"I used to
belong to church. I was a good Baptist, singing
in the church. So I got all of my good moaning
and trembling going on for me right out of
church," - Muddy Waters,
David P. Szatmary, Rockin' in Time: A Social History
of Rock-and-Roll.
"I sold the last horse that we
had. Made about fifteen dollars for him, gave my
grandmother seven dollars and fifty cents, I
kept seven-fifty and paid about two-fifty for
that guitar. It was a Stella. -
Muddy Waters, Robert Palmer, Deep Blues.
Johnny
Mercer had his first hit, Lazy Bones in
1933.
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.
Big
Bill Broonzy was well on his way to
becoming one of the most important figures in
recorded blues history.
17 year old Willie
Dixon moved to Chicago in 1932.
Bob Wills
and The
Texas Playboys created a
new art form called western
swing.
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.
On Monday, March 2, 1936, Rex
Griffin walked in to the The Roosevelt Hotel in New
Orleans, Louisiana and recorded Everybody's
Tryin' to Be My Baby.
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.
