|
Rosalie started singing and
yodeling at an early age while still living in the Appalachian
Mountains in Eastern Pennsylvania. Eventually, Rosalie made
her way to New York City and introduced country music to its
inhabitants. She hosted the show, “Prairie Stars” on WOV, a
show so popular she parlayed it into nightly live shows at the
Village Barn, a national radio show, a local TV show, an Armed
Forces Radio Network show and her own country music record
shop, Rosalie Allen’s Hillbilly Music Center on W. 54th St.
Besides the radio shows,
Rosalie was also an active recording artist, appearing on the
Grand Ol’ Opry and other prominent shows. She often teamed up
with Elton Britt, who like Allen was known for yodeling, and
she played in the first country show at Carnegie Hall, in
1947.
While at WWVA Wheeling, West
Virginia’s “World’s Original Jamboree,” I was privileged to
have Rosalie and Elton as guests on my portion of the
Jamboree. This would have been about 1954 or 1955. They were
tremendous entertainers.
Rosalie Allen, considered to
be a pioneer of Country radio in New York City, died in Van
Nuys, California on September 24th. Rosalie had
been suffering from congestive heart failure. She was
inducted into the DJ Hall of Fame in 1999.
Dusty
Owens
TCM
Radio News
Click Here For Details
|
