
Columbia 15449 - This Song Peaked On US Music Charts At #7 In 1929. Vernon Dalhart (April 6, 1883 -- September 14, 1948), born Marion Try Slaughter, was a popular American singer and songwriter of the early decades of the 20th century. He is a major influence in the field of country music. Dalhart was born in Jefferson, Texas. He took his stage name from two towns, Vernon and Dalhart in Texas, between which he punched cattle in the 1890s. Dalhart's father, Robert Marion Slaughter was killed in a fight with his brother-in-law, Bob Castleberry, when Vernon was age 10. When Vernon was 12 or 13, the family moved from Jefferson to Dallas, Texas. Vernon, who already could play the jaw harp and harmonica, received vocal training at the Dallas Conservatory of Music. He saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for singers and applied, and was auditioned by Thomas Alva Edison; he would thereafter make numerous records for Edison Records. From 1916 until 1923, using numerous pseudonyms, he made over 400 recordings of light classical music and early dance band vocals for various record labels. He was already an established singer when he made his first country music recordings which cemented his place in music history. Dalhart's 1924 recording of "The Wreck of the Old 97"—a classic American railroad ballad about the September 27, 1903 derailment of Southern Railway Fast Mail train No. 97 near Danville, Virginia—for the Victor Talking Machine Company, became a runaway hit, alerting <b>...</b>
vernon
dalhart
as
al
craver
farm
relief
song
1929
1920s
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depression
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roaring
20s
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country
hillbilly
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folk
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jefferson
texas
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Columbia
15449
records
78s
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vinyl
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warholsoup
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