Carl T. Sprague, with his first recording session dating back to 1925, may well have been "original singing cowboy."  At least, he probably deserves the title as much as anyone. The most important record coming out of Sprague's 1925 session was "When the Work's All Done This Fall." It sold a huge number of copies (nearly a million, by some accounts - an astronomical figure for the times), and put Sprague on the map.

Sprague learned cowboy songs from early cowboys, as a boy, while sitting around campfires at night on the prairie. The songs had been handed down from working cowboys who had sung them for their own amusement for years. He is credited with composing  a number of songs, but largely, the songs he recorded were collected by historian John Lomax and by Sprague, himself, with no information as to the original composer.

Talents: Musician

Awards:

• 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees