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Roy Acuff was a hugely important personality in the development of modern country, a singer and fiddle-player who became an influential music publisher with songwriter Fred Rose as owners of the the Acuff-Rose company in Nashville, helping to move the industry from its hillbilly origins towards the singer-based styles of the post-war era. He was so popular in his day that Hank Williams said: “He's the biggest singer this music ever knew. … For drawing power in the South, it was Roy Acuff, then God.”
Born in Tennessee in 1903, he started performing in the 1930s on the medicine show circuit before forming his first bands, which eventually became The Smoky Mountain Boys. He recorded prolifically through the years and this 54-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A & B sides of his releases on the Vocalion/Conqueror, Okeh, Columbia, Capitol, Decca and Hickory labels from the quarter-century period it covers.
It features all his US pop and country hits from these years, including the Top 10 hits, “The Prodigal Son”, “I’ll Forgive You But I Can’t Forget”, “Write Me Sweetheart”, “(Our Own) Jole Blon”, “Waltz Of The Wind”, “Once More”, and other classics like “The Great Speckled Bird”, “Wabash Cannonball” and “Tennessee Waltz”.
He was a highly distinctive talent, and addressing as it does a dynamic and varied era in the genre, this collection showcases Roy’s music across the years.
Tracks
CD 1
1. NEW GREENBACK DOLLAR Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 3255) 1936
2. STEAMBOAT WHISTLE BLUES Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 3255) 1936
3. GREAT SPECKLED BIRD Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 4252) 1936
4. WABASH CANNON BALL Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 4466) 1937
5. BLUE RIDGE SWEETHEART Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 4531) 1938
6. THAT BEAUTIFUL PICTURE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 4590) 1938
7. AN OLD THREE ROOM SHACK Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 4795) 1938
8. THE RISING SUN Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 4909) 1938
9. ANSWER TO SPARKLING BLUE EYES Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5041) 1939
10. LIVING ON THE MOUNTAIN, BABY MINE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5163) 1939
11. OLD AGE PENSION CHECK Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5244) 1939
12. IDA RED Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5359) 1939
13. WOULD YOU CARE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5512) 1940
14. WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5587) 1940
15. STREAMLINED CANNONBALL Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5638) 1940
16. MULE SKINNER BLUES Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5638) 1940
17. WEARY RIVER Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5766) 1940
18. JUST TO EASE MY WORRIED MIND Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5820) 1940
19. THE PRECIOUS JEWEL Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 5956) 1940
20. BE HONEST WITH ME Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6229) 1941
21. ARE YOU THINKING OF ME DARLING? Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6384) 1941
22. THINGS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6585) 1941
23. FIRE BALL MAIL Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6685) 1942
24. NIGHT TRAIN TO MEMPHIS Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6693) 1942
25. THE PRODIGAL SON Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6716) 1942
26. WRITE ME SWEETHEART Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6723) 1942
27. I'LL FORGIVE YOU BUT I CAN'T FORGET Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Vocalion 6723) 1942
CD 2
1. WE LIVE IN TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20003) 1945
2. THAT GLORY BOUND TRAIN Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20021) 1946
3. (OUR OWN) JOLE BLON Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20106) 1947
4. I TALK TO MYSELF ABOUT YOU Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20182) 1947
5. BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20357) 1947
6. WALTZ OF THE WIND Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20396) 1947
7. UNLOVED AND UNCLAIMED Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20425) 1947
8. THIS WORLD CAN'T STAND LONG Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20454) 1947
9. I'M DYING A SINNER'S DEATH Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20475) 1947
10. WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20550) 1949
11. TENNESSEE WALTZ Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20551) 1949
12. LONESOME INDIAN Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20560) 1949
13. THE DAY THEY LAID MARY AWAY Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20664) 1950
14. IF I COULD HEAR MY MOTHER PRAY AGAIN Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20684) 1950
15. PLINEY JANE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20804) 1951
16. ADVICE TO JOE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Columbia 20858) 1951
17. WHAT WILL I DO? Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Capitol 2385) 1953
18. SIXTEEN CHICKENS AND A TAMBOURINE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Capitol 2548) 1953
19. WHOA, MULE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Capitol 2738) 1953
20. THAT'S WHAT MAKES THE JUKEBOX PLAY Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Capitol 3115) 1955
21. CRAZY WORRIED MIND Roy Acuff (Decca 29748) 1955
22. GOODBYE, MR. BROWN Roy Acuff & Kitty Wells (Decca 29935) 1955
23. ONCE MORE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Hickory 1073) 1957
24. SO MANY TIMES Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Hickory 1090) 1958
25. COME AND KNOCK ON THE DOOR OF MY HEART Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Hickory 1097) 1959
26. MOUNTAIN GUITAR Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Hickory 1134) 1960
27. LOST JOHN, HE'S GONE Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys (Hickory 1149) 1961
