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Size | 7 items |
Abstract | Tommy Scott, a white guitar player and singer, began his career in entertainment performing for local square dances. He performed on a radio broadcast for the first time in 1933, and, in 1936, joined Doc Chamberlain's Medicine Show, which had toured the South since 1890. In 1938, Scott took over the show, which was later known as Ramblin' Tommy Scott's Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree. Scott performed on radio station WWVA in Wheeling, W.Va., where he developed characters and routines that were later featured in his live, radio, and television appearances, including a blackface character named "Lightning" and a ventriloquist act featuring the puppet "Luke McLuke." Scott wrote a number of hit country and western songs and appeared in several feature films. The Ramblin' Tommy Scott Show, which began airing in 1948, was the first country music show on television. During the 1950s, Scott had another show on television called Tommy Scott's Smokey Mountain Jamboree . The collection contains posters advertising various incarnations of Tommy Scott's traveling medicine show and a poster for Tommy Scott's Smokey Mountain Jamboree television show. |
Creator | Scott, Tommy, 1917- |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: James McGlothlin, May 2008; Patrick Cullom, November 2019.
Encoded by: James McGlothlin, May 2008
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, February 2021
Since 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Until 2019, some of photographic materials in this collection were originally part of the "SFC General Photograph Collection." Materials in the SFC General Photographic Collection were individually numbered in a sequential manner that spanned collections. Materials that have a number with a "P-" indicate inclusion in this collection. These numbers have been retained so that previous uses of the images and additional description remain connected to the materials.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Ramblin' Tommy Scott was born on 24 June 1917 near Toccoa, Ga. He began his career in entertainment playing guitar and singing for local square dances. He performed on a radio broadcast for the first time in 1933, on WTFL in Athens, Ga. In 1936, he joined Doc Chamberlain's Medicine Show, which had toured the South since 1890. In 1938, Scott took over the show.
In 1937, Scott joined the cast of the Uncle Pete and Minervy Show on WPTF in Raleigh, N.C. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Wheeling, W. Va., where he joined the Kentucky Partners, a band fronted by Charlie Monroe, the brother of bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. The Kentucky Partners performed on WWVA, where Scott developed characters and routines that were featured in his live, radio, and television appearances in subsequent years, including a blackface character named "Lightning" and a ventriloquist act featuring the puppet "Luke McLuke." He also appeared on the Garrett and Dental Snuff Program at WMC in Memphis, Tenn., and on the Grand Ole Opry with Roy Acuff and Uncle Dave Mason.
Scott wrote a number of hit country and western songs, including "Rosebuds and You" and "You Are the Rainbow of My Dreams." He continued to tour with Doc Chamberlain's Medicine Show, now known as Ramblin' Tommy Scott's Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree. His wife, Frankie Scott, whom he married in 1939, and his daughter, Sandre Scott, both performed in the show. Tommy Scott appeared in the feature films Trail of the Hawk, Mountain Capers , Hillbilly Harmony, and Southern Hayride. The Ramblin' Tommy Scott Show, which began airing in 1948, was the first country music show on television. During the 1950s, Scott had another show on television, Tommy Scott's Smokey Mountain Jamboree . In subsequent decades, Scott continued to tour in the medicine show (Scott claimed that the show performed more than 29,000 times) and appeared on The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and Oprah Winfrey. He was the subject of a PBS documentary Still Ramblin'. In 2007, he published his memoir, Snake Oil, Superstars, and Me.
Back to TopThe collection contains posters advertising various incarnations of Tommy Scott's traveling medicine show and a poster for Tommy Scott's Smokey Mountain Jamboree television show.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
Tommy Scott booklet about last medicine show ("Early American Home Remedies" (ISBN 0 911410 20 1)) |
Extra Oversize Paper XOP-20073/1 |
Ramblin' Tommy Scott's Smokey Mountain Jamboree with Franky Scott, Luke McLuke, and others |
Oversize Paper OP-20073/1 |
Tommy Scott's TV Bandstand Stage Show |
Oversize Paper OP-20073/2 |
Tommy Scott's Hillbilly Jamboree Circus Review TV Bandstand Stage Show |
Extra Oversize Paper XOP-20073/2 |
Ramblin' Tommy Scott's National Rock 'n' Roll Show |
Extra Oversize Paper XOP-20046/3 |
Doc Tommy Scott's Last Real Medicine Show |
Oversize Paper OP-20073/3 |
Tommy Scott's Old Time Medicine Show with Ole Ble |
Oversize Paper OP-20073/4 |
Tommy Scott's Family Fun Time Road Show starring Colonel Tim McCoy |
Image Folder PF-20073/1 |
PhotographsPhotographic Prints and Digital Prints (Office Paper) Until 2019, some of photographic materials in this collection were originally part of the "SFC General Photograph Collection." Materials in the SFC General Photographic Collections were individually numbered in a sequential manner that spanned collections. Materials that have a number with a "P-" indicate inclusion in this collection. These numbers have been retained so that previous uses of the images and additional description remain connected to the materials. Artists include:
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