Henry Whitter
Musician · 1892–1941 · Fries, Virginia
Best known for
Songwriter
Henry Whitter was a Grayson County, Virginia cotton-mill worker whose December 1923 trip to New York — nine sides cut for OKeh Records that included “Wreck on the Southern Old 97” backed with “Lonesome Road Blues” — placed him among the first commercially recorded country musicians. The Vernon Dalhart cover of his “Wreck of the Old 97” became the first million-selling record in country music history.
Assisted by AI.
Spot something off? Help us fix it.
- Born William Henry Whitter on April 6, 1892, near Fries, Grayson County, Virginia.
- Worked at the Fries Washington Mill cotton mill and took time off whenever he could to chase music.
- Traveled to New York City in December 1923 to audition for OKeh Records; cut nine sides at that first session.
- OKeh released “Wreck on the Southern Old 97” coupled with “Lonesome Road Blues” in January 1924.
- Vernon Dalhart heard the OKeh disc and re-recorded “Wreck of the Old 97” later in 1924 (backed with “The Prisoner’s Song”); the Dalhart record became country music’s first million-seller.
- Continued to record for OKeh through 1926.
- Met the blind fiddler G. B. Grayson at a Mountain City, Tennessee fiddlers’ convention in 1927; the two formed Grayson & Whitter, recording for Gennett and Victor through the late 1920s.
- Died November 17, 1941.