Roy Hall and his Blue Ridge Entertainers Born:  January 6, 1907 Died:  May 16, 1943 WAIR Winston-Salem, NC WDBJ Roanoke, VA WSPA Spartansburg, SC WWNC Asheville, NC

About The Artist Until a fatal auto crash ended his life at the age of thirty-six, Roy Davis Hall appeared on the way to becoming a major figure in the country music scene in southern Appalachia. As it was, Roy and his Blue Ridge Entertainers still made a notable mark in what music historians now term pre-bluegrass. Songs that he recorded such as "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die," "Can You Forgive," and "I Wonder Where You are Tonight" have all become bluegrass classics. Hall was born near Waynesville in Haywood County, North Carolina, a region only one county removed from the Smoky Mountain National Park. The family had another member with a country music career, Jay Hugh Hall (1910-1972), who recorded some with Roy and some with Wade Mainer and Clyde Moody. The Halls and other groups such as those of J. E. Mainer, Wade Mainer, the Morris Brothers, and others played on various radio stations in the Carolina Piedmont from the mid-1930s although the chronology is a bit confusing as they formed, disbanded, reformed, and relocated frequently. Roy and Jay Hugh as the Hall Brothers made their first recordings for Bluebird on February 16, 1937. At the time, they worked in a textile mill, but soon landed a regular daily radio show at WSPA Spartanburg, South Carolina. They did a second and third session in Janurary and September 1938. In all, their nineteen sides ranged from old traditional ballads like "The Little Mohee" to comic novelties typified by "Whistle Honey Whistle." Meanwhile Roy formed a new group called the Blue Ridge Entertainers. They had a radio program at WAIR sponsored by Dr. Pepper soft drink at Winston-Salem. They found modest success and recorded several songs for the Vocalion label on November 7, 1938. Eight numbers were subsequently released. Decades later a ninth number featuring Tommy Magness on fiddle, came out on a CD because it was the first recording of the classic fiddle tune "Orange Blossom Special." Several other cuts were never released. His band at WAIR included Magness, Bill Brown on steel guitar, Clato Buchanan on banjo, Wayne Watson on bass fiddle, and Talton Aldridge presumably on second guitar. Aldridge, Talton, and Magness soon departed, and Saford and Clayton (the Hall Twins, not related to Roy,) replaced them. Magness later returned two or three times. The Blue Ridge Entertainers made another move to WDBJ Roanoke, Virginia in April 1940 where their popularity reached new record heights for a regional hillbilly band. Dr. Pepper sales boomed and crowds flocked to their almost nightly shows. Numerous small articles were seen in old newspapers while doing research on Roy. But once in a while, the description of the appearance / booking catches one's eyes. On Saturday July 6, 1940, Roy and his Blue Ridge Entertainers were booked to play at the Franklin High School in the Mount Airy area, sponsored by the local 4-H Club. Readers were promised "...a good clean show." Part of the fun for the evening would be the award of two prizes. The prettiest girl would be awarded a bed spread. The ugliest man would be gifted with a bar of soap. Clayton Hall regaled audiences for years (including me via telephone) about being able to buy a new car with a week's earnings, paying cash for it. For a time they even had two bands (the other led by Jay Hugh Hall) to satisfy the demand for their shows. They had another record session-this time in Atlanta-where they recorded a dozen more numbers including their two sided hit, "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die" b/w "Can You Forgive." The coming of World War II through 1941 and into 1942 curtailed and eventually ended the good times. Military service soon reduced available band members. The two bands merged into one. In October 1941 they cut another Bluebird session of eight more songs including "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight" and some fiddle tunes by the returning Magness. By late 1942, enlistments and conscription had virtually decimated the Blue Ridge Entertainers. Roy, newly married with one child, was not immediately drafted and all looked forward to regrouping after the war, but it was not to be. In May 1943, his life ended in an auto crash. A news report indicated that a passenger in the vehicle had seen Roy's head slump forward and she tried to grab the steering wheel but the car crashed into a tree. Posthumously, he had a second daughter. In the postwar era some members including Magness and the Hall Twins continued playing music off and on. Decades later, a grandson of Clayton Hall wrote a book about the Twins, If Trouble Don't Kill Me (2010), which related many colorful details concerning the Blue Ridge Entertainers. Credits & Sources Hillbilly-Music.com would like to express its thanks to Ivan M. Tribe, author of Mountaineer Jamboree — Country Music in West Virginia and other books that can be found on Amazon.com and numerous articles in other publications for providing us with information about this artist. Blue Ridge Entertainers; July 4, 1940; Mount Airy News; Mount Airy, NC Accident Fatal To Roanoke Man; May 19, 1943; Richmond Times-Dispatch; Richmond, VA Roy Hall Dies In Auto Crash; May 23, 1943; Asheville Citizen; Asheville, NC

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)   Bluebird Rec. No. Side Song Title   6843 A Little Mohee   6843 B Way Out There   6925 A When It Gets Dark   6925 B Whistle Honey Whistle   7103 A My Gal Has Gone and Left Me   7103 B Little Gal, You?ve Done Me Wrong   7363 A McDowell Blues   7363 B Spartanburg Jail   7462 A It Was Only a Dream   7462 B Alcatraz Prisoner   7728 A The Wrong Road   7728 B Your Love Was Not True   7801 A Never Alone   7801 B Hitch Hike Blues   8561 A New San Antonio Rose   8561 B I'd Die Before I'd Cry Over You   8617 A Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye   8617 B Rubber Dolly   8656 A Can You Forgive?   8656 B Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die   8676 A I Played My Heart & Lost   8676 B Loving You Too Well   8702 A Your Heart Should Belong To Me   8702 B She's Winking At Me   8703 A You Don't Love Me (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   8703 B Weeping Willow Valley (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   8794 A Neath The Bridge At The Foot Of The Hill   8794 B Little Sweetheart, Come Kiss Me   8863 A Polecat Blues (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   8863 B Natural Bridge Blues (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   8906 A My Sweet Mountain Rose (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   8906 B Until I Return To You (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   8923 A An Old Man?s Story   8923 B The Elevated Railroad in the City   8959 A I Wonder If The Moon Shines (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   8959 B I Wonder Where You Are Tonight (w/The Happy Valley Boys)   Conqueror Rec. No. Side Song Title   9184 A Where The Roses Never Fade   9184 B Answer To Great Speckled Bird   9230 A Wabash Cannon Ball   9230 B The Lonesome Dove   Montgomery Ward Rec. No. Side Song Title   7241 A I'll Remember You Love In My Prayers   7241 B Kingdom Land   8718 A Happy Go Lucky Breakdown (as Happy Go Lucky Boys)   8718 B Whatcha Gonna Don With The Baby (as Happy Go Lucky Boys)   8719 A No Letter In The Mail Today (w/Happy Go Lucky Boys)   8719 B Darling, I'm Still In Love With You (w/Happy Go Lucky Boys)   8720 A I Hope She's Satisfied (w/Happy Go Lucky Boys)   8720 B Come Back Sweetheart (w/Happy Go Lucky Boys)   Vocalion Rec. No. Side Song Title   04627 A Good For Nothing Gal   04627 B The Lonely Blues   04717 A Lonesome Dove   04717 B Wabash Cannonball   04771 A Answer To Great Speckled Bird   04771 B Where The Roses Never Fade   04842 A Come Back Little Pal   04842 B Sunny Tennessee