Johnny Mercer had his first hit, "Lazy Bones," in 1933.  He published 701 songs, had 90 film credits, starred in 6 Broadway Musicals, received 4 Academy Awards from 15 nominations, had 37 Hit Parade songs of which 13 were #1, and he founded Capitol Records.  Mercer is Georgia's undisputed premier musician of all time.

Blues man "Georgia Tom" Dorsey turned to religious music during the Great Depression.  Dorsey became the first publisher of black gospel music with the establishment of the Dorsey House of Music.

Gene Autry’s career spanned some 70 years in the entertainment industry and he became famous in film, radio, television, and live theater and rodeo performances. Autry made 635 recordings, including more than 300 songs written or co-written by him. His records sold more than 100 million copies and he has more than a dozen gold and platinum records, including the first record ever certified gold.

In terms of his musical skill, the sheer size of his repertoire, the length and variety of his career, and his influence on contemporaries and musicians who would follow, Big Bill Broonzy is among a select few of the most important figures in recorded blues history.

Folklorist John Lomax discovered and recorded Leadbelly at the Angola Prison Farm in Louisiana in 1934.

Ella Fitzgerald made her singing debut at seventeen on November 21, 1934 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.

Mahalia Jackson made her first Gospel recordings in 1935.

In 1935, T-Bone Walker began experimenting with a prototype electric guitar and was one of the first guitarists anywhere to to play the instrument in public.

In 1936, Robert Johnson ,"King of the Delta Blues", made his first recordings in San Antonio, Texas.  His second and last recording session was held in Dallas, Texas in 1937.

In 1938, Bill Monroe made his first appearance on WSM radio in Nashville, and Roy Acuff joined the Grand Ole Opry.

Charlie Christian's lively, inventive single-note playing helped popularize the electric guitar as a solo instrument and ushered in the era of bop.

By 1939, two hundred and twenty-five thousand jukeboxes were in operation and were said to be responsible for the sale of thirteen million records a year.

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Deal Of The Day

MY MUSICAL LIFE
By Carl P. McConnell

Mabel McConnell talks about the Carter Family, Doc & Carl,
The Original Virginia Boys and the early days of radio.