Folk and country musicians, among the first to introduce Appalachian folk music to
national audiences in the early 1930s. Known as “The Hayloft Sweethearts” and “The
Sweethearts of Country Music,” Lulu Belle and Scotty were for almost twenty-five years
mainstays of “The National Barn Dance,” broadcast coast-to-coast over the Chicago radio
station WLS.With Scotty on banjo and Lulu Belle on guitar, the duet sang folksongs,
gospel pieces, sentimental “heart” tunes, and mainstream country songs in exquisite twopart harmonies, interspersing the music with cheerful patter and cornball comedy
routines. Extremely popular throughout their career, Lulu Belle and Scotty became the
longest-lasting, most successful, and best-loved husband-wife duet in the history of
country music, despite never having been part of the Nashville music industry.
Scott grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, absorbing the songs
and instrumental styles of his family and neighbors. Influenced by Bascom Lamar
Lunsford and Bradley Kincaid, he became both an accomplished performer and an
industrious folksong collector, joining WLS in 1933 as “Skyland Scotty.” Wiseman was
also a prolific composer, writing such country-music classics as “Remember Me” and
“Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”
Lulu Belle (Myrde Cooper) also spent her early years in Appalachia, learning the
songs of her parents. Perhaps the first female country-music “superstar,” she joined WLS
at the age of eighteen in 1932, becoming known as “The Belle of the Barn Dance.” In
1936 she was named “Radio Queen,” the most popular woman on radio, legitimizing her
“mountain girl” image.
After marrying in 1934, Lulu Belle and Scotty recorded extensively, made
innumerable radio broadcasts and personal appearances, and were featured in seven
Hollywood films before retiring in 1958.
William E.Lightfoot
References
Lightfoot, William E. 1987. Belle of the Barn Dance: Reminiscing with Lulu Belle Wiseman
Stamey. Journal of Country Music 12:2–5.
——. 1989. From Radio Queen to Raleigh: Conversations with Lulu Belle. Old Time Country 6
(2):4–10; 6 (3):3–9.
Wiseman, Lulu Belle, and Scotty Wiseman. 1985. Lulu Belle andScotty: Early and Great. Vol. 1.
Old Homestead Records 168.
Wiseman, Scott G. 1985–1986. Wisemans View: The Autobiography of Skyland Scotty Wiseman.
North Carolina Folklore Journal 33:1–90.