Roy Claxton Acuff (1903-1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter, best known as the "King of Country Music." He was a significant figure in country music history, known for his distinctive voice and influential career. In 1932, Dr. Hauer's medicine show, which toured the southern Appalachian region, hired Acuff as one of its entertainers. Acuff began his career as a blackface performer. The purpose of the entertainers was to draw a large crowd to whom Hauer could sell patent medicines (of suspect quality) for various ailments. While on the medicine show circuit, Acuff met the legendary Appalachian banjoist Clarence Ashley, from whom he learned "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Greenback Dollar", both of which Acuff later recorded. As the medicine show lacked microphones, Acuff learned to sing loud enough to be heard above the din, a skill that later helped him stand out on early radio broadcasts.
The House of Rising Sun by Roy Acuff (1938) The House of the Rising Sun: Baroque Lute Cover
