Ernest Stoneman

Ernest Van "Pop" Stoneman (May 25, 1893 – June 14, 1968) was an American musician, ranked among the prominent recording artists of country music's first commercial decade.

Biography

Born in a log cabin in Monarat (Iron Ridge), Carroll County, Virginia, United States,

thumb|Record label of "Sinking of the Titanic" by Ernest Stoneman, Edison Diamond Disc 51823-R, released October 1926

Stoneman worked at a variety of jobs, in mines, mills, but mostly carpentry, and played music for his own enjoyment and that of his neighbors, but when he heard a Henry Whitter record in 1924, he determined to better it and changed his life. Ralph Peer directed him through several sessions for Okeh and Victor, and he freelanced on other labels such as Edison, Gennett, and Paramount Records. In 1926, he added family musicians to his group for a full string-band sound. Ernest appeared at the Second Annual UCLA Folk Music Festival in 1964.

In 1965, the Stonemans went to Nashville, where they worked with Jack Clement, signing a contract with MGM Records and starting a syndicated TV show. They received CMA's "Vocal Group of the Year" in 1967. They appeared in the 1967 film Hell on Wheels and in The Road to Nashville (1967).

Death

Pop Stoneman died in 1968 at age 75. He is interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.

Honors

On February 12, 2008, Pop Stoneman was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 2009, his wife Hattie Frost Stoneman and he were enshrined in the Gennett Records Walk of Fame.

The first major retrospective of his musical career, Ernest Stoneman: The Unsung Father of Country Music 1925–1934 (5 String Productions) was issued in 2008 by the Grammy award-winning reissue team of Christopher C. King and Henry Sapoznik, and was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes.

The Stonemans discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable"

! Year

! Album

! US Country

! Label

| 1962

| Bluegrass Champs

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Starday

| 1964

| Big Ball in Monterey

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| World Pacific

| 1966

| Those Singin' Swingin' Stompin' Sensational Stonemans

| style="text-align:center;"| 39

| rowspan="6"| MGM

| 1967

| Stoneman's Country

| style="text-align:center;"| 13

| rowspan="4"| 1968

| All in the Family

| style="text-align:center;"| 42

| The Great Stonemans

| style="text-align:center;"| 45

| Pop Stoneman Memorial Album

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Stoneman Christmas

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| 1969

| Dawn of the Stonemans' Age

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| rowspan="3"| RCA

| rowspan="2"| 1970

| In All Honesty

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| California Blues

| style="text-align:center;"| —

Compilations

{| class="wikitable"

! Year

! Album

! US Country

! Label

| 1986

| With Family And Friends Vol. I

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Old Homestead

| 1985

| With Family And Friends Vol. II

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Old Homestead

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="2"| Chart Positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

! style="width:50px;"| US Country

! style="width:50px;"| CAN Country

| 1924

| "The Face That Never Returned"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| The Face That Never Returned / The Sinking of the Titanic

| 1924

| "The Sinking of the Titanic"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| The Face That Never Returned / The Sinking of the Titanic

| 1926

| "When the Work's All Done This Fall"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| 5188: Edison Blue Amberol

11054: Edison Record

| 1926

| "Wild Bill Jones"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| 5196: Edison Blue Amberol

11056: Edison Record

| 1927

| "Two Little Orphans"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| 5338: Edison Blue Amberol 11464: Edison Record

| 1928

| "The Old Maid and the Burgler"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| 5531: Edison Blue Amberol

E18442: Edison Record

| 1962

| "Talking Fiddle Blues"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Bluegrass Champs

| 1964

| "Ground Hog"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Big Ball in Monterey

| rowspan="2"| 1966

| "Tupelo County Jail"

| style="text-align:center;"| 40

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Those Singin' Swingin' Stompin' Sensational Stonemans

| "The Five Little Johnson Girls"

| style="text-align:center;"| 21

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| rowspan="2"| Stoneman's Country

| rowspan="2"| 1967

| "Back to Nashville, Tennessee"

| style="text-align:center;"| 40

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| "West Canterbury Subdivision Blues"

| style="text-align:center;"| 49

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| rowspan="2"| All in the Family

| rowspan="3"| 1968

| "Cimarron"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| "Christopher Robin"

| style="text-align:center;"| 41

| style="text-align:center;"| 17

| The Great Stonemans

| "Travelin' Man"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| single only

| 1969

| "Tecumseh Valley"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| Dawn of the Stonemans' Age

| rowspan="3"| 1970

| "Get Together"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| rowspan="2"| In All Honesty

| "Who Will Stop the Rain"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| "California Blues"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| California Blues

References

External links

Ernest V. Stoneman remembered – Patsy Stoneman Murphy interviewed by Jerry Fabris on Thomas Edison's Attic radio program, WFMU, November 15, 2005.
Early recording (1926) of When the Work's All Done This Fall.
Early recording of (1926) Wild Bill Jones.
1994 inductee in the Autoharp Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 5, 2015
2008 inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 5, 2015
Ernest V. Stoneman cylinder recordings, from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
Ernest V. Stoneman recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.