The Allen Brothers (Austin Allen, February 7, 1901 – January 5, 1959 and Lee Allen, June 1, 1906 – February 24, 1981) were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

duo popular in the 1920s and 1930s. They were nicknamed "The Chattanooga Boys" since many of their songs mentioned

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

.Wolff, Duane 2000, p. 8.

Biography

The brothers were born and raised in

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home of ...

and they both learned to sing and play musical instruments, Austin played the banjo while Lee concentrated on the guitar and

kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifi ...

. As they grew up they were influenced by local jazz and blues artists such as the guitarist and Mississippi river boat performer May Bell and the street singers the Two Poor Boys.Carlin 2003, p. 4. By the early 1920s, they were performing in small coal-mining communities in the South doing

medicine show Medicine shows were touring acts (traveling by truck, horse, or wagon teams) that peddled "miracle cure" patent medicines and other products between various entertainments. They developed from European Charlatan, mountebank shows and were common i ...

s and

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

onstage. They received a recording contract on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and recorded for the first time on April 7, 1927.Russell, Pinson 2004, p. 55. At this first session they recorded "Salty Dog Blues" which became their first hit selling around 18 000 copies.Tracy 1999, pp. 514. "Bow Wow Blues" was another notable recording of that time, as it was later placed by music historians in the

dirty blues Dirty blues encompasses forms of blues music that deal with socially taboo and obscene subjects, often referring to sexual acts and drug use. Due to the sometimes graphic subject matter, such music was often banned from radio and only available on ...

category. Columbia, by mistake, placed one of their recordings in the "race" series (reserved for black artists) instead of its "hillbilly" series. The brothers threatened to bring a lawsuit against Columbia but in the end they decided to move to

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

instead. Working with the

A&R man Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

Ralph Peer Ralph Sylvester Peer (May 22, 1892 – January 19, 1960) was an American talent scout, recording engineer, record producer and music publisher in the 1920s and 1930s. Peer pioneered field recording of music when in June 1923 he took remote rec ...

- who had been instrumental in bringing both

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

and the

Carter Family Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...

to fame - the Allen Brothers recorded their biggest hit "A New Salty Dog" in 1930. Due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the brothers had to abandon their musical career in 1934. Although they were successful and sold more than other hillbilly groups - more than 250 000 copies altogether - they could not make a living from their music.Russell 2007, p. 73. Austin moved to New York and both brothers went to work in the construction business. In the 1960s, when the Allen Brothers were rediscovered by folk revivalists, Austin had already died in South Carolina in 1959 but Lee appeared onstage a few times in Tennessee.

Discography

Footnotes

References

* Carlin, Richard (2003), ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary'', Taylor & Francis * Russell, Tony (2007), ''Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost'', Oxford University Press * Russell, Tony - Pinson, Bob (2004), ''Country Music Records: A Discography 1921-1942'', Oxford University Press * Tracy, Steven Carl (1999), ''Write Me A Few of Your Lines: A Blues Reader'',

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...

* Wolff, Kurt - Duane, Orla (2000), ''Country Music: The Rough Guide'', Rough Guides {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen Brothers, The Country music groups from Tennessee People from Sewanee, Tennessee