuff starred in eight films, and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 1541 Vine Street). He performed before President Richard Nixon in 1974, and President George H. W. Bush gave him a Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1991.

Principal Recordings

albums (solo): Old Time Barn Music, 1951; Songs of the Smokey Mountains, 1955; Great Speckled Bird, 1958; Once More It’s Roy Acuff, 1961; That Glory Bound Train, 1961; Hymn Time, 1962; Country Music Hall of Fame, 1963; Hand-Clapping Gospel Songs, 1963; Roy Acuff Sings American Folk Songs, 1963; Star of the Grand Ol’ Opry, 1963; The World Is His Stage, 1963; Great Train Songs, 1965; Roy Acuff, 1965; The Voice of Country Music, 1965; Roy Acuff Sings Hank Williams, 1966; Waiting for My Call to Glory, 1966; I Saw the Light, 1970; Roy Acuff Time, 1970; Sunshine Special, 1970; Time, 1970; Back in the Country, 1974; Smokey Mountain Memories, 1975; That’s Country, 1975; Wabash Cannonball, 1975; So Many Times, 1995; Fireball Mail, 2004; Just a Closer Walk with Thee, 2006.

albums (with Roy Acuff and His Smokey Mountain Boys): Fly Birdie Fly, 1990; Hear the Mighty Rush of Engine, 2001.

Bibliography

Brown, Garrett, ed. Legends of Classic Country. Richmond, Va.: Time-Life Books, 2000. An illustrated history of country music until the 1970’s that has a chapter on Acuff by a country-music scholar Charles Wolfe.

Dunkleberger, A. C. King of Country Music: The Life Story of Roy Acuff. Nashville, Tenn.: Williams, 1971. Acuff tells the story of his life, with details about his family and his life on the road.

Kingsbury, Paul, and Alanna Nash, eds. Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America. New York: DK, 2006. Beautifully written and illustrated history of “America’s sound track,” with excellent material on Acuff.

Schlappi, Elizabeth. Roy Acuff: The Smoky Mountain Boy. Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1993. This well-researched biography is by a longtime collector of Acuff memorabilia. Includes a detailed discography until 1977 of some four hundred songs.