Article from the Bluegrass Unlimited March 05 issue.
The Poe Sisters were both born in Big Creek, Calhoun Country, MS, Nelle in 1922 and Ruth in 1924. They began their career in October 1943 in Bridgeport, CT, where they were both employed as inspectors of radios for the General Electric Co. They appeared locally on radio over WICC, and on weekends toured the region with a troupe of entertainers. During this time, they played for servicemen at the famous Stage Door Canteen in New York City.
When you saw the Poe Sisters in Mobile, AL, with Ernest Tubb's touring group, they were members of the Grand Ole Opry, joining the cast in June 1944. Ruth played a mandolin Bill Monroe loaned her during their entire time on the Opry. Ruth was married in 1945, and shortly after that, Nelle returned to Connecticut, breaking up the act. But within months, she was back and the duo resumed touring and working on the Opry.
Nelle told this writer recently, "Our idols were the Delmore Bothers, and we tried to sing like them. The Solemn Old Judge, George Hay, said we were the 'female Delmore Brothers.' I can't say what kind of music we sang - some bluegrass, some country." Their repertoire included a number of Delmore Brothers songs, but they also performed material associated with the Carter Family, the Blue Sky Boys, Roy Acuff, and others.
The Poes left the Opry for good in August 1946, at which time Ruth returned the mandolin to Monroe. Bill told her she could keep it, but she declined. When asked recently why she didn't keep it, she said, "Daddy always told us, 'Don't take any gifts from men.'"
Several months after leaving the Opry, Nelle was married, and the duo decided to leave music altogether. When asked why they didn't continue playing after they were married, Nelle said, "We always did what our daddy said. He said when you get married, you should quit working and raise a family." The advice was unnecessary however, as Nelle soon moved with her husband back to Bridgeport, CT, making it impossible for the duo to continue the act.
The Poe Sisters made no commercial recordings. During most of the time they were working on the Opry and touring, commercial recordings were not being made due to shellac and other material shortages caused by World War II. When record companies geared back up following war's end, they were concentrating on big sellers - in country music that meant Eddy Arnold, Ernest Tubb, and Bob Wills, among others. Before anyone could approach the Poe Sisters about recording, they had left music.
Fortunately, a number of air checks were made of their Opry performances, and ten of these miraculously survived. This material was issued on LP in Germany in 1989, the Poe Sisters, "Early Stars Of The Grand Ole Opry," Cattle LP 122, which is still available (LP only). Some of the recordings have suffered the ravages of time but it is a miracle that they have survived at all, so that is certainly not a harshly adverse criticism. In fact, if anything, it enhances the performances lending them authenticity and capturing the flavour of the age.
There are no frills and fancies, no technological wizardry, just two young sisters harmonizing and playing in a style not vastly dis-similar to that popularized by The Carter Famiy. The songs are the type favoured by the mountain folk and the hillbillies and include the sad "In A Little Village Church Yard" by A.P. Carter, "As Long As I Live" from the pen of a young Roy Acuff and "False Hearted Girl" and "The Farmer's Daughter" courtesy of The Delmore Brothers. On "Farmer's Son" Nelle appears to have simply adapted the lyrics using exactly the same melody as "The Farmer's Daughter" but both versions are enjoyable.
(In July, 2004, Nelle boarded a bus, and journeyed to Nashville. She and Ruth were interviewed by John Rumble at the Country Music Foundation as part of the Oral History Project. The two-hour interview is on file at the Country Music Foundation and Museum.) Angelo Ruth Poe of (the Poe Sisters) and staff at Heartland GEM photos05012012 006 |
