464 Roy Acuff (1903-1992) and the Crazy Tennesseans “The Great Speckled Bird” 1936

“Roy Acuff states that ‘The Great Speckled Bird’ is the Bible and the Church. The interpretation of the song’s meaning, which probably concerns some fundamentalist allegorical symbol, is certainly up to the individual person and has been the subject of great discussion, especially in the South, for a long, long time…Of course ‘The Bird’ as the Acuff group has nicknamed the song, became Roy’s most requested number and his second biggest record seller. Its name graced his DC-3 airplane” (Elizabeth Schlappi, Roy Acuff: The Smoky Mountain Boy, 1978).

Roy Acuff and the Crazy Tennesseans “The Great Speckled Bird”