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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 7 items |
| Abstract | Tommy Scott 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, 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- |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The 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.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Biographical Information
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.
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Scope and Content
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.
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Tommy Scott Posters, 1948-2006.
Processed by: James McGlothlin, May 2008
Encoded by: James McGlothlin, May 2008
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