Background Information
Vernon Dalhart was a singer and musician born in the 1880s who was an extremely popular artist. His one song, “The Wreck of the Old 97” convinced record labels that country music was worth investing in as that specific song sold over 1 million copies.
Dalhart was born as Marion Try Slaughter II and Vernon Dalhart was his stage name, combining two local cities near where he had worked as a kid. This name was chosen because he went off to New York City and worked as an opera singer.
In Jefferson, TX Dalhart grew up singing in Kahn Saloon and working as a cowboy in West Texas. He lived there with his mother until 1898 when they moved to Dallas so Dalhart could continue his musical education. There he married and had a son and a daughter.
His musical career led him to New York City where he worked as an opera singer and went on various tours with the company. He released several recordings for Edison records and toured while recording several records.
Throughout his career, Dalhart was singing a variety of different genres. He wanted to test a recording with his native Texan accent and recorded “The Wreck of the Old 97” which was extremely popular. It was said that over 6 million copies were sold.
This song was his debut and opened doors to other opportunities and larger record labels. He worked with many different people throughout his life, and overall, it appears that he was scamming people out of their equal share of the revenue. For example, he recorded his popular song, “The Prisoner’s Song” where he split the royalties 95% for himself and 5% for his partner Guy Massey.
Dalhart was extremely successful and continued to grow until Dalhart made several decisions that contributed to his decrease in popularity. He replaced musicians in his band without his partner’s knowledge and was difficult to work with.
Eventually, because of his financial situation and the competition from new artists, Dalhart had to leave the music business. Dalhart had a lot of money in the stock market, and with the stock market crash of 1929, he had to move to a smaller home and eventually moved to Bridgeport in 1943.
Dalhart worked as a security guard during the war but continued to keep music in his life. In 1949, Dalhart died of a heart attack. Dalhart was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Nashville Songwriters Association in 1970. In 1995, Dalhart was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.
His career consisted of over 1,600 songs for almost every record company in the States and also was on over 5,200 sides for records.
Popular Songs
His most popular songs are below:
The song starts with an instrumental opening with an accordion and flute. It sounds like the puff of a steam train engine and the wheels turning.
Dalhart starts to sing about conducting a train to Virginia. Part of the lyrics talk about shoveling coal into the train, so it is a steam power train engine. He also sings about the train struggling to get up a 3% grade, which means going up an incline, which could be a small hill.
At the end of the song, he sings about how this is a warning for other train conductors. Maybe not rush through your job even when your boss tells you that you are not on the schedule. Overall the song is upbeat and has a good rhythm to it. It has a catchy tune and maintains the train-chugging rhythm throughout the piece.
This is a slower song compared to the Wreck of the Old ’97. It starts with string instruments and sounds operatic. This really shows Dalharts background in his opera singing. It also sounds like a guitar or ukulele in the background.
There is an instrumental section in the middle of the piece and then continues to sing. The whole song is about being in prison and sounds overall lonely. He sings about the freedom that he would like and the darling that he misses.
Toward the end, there is an uplifting tone when he sings about having wings so that he can escape and take his darling with him in the skies. It sounds whimsical and almost like a lullaby.
The song starts with a swing feel. There are 2 down beats with 1 upbeat. It also sounds like it could be a waltz. It is similar to the sound of train wheels chugging along, but not the same as The Wreck of the Old ’97.
I am unable to understand the lyrics, but this song is also slow and also sounds like a lullaby. There are also parts where he slows down his singing. It is very operatic and again shows his background in opera singing.
This song also has the same swing and waltz feel. The sound is softer and his singing is more prominent. This song is a memory of a sweet time with a special someone. The song talks about the different things they did and how they will grow old together.
The song starts to sound sad, almost as if his special someone passed away or left him. His singing sounds sad and he talks about death. He is reminiscing about the memories together as he is going to die. It is a sad song, but he sounds happy with how he was able to spend time with his special person.
Citations
Hartman, Gary, and Wayne Beckham. “TSHA | Country Music.” Texas State Historical Association, 11 December 2006, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/country-music. Accessed 20 March 2023.
Hickinbotham, Gary S., et al. “TSHA | Recording Industry.” Texas State Historical Association, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/recording-industry. Accessed 20 March 2023.
“Home.” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Do6HYtvX5I&list=OLAK5uy_kl6MzlIB3mhIj3dSlhRldoUlaMIGJt6-4&index=14. Accessed 20 March 2023.
“Home.” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhzEDfg0-7g&list=OLAK5uy_kl6MzlIB3mhIj3dSlhRldoUlaMIGJt6-4&index=13. Accessed 20 March 2023.
“Home.” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPO2EfAHDeg&list=OLAK5uy_kl6MzlIB3mhIj3dSlhRldoUlaMIGJt6-4&index=10. Accessed 20 March 2023.
“Home.” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKOyxT3uE08&list=OLAK5uy_kl6MzlIB3mhIj3dSlhRldoUlaMIGJt6-4&index=25. Accessed 20 March 2023.
Palmer, Jack. “TSHA | Slaughter, Marion Try II [Vernon Dalhart].” Texas State Historical Association, 1 October 1995, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slaughter-marion-try-ii-vernon-dalhart. Accessed 20 March 2023.
“Vernon Dalhart.” Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/vernon-dalhart. Accessed 20 March 2023.
“Vernon Dalhart – Discography of American Historical Recordings.” Discography of American Historical Recordings, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/109089/Dalhart_Vernon. Accessed 20 March 2023.
