At a time when metropolitan record companies did not believe there was a market for the music of rural America, fiddlers Alexander Campbell (Eck) Robertson and Henry Gilliland made a trip from Texas to New York City to visit the office of Victor Talking Machine Company. After impressing Victor representatives with a short display of their skill, they returned the next day to record four sides together.
The following day, on July 1, 1922, Robertson returned alone to record this tune: “Sallie Gooden”, which was released as Victor 18956 on September 1, 1922. The record is widely regarded as the first commercially-recorded country music record.
Credits
Alexander Campbell (Eck) Robertson – fiddle
Sources:
Library of Congress essay by Wayne Erbsen
https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/ArkansawTraveler.pdf
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