SPOTLIGHT ON HISTORYSPOTLIGHT ON HISTORY
G
uglielmo Marconi made the fi rst success-
ful radio transmissions in the 1890s, but
not until after World War I did the com-
mercial radio industry begin to take shape. When
radio broadcasting began in 1920, only about 4 per-
cent of American homes had radio receivers, but by
1934 about 60 percent of households owned radios.
Meanwhile, the number of broadcasting stations
grew from fi ve in 1921 to 765 on the eve of World
War II. Connecting them were networks such as
the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), both of which
would later expand into television.Radio: Music for the Millions
Radio programming in the fi rst two decades
relied less on recorded music than on live entertain-
ment: news, comedy, drama, and music of all kinds.
In addition to the networks’ nationally distributed
offerings, stations also featured local entertain-
ers, often in regularly scheduled programs lasting
fi fteen minutes or less. A favorite format was “song
and patter,” in which a group of musicians would
alternate musical selections with jokes, plugs for
the sponsor, and informal small talk. Radio stations
thus promoted the spread of a more homogenized
national mass culture while nurturing more spe-
cialized local music scenes.and—a disproportionately large group—cotton mill workers. Only later did the
professional country musician come on the scene.
Hillbilly records in the 1920s generally feature either a solo vocalist, self-
accompanied or with one or two other musicians, or a string band, an ensemble
of two or more instrumentalists who may or may not sing as well. Virtually all
string bands gave pride of place to the fi ddle, the quintessential country lead
instrument. Duos of fi ddle and banjo were common, harking back to the pair of
melodic instruments found in the minstrel band. Nearly as common were fi ddle-
and-guitar duos. The guitar was something of a newcomer to the southern
Appalachians: it was a rarity there until after World War I, when returning sol-
diers brought home instruments they had obtained in the wider world. Larger
string bands might include a second fi ddle or guitar; string bass and mandolin
were still unusual additions, although later they would become standard in the
bluegrass band, a descendant of the old-time string bands.
Both amateurs and professionals drew on a diverse repertory of song types.
Alongside the old Anglo-Celtic ballads discussed in chapter 9 were newer narrative
songs, so-called event songs, inspired by recent occurrences. As in the old bal-
lads, murdered lovers fi gure prominently in event songs, as do robberies, kid-
nappings, family feuds, and even the assassinations of Presidents Garfi eld and
McKinley.
A particularly rich topic for event songs was disaster: mine explosions, ship-
wrecks, and train derailments. Vernon Dalhart’s 1924 Victor recording of “Wreck of
the Old 97,” about a 1903 railroad disaster in Virginia, inaugurated a long-running
fashion for train songs in country music. The record’s B side was another widely
imitated number, “The Prisoner’s Song” (“Oh, if I had the wings of an angel / Over
these prison walls I would fl y”). Prison songs, like train songs, would have a promi-
nent place in the country repertory for decades to come; Johnny Cash’s “Folsom
Prison Blues” (1955) manages to combine the two genres.string bandsevent songs172028_11_254-279_r3_ko.indd 266 23/01/13 8:42 PM