Entertainment news and discussion on TalkFuse.
Born 136 Years Ago Today in Kansas, the “Granddaddy of the Hillbillies” and One of Country Music’s First Full-Time Songwriters
Carson Robison, born on 4 August 1890 in Oswego, Kansas, is being remembered as one of country music's earliest full-time songwriters, dubbed the "granddaddy of the hillbillies." Working continuously from 1924 to 1956, he is regarded as possibly the most recorded singer-songwriter in country music history, according to the National Songwriters Hall of Fame, and played a formative role in shaping the genre's early "event" songs, which chronicled disasters and news of the day.
Robison taught himself guitar, banjo, harmonica and ukulele, and mastered a distinctive two-tone whistle before beginning his professional career at 14. He rose to prominence backing Vernon Dalhart on the landmark 1924 hit "Wreck of the Old '97," later writing many of Dalhart's disaster-themed songs before the pair split over royalties. He went on to form successful partnerships and his own band, Carson Robison's Pioneers, toured the UK and Ireland, and scored his biggest hit, "Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don't It," in 1948. He died in 1957 in Poughkeepsie, New York, aged 66.
In short
- Carson Robison, born 4 August 1890, pioneered early country songwriting
- Backed Vernon Dalhart on country's first nationwide hit in 1924
- Prolific "event songwriter"; died 1957 aged 66
Explained simply
Carson Robison was an American songwriter and performer whose career spanned the early decades of recorded country music. He began working professionally as a teenager and played several instruments, as well as developing a distinctive whistle.
In the 1920s, Robison worked with singer Vernon Dalhart, backing him on “The Wreck of the Old ’97”, a hit about a railway disaster. Robison later wrote songs that turned disasters and current events into musical stories, helping establish an early country music tradition.
Robison went on to perform with his own band and tour Britain and Ireland. His long career, including the 1948 hit “Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don’t It”, is one reason he is remembered as an important early country songwriter.