Emry Arthur

Emry Arthur (* around 1900 in Elk Spring Valley , Kentucky ; † 1966 in Indianapolis , Indiana ) was an American old-time musician . Arthur recorded an early version of the song Man of Constant Sorrow .

Life

Childhood and youth

Emry Arthur was born around the turn of the century in the Elk Spring Valley in Wayne County , Kentucky. His father collected old traditional Kentucky songs and the entire family was known in the area for their musicality. Arthur himself learned to play the guitar , but later had to play a simpler, more percussive style than was common back then, as he lost a finger in a hunting accident. He performed early on with his brothers Sam and Henry, who play fiddle and banjo . Arthur Burnett learned the Farewell Song through Dick Burnett , who lived in nearby Monticello and was an acquaintance of the familywhich Arthur later recorded under the title Man of Constant Sorrow .

Career

Got Drunk and Got Married

In the mid-1920s, Arthur moved to Indianapolis to find work. He earned his living there with various jobs, but pursued the goal of a career as a musician. Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford , who were celebrities in his home state of Kentucky as early as 1914, inspired him. Together with brother Henry he traveled to Chicago in 1928 and held his first session on January 17th and 18th for Vocalion Records , during which he recorded Man of Constant Sorrow with Henry . The records sold well, so Arthur was invited back to the studio. In 1929 he returned with William Rexroat to make further recordings. Not only traditional songs were interesting for Arthur, but also blues and self-written material. For example, he recorded two compositions by his manager WE Myer, Sunshine and Shadows and True Love Divine , later for Paramount. He also worked for Dock Boggs on his Lonesome Ace session as a guitarist and played a record as a singer for Floyd Thompson's band, the Home Towners .

In 1929, however, his wife divorced Arthur and he lost his contract with Vocalion due to the economic depression. Frustrated, Arthur moved to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he found work with the Wisconsin Chair Company . The company owned the Paramount Records label and when Arthur's boss found out who he was, they referred the record label. Here Arthur recorded more songs, but these sold very poorly and Paramount was closed soon after.

Arthur then moved back to Indianapolis, where he spent the rest of his life. He made his last recordings in 1935 for Decca Records , which also sold poorly. After that Arthur retired from the music business. He died in Indianapolis in 1966. Unlike many other folk musicians of his time, Arthur pursued his career single-mindedly, but focused only on the record business and almost never performed or appeared on the radio. In addition, he left no autobiography or interviews with folklorists , so that today he is almost forgotten despite his comprehensive work of 80 pieces.

Discography

Paramount recordings have also been released on Broadway Records and Lonesome Ace Records .

year	title	#	Remarks
Published titles
Vocalion Records
1928	Shining for the Master / Love Lifted Me	5205	with Henry Arthur
	I'll Remember You Love Me In My Prayers / I Can Never Forget	5206	with Henry Arthur
	Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye / Heave Ho the Anchor	5209
1928	Man of Constant Sorrow / Down in Tennessee Valley	5208
	Let That Liar Alone / The Little Black Train is Coming	5229
	Nobody's Business / Going Around the World	5230
	Wandering Gypsy Girl / She's a Flower from the Fields of Alabama	5234	B-side with Henry Arthur
	Bring Back to Me My Wandering Boy / Your Mother's Going to Leave You Bye and Bye	5244	With Frank Owens
	The Rich Man and Joe Smith / Ethan Lang	5249
	Empty Pocket Blues / Train Whistle Blues	5264
	My Girl She's a Lulu / Mary Don't Go	5288
	I Tickled Her Under the Chin / Build Me a Bungalow	5323	A-side with William Rexroat; B-side of William Rexroat's Cedar Crest Singers
	The Wanderer / The White Rose	5335	with William Rexroat
	Frankie Baker / Frankie Baker, Part II	5340
	Mountain Daddy Blues / Prison Bound Blues	5351
	My Mother in Law / I Got Drunk and I Got Married	5354
	Mother's in Heaven Tonight / The Blind Boy	5358
	The Bootlegger's Song / I Love Nobody But You	5385	B-side by Clarence & Claude Ganus
	Remember the Old Folks Back Home / The Dying Soldier	5396	B-side by Clarence Ganus
Paramount Records
1929	The Broken Wedding / I'm Always Thinking of You	3221
1929	The Bluefield Murder / George Collins	3222	with Della Hatfield
1929	Reuben Oh Reuben / She Lied to Me	3237
	The Bloodstained Dress / The Day I Left Home	3243	with Della Hatfield
	Jennie My Own True Love / A Railroad Lover for Me	3249	with Della Hatfield
	Sunshine and Shadows / True Love Divine	3251	with Della Hatfield
1931	I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow / The Married Man	3289
1931	There's a Treasure Up in Heaven / Short Life of Trouble	3290	A-side with Della Hatfield
	Reuben Oh Reuben / She Lied to Me	3295	Re-release as Elroy Anderson
	I'm Going Back to the Girl I Love / Careless Love	3298
	Got Drunk and Got Married / I Tickled Her Under the Chin	3301
Decca Records
	The Broken Wedding / My Own True Lover	5067
	Rambling Hobo Blues / Don't Get Married	5068
	Look Out for the Window / I'm Always Thinkin 'of You	5085
	Six Months in Jail Ain't Long / Bootlegger's Lullaby	5127

literature

• Charles K. Wolfe: Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music of Kentucky (2000), pp. 35-37; University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 0-8131-0879-9
• William Lynwood Montell: Grassroots Music in the Upper Cumberland (2006), pp. 131-132; University of Tennessee Press, ISBN 1-57233-545-9
• Ross Laird: Brunswick Records: A Discography of Recordings, 1916-1931 (2001); Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-31868-9

Web links

• biography
• Emry Arthur on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)