ACUFF-ROSE MUSIC
Acuff-Rose Music was an American music publishing firm formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose, a major Nashville music-industry figure who had a respected ability as a talent scout. Many country performers had been badly cheated in the past with regard to copyright and other rights to their creations. Many were unsophisticated and naive and were taken advantage of by unscrupulous agents, attorneys, record promoters, record labels and others. When they started their publishing company, a condition to the gentleman’s agreement between Acuff and Rose was that “our company would be honest. The writers would always be taken care of. No one would act in a shady way.” (More from Wikipedia)
Like rock and roll, country music presented older music in new forms in the early days, though most of the material was new songs – or at least new to their audiences. Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers (“The Singing Brakeman”) among others are legendary songwriters as well as performers. Another early country-music legend Roy Acuff is also renowned as the founder in 1942, with Fred Rose (a talent scout and major music-industry figure), of Acuff-Rose Music; as described in Wikipedia: “Acuff-Rose’s honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms at the time and led them to fame throughout the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.”
(February 2015)
