On this West Virginia Morning, the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival in Pineville, Kentucky has staged a formal dance for nearly a century that has remained the same for generations. Folkways Reporter Will Warren takes us for a visit.
Home » August 4, 1897: Dixie Songbird Billy Cox Born
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August 4, 1897: Dixie Songbird Billy Cox Born
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Country-and-western musician Billy Cox was born near Charleston on August 4, 1897. He started his career in 1928, singing and playing guitar and harmonica on Charleston’s WOBU radio station, which later became WCHS.
During the 1930s, Cox was recognized as one of West Virginia’s premier singer songwriters.
Among his 150 recordings were future country standards like “Sparkling Brown Eyes” and this song, “Filipino Baby,” which he performed with Cliff Hobbs of Cedar Grove.
Several of Billy Cox’s songs celebrated Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. But the Great Depression, along with personal problems, cut Cox’s career short.
He soon left the music business and worked various odd jobs, including a stint at Charleston’s Kelly Axe Factory. He was later discovered by musicologists in the 1960s living in poverty. Billy Cox, known as the “Dixie Songbird,” died in 1968 at age 71.
Of the state’s 15 largest cities, only Morgantown and Bridgeport gained population from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, according to new U.S. Census data.
On this West Virginia Morning, the Jewish holiday of Passover is coming to an end. It is a time for celebration and reflection. This year, it has been a bit more difficult, according to Rabbi Victor Urecki from Charleston. He spoke with News Director Eric Douglas to discuss the holiday and the struggle with the war in Gaza.
On the same day the YWCA Charleston had a Race to End Racism in the capitol city, a group of men from the white supremacist group Patriot Front marched through the streets of downtown.