William Jennings Cox (August 4, 1897 – December 10, 1968) was an American folk singer known as the "Dixie Songbird", active from 1927 to 1940. Born in

Eagle, West Virginia Eagle is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. See also *List of ghost towns in West Virginia There are many ghost towns in West Virginia, some of which were created and abandoned as part of the "boom a ...

, the son of a railroad worker, he began playing guitar and singing at parties around

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

in the 1920s. From 1928, he had his own radio program on station WOBU, and won a recording contract with

Gennett Records Gennett Records () was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s and produced the Gennett, Starr, Champion, Superior, and Van Speaking labels. The company also produced some Supertone, ...

. He recorded over forty songs between 1929 and 1931, including many

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s of

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers ( – ) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Country Music", he is best known for his di ...

' songs, which the station played whenever Cox was unavailable. "Bill Cox", ''Hillbilly Music''
Retrieved 22 March 2022 He moved to the

American Record Corporation American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company in operation from 1929 to 1938, and again from 1978 to 1982. Overview ARC was crea ...

in 1933, under producer

Art Satherley Arthur Edward Satherley (October 19, 1889 – February 10, 1986) was an American record producer and A&R man. Often called Uncle Art Satherley, he made major contributions to the recording industry and has been described as "one of the most im ...

, and often recorded duets with the much younger singer Cliff Hobbs (1916–1961). They recorded some sixty songs together during the 1930s, including "Filipino Baby" and "

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". After retiring in 1940, Cox ended up falling on hard times. He was rediscovered in 1966 living in poverty in a converted

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, but died before he was able to make further public appearances.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Bill American folk musicians 1897 births 1968 deaths