American Historical Ephemera & Photography

White pseudo leather photograph album, 10 1/2 x 12 1/2 in., containing 16pp., most with photographs or newspaper clippings mounted recto/verso along with numerous loose 8 x 10 in. black and white publicity photographs, an April 1955 issue of Country Museum Jamboree, and other ephemera. The highlight of the group is an extremely rare quarto, 50pp. Souvenir Program Hank Williams Memorial, Montgomery, Alabama, September 20-21, 1954.

Little is known of Sharp (1925-?) other than a brief January 2002 article in the online magazine “Traditional Country Music Hall of Fame.” An orphan at nine, Sharp was raised by an Aunt in Palestine, Texas, and learned to play guitar, listening to Ernest Tubb and other early country musicians on a Fort Worth radio station. In his late teens he moved to Louisiana, and began a lifelong career in country music, playing with various artists at the famed “Louisiana Hayride.” Among those with whom he played was Hank Williams Sr. Sharp played with Williams and his band “The Drifting Cowboys” for about 19 months, making $90 a week.

After leaving Williams, Sharp played backup for various local bands, and was a studio session artist. Like many aspiring artists, he ended his career in another profession: truckdriver.

This album documents Sharp’s country music life and friendships with various musicians. There are a total of 11 autographed photos, including those of Johnny Horton, Billy Barton, Smiling Jerry Jericho, Floyd Tilman, Ernest Tubb, Smoky Stone, and Hank Locklin, along with lesser lights.

Included in the album is a 24 February 1948 TLS from Hank Thompson in which Thompson agrees to write a song for Sharp, and give it to him to publish, along with a printed invitation to Thompson’s wedding.

Undoubtedly, the rarest bit of country music ephemera is the Williams Memorial program. A search of World Cat and OCLC failed to locate a single copy in an institutional library. In 1954 Alabama governor Gordon Persons proclaimed 21 September, “Hank Williams Day.” A huge celebration was held in Montgomery featuring a train load of Williams' fellow stars, including Pee Wee King, Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ray Price, Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones and other (all pictured in the program).

A fine and early group of ephemera from the early days of Country Music.