Roy Acuff
The son of a farmer-poster-preacher in the Baptist Church, where he learned to
sing, Roy had to give up professional baseball after suffering severe sunstroke.
His father introduced him to the violin and, in 1932, he joined the Doc Howers
Medicine Show, a troupe of traveling musicians, before founding his own group,
The Crazy Tennessians, which hosted local radio shows. Roy Acuff recorded his
first songs in Chicago in 1936, including "The Great Speckled Bird" and "Wabash
Cannonball", two immortal hits. In 1938, he made his first appearance at the
Grand Ole Opry, and his musicians...
