FEATURES ARCHIVE

Roy Acuff - Mentor, Ambassador and Leader
Known to all as The King of Country, undoubtedly Acuff’s innovation and leadership defines his place in country music history. He is credited with changing the genre’s format to centering on ‘star singers’; founding Acuff-Rose, the first important Nashville-based publishing company dedicated to Country Music; and signing Hank Williams, Roy Orbison and The Everly Brothers. A generous man, Acuff lent this violin to two musicians who he felt deserved it more than he: the celebrated Nashville fiddler Howard ‘Howdy’ Forrester and, subsequently, the young Nashville virtuoso Dan Kelly.

Hank Snow  - And the Rodeo Tailor
Beginning in 1950, Hank Snow issued a string of hits including I’m Movin’ On and the much-covered I’ve Been Everywhere —a total of seven Number 1 singles in all. Top hits from Snow were performed wearing ‘Nudie’ suits, like this one with brocade embellishments and rhinestones. Snow single-handedly defined the ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ look, a unique synthesis of Hollywood theatrical costume and couture fashion. Snow also happened to be Hank Williams’s idol and is credited with having a major influence on the young musician.

Hank Thompson - The Private Collection
They called him The King of Western Swing and Thompson’s enduring appeal is measured in many ways. Not least of which is the record 60 million albums he sold during his lifetime and his 1989 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. This season we present items from Hank Thompson’s personal collection, including 13 musical instruments, the highlights of which are illustrated on the previous page.

Roy Rogers - King of the Cowboys
Matinee idol, singer and television star who along with co-star Dale Evans became the archetypal Hollywood western couple. The Country Music sale offers 24 pieces from the Rogers Estate including his iconic Gibson Super 400 featured in numerous films and performances from 1948 onwards.

Hank Williams - Country Music Icon
Hank Williams requires no introduction. We are proud to present performance and personal items that open a window onto Williams the man. Among them is this fine 1947 Martin D-18 acquired by Hank in the period prior to his arrival in Shreveport, Louisiana and used while performing on KWKH’s Louisiana Hayride in 1948. Here too we present Williams’ personal copies of his earliest Sterling 78 RPM records.

Elvis Presley - The King
Between 1954 and 1955, pivotal Memphis-based record company Sun Records gave Elvis his first contract. Presley began by recording five singles—ten sides in all—including songs such as That’s Alright Mama, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Good Rockin’ Tonight and Baby Let’s Play House. Here we present all five of these extraordinarily rare and original early Sun recordings that together represent important moments in the history of popular music.

Bill Monroe - The Man and the Mandolin
As the leader and mandolin player of The Bluegrass Boys— the band that gave Bluegrass its name—Bill Monroe became a legend in his own time. Equally legendary is the much talked about and coveted faceplate from Bill’s iconic and much-loved mandolin, a rare museum-worthy artefact.

Johnny Cash - The Man in Black
With a truly illustrious career lasting nearly 50 years, Johnny Cash is a star remembered for many things, among them as the singer and writer of I Walk the Line, Cry, Cry, Cry and Folsom Prison Blues and as the youngest person to be invited into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In contrast to the showy ‘Rhinestone’ image of his peers, Cash’s onstage and public image became indelibly associated with the color black—inspiring Cash to write Man in Black in part to explain his monochrome restraint reflecting his social conscience. Among the Cash ephemera in the sale is this trademark suit made by Manuel, Nudie Cohn’s protégé and inheritor of the mantle ‘costumer to the stars’.