Country Music AutographsCountry music as we know it today originated in the 1920s in the southern United States. To those outside the region it was known as "hillbilly music."In 1922, Jimmie Tarlton introduced the steel guitar to country soon after he heard Hawaiian guitarist Frank Ferera on the West Coast. The first country music hit song was "Wreck of the Old '97" by Vernon Dalhart, in 1923. The flip-side "Lonesome Road Blues" was also well received. In 1925, "Aunt" Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis became the first female performers to record country music. Bumgarner gets credit for being the first person, male or female, to play the five string banjo on a record. Just a few of the more important names from the 1920s - 1930s are the Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers, Cliff Carlisle, Riley Puckett, Fiddlin' John Carson, Don Richardson, Al Hopkins, Ernest V. Stoneman, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers and The Skillet Lickers. Rodgers was not just popular with country fans. His mixture of folk, pop, gospel, jazz, blues, western and country made him a cross-over artist. Almost everybody at the time was a Jimmy Rodgers fan. His "Blue Yodel" sold a half million copies, an amazing number in that time. He toured with Will Rogers, made a movie short for Columbia Pictures and recorded "Blue Yodel No. 9" with jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Rodgers was one of the best concert draws in the country. The Carter Family might be the most influential family in the history of, not just country music, but American music. The original Carters consisted of Mother Maybelle Addington Carter (guitar and sang harmony), Sara Dougherty (autoharp and alto lead), and Sara’s husband, Alvin Pleasant (A.P.) Carter (fiddle and sang bass). The Carters recorded their first songs in 1927 and went on to record more than 300 more. Those songs were enormously popular and, for us today, they paint a vivid picture of rural American life in the 1920s to the early 1940s. Many country fans today are more familiar with the second generation of the Carter Family led by Mother Maybelle and featuring her daughters Anita, Helen, and June. June, the clown of the family is no doubt the most famous of all the Carters. She married Johnny Cash who has become an almost mythic personality, larger than life. In the 1950s, early rock and roll stars that are revered today recorded their first records as country musicians - among them Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. In fact, Elvis Presley was originally known as "The Hillbilly Cat" when he was singing on the Southern country show circuit and on the radio show Louisiana Hayride. When he hit national in 1956, he was rock and roll. Today, country is as popular it has been at anytime in its history. In fact, it might be the only musical genre that has gained, not lost fans, in the last two decades. It is very easy to build an extensive country autograph collection. Even the biggest country stars are usually eager to sign for their fans. An abundant supply keeps prices low while they are still signing. When they are no longer with us, prices often soar. Here are just a few examples of current values for signed photos of stars that, while still living, would have signed for free after shows or even through the mail: Patsy Cline - $2000 A more recent example is Johnny Cash. Cash would sign anything for anybody who got close enough to him to ask for an autograph. Sometimes he would take the time to personally answer fan mail. A few years before his health began to decline, a signed photograph on the secondary market could be found for less than $25. Today, a signed photo is worth more than $500.
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Faron Young Autograph
William Lee Golden Signed Photo
Roy Orbison Autographed Program
Charlie Daniels Band and Marshall Tucker Band Signed Hat
Loretta Lynn Autograph
Minnie Pearl Autographed Photo
Minnie Pearl and Grandpa Jones Signed Photos
Rose Maddox Autograph
Roy Orbison Signed 8 Track Tape
Hank Thompson and Patsy Montana Signed Photos
Autographed Tammy Wynette Album
Patsy Montana Autographed Record Album
Minnie Pearl and Red Sovine
REBA MCENTIRE LETTER
Marty Stuart Signed Photo
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