Fiddlin' Doc Roberts (April 26, 1897 - August 4, 1978) was an American Kentucky-style
old-time fiddler.
Biography
Dock Roberts was born and raised on a farm in
Madison County, Kentucky
Madison County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. At the 2020 census, its population was 92,701. Its county seat is Richmond. The county is named for Virginia statesman James Madison, who later became the fo ...
[Kleber 1992, p. 775.] and learned to play the fiddle at an early age with some help from his older brother Liebert. Doc's and Liebert's musical mentor was the
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
fiddler Owen Walker.
[Carlin 2003, p. 346.][Kennedy 1994, p. 158.] After finishing his studies in
Berea Roberts married in 1913.
[Carlin 2003, p. 347.] In 1925, a talent scout, Dennis Taylor, recruited Roberts along with Welby Toomey and Edgar Boaz as old time recording artists for
Gennett Records.
[Kennedy 1994, pp. 157.][Wolfe 1996, p. 29.] In early 1927, Roberts recorded with the string band, the "Booker Family".
[ Together with Dick Parman and Ted Chestnut, he formed the ''Kentucky Thorobreds''. They recorded in April 1927 for the Paramount label.
In the fall of 1927, he formed a duo with Asa Martin called Martin & Roberts.][Wolfe 1996, p. 30.] They made their recording debut in May 1928 for the Gennett label.[Russell, Pinson 2004, p. 588.] Between 1927 and 1934, the duo performed at fiddler's conventions, in schoolhouses, on vaudeville stages, and on radio ( WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
).[ Martin & Roberts recorded altogether more than 200 sides on 11 different labels. Later on, with the addition of Doc Roberts' son James, the ''Fiddlin' Doc Roberts Trio'' was formed.][ In 1928, Roberts was hired, through the agency of Bradley Kincaid, by the ]National Barn Dance
''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''.
''National Barn Dance'' also set the stage for other ...
radio show in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. He was paid $50 a week. After only two weeks he quit the show and moved back to Kentucky. The reason was that he was unable to sleep due to the noise of the big city. The Doc Roberts Trio lasted until 1934 when Roberts retired as a recording artist. During the next four decades, he continued to make personal appearances and occasional radio works.[
He died at the age of 81 in his hometown of Richmond, Kentucky.
]
Discography
78s:
In various prewar lineups Roberts recorded singles on Gennett
Gennett (pronounced "jennett") was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s. Gennett produced some of the earliest recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, and ...
and affiliated labels, ARC labels, and Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
and affiliated labels.
Reissued material also appears on:
* Fiddlin' Doc Roberts: Classic Fiddle Tunes, Recorded During The Golden Age - Davis Unlimited DU-33015 (ca. 1974)
* Fiddling Doc Roberts: Old Time Tunes - County 412 (1983)
* Fiddlin' Doc Roberts: Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, Volume 1: 1925–1928 - Document DOCD-8042 (1998)
* Fiddlin' Doc Roberts: Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, Volume 2: 1928–1930 - Document DOCD-8043 (1998)
* Fiddlin' Doc Roberts: Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, Volume 3: 1930–1934 - Document DOCD-8044 (1998)
Footnotes
References
* Carlin, Richard (2003) ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary'', Taylor & Francis
* Kennedy, Rick (1994) ''Jerry Roll, Bix and Hoagy: Gennett Studios and the Birth of Recorded Jazz'', Indiana University Press
* Kleber, John E. (1992) ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'', University Press of Kentucky
* Russell, Tony - Pinson, Bob (2004) ''Country Music Records: A Discography 1921–1942'', Oxford University Press
* Wolfe, Charles K. (1996) ''Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music of Kentucky'', University Press of Kentucky
External links
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts page
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Fiddlin Doc
1897 births
1978 deaths
Appalachian old-time fiddlers
American fiddlers
People from Madison County, Kentucky
Folk musicians from Kentucky
Musicians from Appalachia
20th-century American violinists