Uncle Dave Macon

Uncle Dave Macon, the "Dixie Dewdrop", was a banjo-playing entertainer from Tennessee who became the first star of the Grand Ole Opry. He recorded more than 170 songs between 1924 and 1938.

Life

Macon learned banjo in 1885 from a circus comedian, Joel Davidson, but did not perform professionally until 1921, when he was in his fifties. In 1923 the theatre owner Marcus Loew saw him at a Nashville show and booked him into Loew's theatres, and on 8 July 1924 he made his first recordings, for Vocalion in New York.

He appeared on WSM's Saturday night programme from December 1925, the show that became the Grand Ole Opry, and was its first star in the late 1920s; his WSM career lasted 26 years. In 1927 he formed the Fruit Jar Drinkers with Sam and Kirk McGee and Mazy Todd. He appeared in the 1940 film Grand Ole Opry, and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966.

Songs to know

• "Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train" (1930)
• "Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line"
• "Rock About My Saro Jane"
• "Soldier's Joy", one of his favourite tunes. Read its history.

Selected reissues

Play his instrument: our banjo guide.