Ramblin' Tommy Scott (June 24, 1917 – September 30, 2013), aka "Doc" Tommy Scott, was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

musician.

Biography

Thomas Scott was born outside of Toccoa, Georgia, United States, and began playing the guitar at age ten. After

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

he joined Doc Chamberlain's

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 ...

, and got his first job in radio on WTFL in

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

in 1933. He also sold Vim Herb on the radio. After Chamberlain retired and gave Scott the patent medicines, he landed a regular job fronting the Uncle Pete and Minervy show on

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

's WPTF, and soon after this he was offered a job with Charlie Monroe becoming the first Kentucky Partner as a feature act - Rambling Scotty. He performed on the WWVA Jamboree in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

with Monroe and was also a frequent soloist there, and did skits involving

ventriloquism Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

and

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

. Monroe and Scott started the Man-O-Ree medicine company selling Scott's patent laxative over the radio. The group moved to WHAS in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, where he did the early morning show. His medicine and musical partnership came to an end with Monroe and he soon launched a tent show with Curly Seckler. He married his wife Frankie in 1940; the couple had a daughter, Sandra; both women became part of his stage show, his films and TV shows. In the 1940s he did radio transcriptions which were broadcast nationwide. By 1942 he had his own stage show traveling coast to coast, 'Ramblin' Tommy Scott's Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree'. He began the Herb-O-Lac Medicine Company and later Katona Medicine Company selling laxatives and liniments. He soon joined the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

and later went to Hollywood to begin a career in film and TV. Beginning with Carolina Cotton in 1949, Scott's road show, which operated six days per week from January through early December, featured Scott with some guest stars from film and TV. Amongst those appearing were "Fuzzy" Al St. John, David "Stringbean" Akeman,

Tim McCoy Tim McCoy (April 10, 1891 – January 29, 1978) was an American actor, military officer, and expert on Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indian life. McCoy is most noted for his roles in B-grade Western films. As a popular cowboy ...

, Clyde Moody,

Johnny Mack Brown John Brown (September 1, 1904 – November 14, 1974) was an American college football player and film actor billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career. He acted and starred mainly in Western films. Early life Born and raised ...

, Sunset Carson, and

Randall Franks Randall Franks is an American entertainer recognized for his multifaceted career in the arts. He is known for his roles as a film and television actor, author, and as a Bluegrass music, bluegrass singer and musician. Franks is proficient in playi ...

. The show traveled consistently until the mid-1990s and intermittently until his death. Bluegrass Music Hall of Famer Curly Seckler recorded with Scott numerous times throughout his career. Earliest recordings date to the 1940s with the most recent in the 1980s. Scott recorded consistently from the 1930s-2000s and released a number of solo sides in the 1950s and 1960s which branched into rockabilly. According to the introduction of his autobiography, ''Snake Oil, Superstars and Me'', published in 2007 and co-authored by

and Shirley Noe Swiesz, Scott was then 90 years old. His wife died in 2004. Scott died in September 2013.

Discography

Compilations

* 1980: ''Early Radio 1941'' ( Old Homestead) with Curly Seckler

References

External links

Ramblin' Tommy Scott
at Hillbilly-Music.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Tommy 1917 births 2013 deaths American country singer-songwriters Grand Ole Opry members Federal Records artists Four Star Records artists People from Toccoa, Georgia People from Stephens County, Georgia Ventriloquists Blackface minstrel performers Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)