Charles Ross Taggart "Pineville School Board" Victor 35601 (1916)
Charles Ross Taggart, "The Man From Vermont," was born in Washington, DC on October 27, 1871.
His mother was widowed by the time Charlie was two, and they moved back to the family farm in Topsham, Vermont.
Charles had a talent for music and as a youngster traveled to Groton twice a week where he boarded the Wells River & Montpelier Railroad for piano lessons in Montpelier.
He attended Mount Herman School for Boys in Northfield, Massachusetts and later The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
He became proficient in voice and oratory, and he mastered piano, violin and trumpet.
In his twenties, Charles Taggart clerked in the express office in Bradford, ran a small farm, taught in a district school, gave music lessons, and even dabbled in watch repair.
He was attracted to a musical career but worried about the uncertainties of being a traveling entertainer.
He said to writer Lois Goodwin Greer of The Vermonter (June 1927), "As I approached the turn of the road I thought I'd leave it to the old horse to make the decision. If he turned at the foot of the hill I would go on and hire the village hall and leave an order at the printer's for my bills [promotional posters] and tickets; on the other hand if the horse turned up the hill where I was going to give the piano lessons, the die would be cast. When we got to the bottom of the hill I kinder pulled the reign a little mite, and we went on and hired that hall."
His first public performance in Topsham was a success, showing a profit of $7.50.
For over forty years Taggart amused audiences with his wit, musical versatility, and good nature.
He appeared at "lyceum courses, church affairs, parlor doings, slum benefactions and banquets," according to one magazine.
He performed in lyceum and Chautauqua circuits, which was considered more "respectable" entertainment than vaudeville.
Programs were varied, ranging from comic monologues with piano ("Pianologues"), to recitations, to ventriloquism.
He was best known for violin playing.
Using his character of Uncle Zed, "The Old Country Fiddler," Taggart told stories of life in the imaginary town of Pineville, Vermont (one Victor recording is titled "The Pineville Band").
Intertwined with his tales were old fashioned country fiddle tunes.
Taggart did much to revive interest in old melodies.
A collection of old-time fiddle music was published under his name.
By 1910 he was affiliated with the Redpath Chautauqua Bureau, the most important booking agency for this type of talent.
This led him to friendships with singers Elsie Baker and Frederick Wheeler. Both performers made recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company, and Wheeler urged Taggart to make records. His first sides were recorded in late 1914 or early 1915.
Charles Ross Taggart, "The Man From Vermont," was born in Washington, DC on October 27, 1871.
His mother was widowed by the time Charlie was two, and they moved back to the family farm in Topsham, Vermont.
Charles had a talent for music and as a youngster traveled to Groton twice a week where he boarded the Wells River & Montpelier Railroad for piano lessons in Montpelier.
He attended Mount Herman School for Boys in Northfield, Massachusetts and later The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
He became proficient in voice and oratory, and he mastered piano, violin and trumpet.
In his twenties, Charles Taggart clerked in the express office in Bradford, ran a small farm, taught in a district school, gave music lessons, and even dabbled in watch repair.
He was attracted to a musical career but worried about the uncertainties of being a traveling entertainer.
He said to writer Lois Goodwin Greer of The Vermonter (June 1927), "As I approached the turn of the road I thought I'd leave it to the old horse to make the decision. If he turned at the foot of the hill I would go on and hire the village hall and leave an order at the printer's for my bills [promotional posters] and tickets; on the other hand if the horse turned up the hill where I was going to give the piano lessons, the die would be cast. When we got to the bottom of the hill I kinder pulled the reign a little mite, and we went on and hired that hall."
His first public performance in Topsham was a success, showing a profit of $7.50.
For over forty years Taggart amused audiences with his wit, musical versatility, and good nature.
He appeared at "lyceum courses, church affairs, parlor doings, slum benefactions and banquets," according to one magazine.
He performed in lyceum and Chautauqua circuits, which was considered more "respectable" entertainment than vaudeville.
Programs were varied, ranging from comic monologues with piano ("Pianologues"), to recitations, to ventriloquism.
He was best known for violin playing.
Using his character of Uncle Zed, "The Old Country Fiddler," Taggart told stories of life in the imaginary town of Pineville, Vermont (one Victor recording is titled "The Pineville Band").
Intertwined with his tales were old fashioned country fiddle tunes.
Taggart did much to revive interest in old melodies.
A collection of old-time fiddle music was published under his name.
By 1910 he was affiliated with the Redpath Chautauqua Bureau, the most important booking agency for this type of talent.
This led him to friendships with singers Elsie Baker and Frederick Wheeler. Both performers made recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company, and Wheeler urged Taggart to make records. His first sides were recorded in late 1914 or early 1915.
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Música