Carl T. Sprague

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carl T. Sprague (born May 10, 1895 with Alvin, Texas , † February 19, 1979 in Bryan, Texas ) was an American singer. In 1925 he had the first big hit of Western Music with When The Work's All Done This Fall and is therefore considered one of the pioneers of the genre.

Life

 Info about the audio file
Carl T. Sprague, When the work's all done this fall

Sprague spent his youth on a ranch near Alvin, Texas , where he learned traditional cowboy songs. Due to the First World War , he did not finish his education at Texas A&M University until 1922. Inspired by Vernon Dalhart's song The Prisoner's Song , he drove to Camden , New Jersey in August 1925 and recorded today's western classic When The Work's All Done This Fall on. This song tells the story of a cowboy who has so much big plans for when the hard work is over in the fall. However, he does not live to see autumn because he dies in a stampede .

The record sold over 900,000 times. In total, he recorded over 30 songs, but few of them repeated the success of When The Work's All Done This Fall . His career came to a standstill during the Depression , but he continued to perform at folk festivals well into old age. He moved to Bryan , Texas where he died in 1979.

Title (selection)

  • When The Work's All Done This Fall
  • Bad Companions
  • Following The Cowtrail
  • If Your Saddle Is Good And Tight
  • O Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie (The Dying Cowboy)
  • Last Great Round Up
  • The Two Soldiers
  • The Cowboy's Meditation
  • The Mormon Cowboy

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Douglas B. Green: Singing in the Saddle: The History of the Singing Cowboy , Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville 2002, ISBN 0-8265-1412-X , p. 30.
  2. ^ John Irwin White: Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West , University of Illinois Press, 1975, ISBN 9780252003271 , p. 191.
  3. ^ Robert K. Oermann: A Century of Country: An Illustrated History of Country Music , TV Books, 1999, ISBN 1-57500-083-0 , p. 27.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Sprague, Carl T.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cowboy and singer
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH at Alvin, Texas
DATE OF DEATH 19th February 1979
Place of death Bryan, Texas