Ernest V. Stoneman (1893-1968) was born Carroll County, Virginia. He came from a musical family and grew up learning many of their songs. He married Hattie Frost in 1918 and settled in Bluefield, West Virginia, where he worked as a carpenter. By his own claim, in 1924 he heard a recording by fellow West Virginian Henry Whitter and felt that he could sing better. He asked for and received auditions with Columbia and Okeh Records in New York. Stoneman's repertoire often consisted of songs written to commemorate news events and disasters. Examples included his hugely popular recording of "The Titanic" and "The Wreck of the C&O". As Stoneman said, "Any song with a story will go to the people's hearts because they love stories. They love stories of tragedy, a wreck or something." (JEMF Quarterly 7, (September 1967), pg. 19). His groups included his wife and often some of the finest musicians from the Galax-Hillsville area of Virginia. Of the latter group, Eck Dunford (Track 9), The Ward Brothers, Oscar Jenkins, and Kahle Brewer deserve mention.
Stoneman continued to play music during the 1940s and 1950s, supplementing his income with other work. During part of this time, he worked at a Naval Ordinance Factory in Washington, D.C. and was involved in the early and growing bluegrass music scene there. The patriarch of a large musical family, Stoneman recorded with the Stoneman Family and made numerous television appearances during the 1950s and 1960s. Musician and song collector Mike Seeger recorded the Stonemans in 1957 for Folkways, introducing them to folk revival audiences. (More on his family can be found in the notes for Track 65). They were embraced by the mainstream country and western music audiences, and one of their LPs was subtitled "The First Family of Country Music." By the 1960s, Stoneman had earned the respectful nickname of "Pop" Stoneman. He died in 1968.
FOR ADDITIONAL RECORDINGS of Stoneman and the Stoneman Family see: Cuttin' the Grass (CMH 6210a); On the Road with the Stonemans (CMH 6219a); Doggone Country (CMH 6273a); The Stonemans: The First Family of Country Music (CMH 9029a); The Edison Recordings 1928 (CTY 3510c); Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol. 1 (CTY 533a); The Stoneman Family, Sutphin, Foreacre and Dickens (FW 2315c); Ernest V. Stoneman and His Dixie Mountaineers 1927-1928 (HIS 8004a); Those Wingin', Stompin' Stonemans (MGM 4363a); Stoneman Country (MGM 4453); The Great Stonemans (MGM 4578a); Tribute to Pop Stoneman (MGM 4588a); It's All in the Family (MGM 4511a); Ernest Stoneman with Family and Friends, Vols. 1 and 2 (OH 172d and 173d); For God and Country (OH 90200a); Last Sessions 1933 (OH 199d); Me and My Autoharp (OH 335d); Dawn of the Stoneman's Age (RCA 4264a); In All Honesty (RCA 4343a); California Blues (RCA 4431a); Ernest V. Stoneman and the Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers (RND 1008a); Family Bible (Rutabaga 3012a); Ernest V. Stoneman and the Stoneman Family (STR 275a); White Lightning (STR 393a); Big Ball in Monterey (WP 1828a); Bluegrass Special (WP 21898a); and the collections Virginia Traditions: Ballads from the British Tradition (BRI 002a); Virginia Traditions: Native Virginia Ballads (BRI 004a); The Bristol Sessions (CMF 011c); Roots 'n Blues (COL 47911c); OldTime Fiddle Classics (CTY 502a); Mountain Sacred Songs (CTY 508a); Old Time Ballads from the Southern Mountains (CTY 522a); Clawhammer Banjo CTY 701a); Old Time Mountain Ballads (CTY 3505c); Galax, Virginia Old Time Fiddler's Convention (FW 2435c); Mountain Music Played on the Autoharp (FW 2365c); Traditional Country Classics 1927-1929 (HIS 8003a); Songs of Complaint and Protest (LC LBC 7a); Songs of Death and Tragedy (LC LBC 9a); Songs of Childhood (LC LBC 13a); Going Down the Valley (NW 236a); and Close to Home (SF 40097c).
For additional information on Stoneman see Cohen, Earle and Wickham, "The Early Recording Career of Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman: A Bio-Discography" (JEMF Special Series #1, 1968).
OTHER RECORDED VERSIONS include:
Folksong revival: as Mountaineer's Courtship: Peggy Seeger (His Master's Voice 1174 a); as Buffalo Boy: The Bergerfolk (FW 32417c); Theo Bikel (ELK 175a); Marilyn Child and Glenn Yarbrough (ELK 143a); Bob and Louise Cormier (ST 68a); Ann Dodson (Beech Hill 104c); Sam Hinton (LC AAFS L21a); Tarrytown Trio (RCA 6070a).
Country/String Band: as The Old Grey Goose: The Carolina Tar Heels (OH 113a).
