Marion Try Slaughter was born in Jefferson, Texas, in 1883. The exact year of his birth is a topic of dispute, as different documents have listed different years ranging from 1880 to 1884, but 1883 is the generally accepted year. This tumult would become a theme in his early years. He was named after his grandfather, an active member of the Ku Klux Klan, deputy sheriff of his county, and later the town constable. Violence proved to be a theme in the family; when he was ten years old, his maternal uncle Bob Castlebury accused Slaughter\u2019s father, Robert, of domestic violence. This ultimately ended with Bob\u2019s murder of Robert in 1893; his widow, along with Slaughter, moved to Jefferson shortly after, where he began taking singing lessons. During his teens, he spent summers in West Texas herding cattle between the cities of Vernon and Dalhart – two towns which ended up giving him his stage name years later. Around 1898 he and his mother moved to Dallas, where he attended the Dallas Conservatory of Music. By 1904, he had married and had three children. In 1908, Slaughter moved his family to the Bronx, New York, to pursue a career in music, and within a few years was performing with opera groups. It was at this point he decided on his stage name – Vernon Dalhart. He spent a few years touring with opera companies before signing a record deal with Edison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dalhart has been known for his versatility throughout his career. By 1924 he had made over 400 recordings spanning from children\u2019s music, dance music, classical, pop, and more. His experience in opera lent him the ability to project his voice in a way that worked well with the technology at the time, which could not pick up the more subtle nuances of a quieter singer. Additionally, country music was more of a regional phenomenon at the time, and the Texan accent may have been alienating to listeners elsewhere in the nation. However, it was only in 1924 that he convinced his label to let him record a song with his own accent. This was \u201cThe Wreck of the Old \u201897,\u201d and his recording wound up being a landmark event in country music history. The song saw enormous success and was the first country record in American history to sell one million copies and gave rise to country music as a mainstream genre nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n