Illustration by Bob Scott
Alabama has a state music museum, as does Rhode Island. Our neighbors in North Carolina have one. Oklahoma not only has a music hall of fame, it also has an Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame (believe it or not). West Virginia, too? You've got to be kidding me. Virginia's musical legacies arguably run wider and deeper than any of those of other places. So what gives?
Perhaps it is because Virginia's musical legacy touches upon so many different styles of music — from opera (Dorothy Maynor) to heavy metal (Lamb of God), from old-time country (the Carter Family) to space jazz (Lonnie Liston Smith). Or just maybe it's that, while Virginia clearly has given birth to legends, and even helped to spawn musical genres, many of us simply don't know.
But some of us do. Throughout the state, and especially in the western and southwestern regions, there are places and institutions that already expertly highlight the roots of the state's old-time country and blues music, such as the folklife and musical traditions preserved at the Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College, near Roanoke, and the overview of country music's earliest days told in Bristol at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. But those are only chapters in the larger story that any Virginia Music Hall of Fame and Museum would be poised to tell.
These are the kinds of rich history lessons, and just a sampling of the great music, that a Virginia Music Hall of Fame and Museum could showcase on a regular basis.
Presently, we’ve allowed other states to pay tribute to Virginia’s musical best. For example, a display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville examines the career of Galax banjo master Ralph Stanley, who died in 2016. Also running currently, the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., has an exhibit devoted to Ella Fitzgerald, born in Newport News, which features artifacts from the jazz singer's estate. "Ella at 100" and "Ralph Stanley: Voice From on High" are perfect examples of outside exhibits featuring the commonwealth’s hometown greats that would be welcome at a Virginia Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
I have no idea how many tourist dollars such an institution would generate, or what it would do in terms of brand identity for the state, or its host city. It might be more of a roll of the dice than, say, sponsoring an episode of a reality TV show about competitive dating. I just know that a grand acknowledgment of Virginia's place as a spawning ground for musical prominence is long overdue, and that Richmond — as Virginia's capital — would be the logical place for its home. We are a place for history, and most of Virginia's major museums are already here. Nearby, there are also some private endeavors of note: the tiny Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame housed in the Chesterfield Fairgrounds, and a Virginia Music Museum — filled mostly with rare, vintage instruments — housed in Williamsburg.
In short, this Virginia Music Hall of Fame is a no-brainer. When it comes to music, the Old Dominion has plenty of stories to tell and notes to hit, as well as a lot of legends who rocked the boat. So let's get rolling.
First Class
Hundreds of prominent musicians have called Virginia home over the years. It will take years to honor them all. Here’s a brief list of who could be considered for the first class to be inducted to a Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
SAMPLE FIRST BALLOT
- R. Nathaniel Dett: African-American composer, conductor and Hampton Institute music director who founded and refined its choral department and coached its legendary gospel quartets.
- Ernest “Pop” Stoneman: The real father of country music, this stylistically diverse Galax singer, often paired with his wife, Hattie, cut some of the genre’s best early 78s and was the patriarch of a long-running family band, the Stonemans.
- The Carter Family: The singing trio from Maces Springs whose early country recordings have remained touchstones. Maybelle Carter’s thumb-driven guitar style remains influential, and she and a later incarnation of the group (featuring daughter June Carter) performed for a time in the Old Dominion Barn Dance.
- The Golden Gate Quartet: From Norfolk, the most stylistically inventive of the jubilee gospel groups. The Gates’ pumping, rhythmic a capella sound set the stage for doo-wop.
- Ella Fitzgerald: The greatest female jazz vocalist of all time. Period. Ella was born in Newport News but didn’t live there very long. Still, she always thought of Virginia as her home.
- Tiny Grimes: A Newport News jazz guitarist who played with Charlie Parker and Art Tatum, he cut what are considered among the first rock ‘n‘ roll records, including “Tiny’s Boogie.”
- The Stanley Brothers and Clinch Mountain Boys: From Dickenson County, one of bluegrass music’s most influential acts. Ralph Stanley would survive his brother Carter by 40 years to become an Americana icon.
- Ruth Brown: From Portsmouth, “Miss Rhythm” was one of the most vital 1950s R&B artists; her gruff, explosive vocalizing became so popular that Atlantic Records was soon known as “the house that Ruth built.”
- The Five Keys: Arguably the purest and most romantic of all of the early doo-wop groups, this Newport News troupe recorded timeless love songs like “Close Your Eyes.”
- Dorothy Maynor: The Norfolk-born opera singer and concert performer was the first African-American to perform at a presidential inauguration. She later founded the Harlem School of the Arts.
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Not a native Virginian, but this trailblazing gospel guitarist — the mother of rock ‘n’ roll — lived in Richmond for much of her life, enjoying a fruitful partnership with the Harmonizing Four.
- Janis Martin: Born in Danville, the teenage Martin was marketed as “The Female Elvis.” She started on Richmond’s Old Dominion Barn Dance radio show and, odd for the time, wrote much of her own material.
- Patsy Cline: This beloved Winchester-born country singer waxed classic hits like “Crazy” and “I Fall to Pieces” while helping to usher in Nashville's “countrypolitan” sound.
- Gene Vincent: Born in Norfolk, Vincent influenced all the right rock musicians, from Bob Dylan to the Sex Pistols. He’s remembered for his big hit “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” his leather jackets and a hard-driving lifestyle.
- The Harmonizing Four (See more in the "Greatest Show Never" feature in our September issue.)
- Pearl Bailey (see above)
- Link Wray (see above)
