Austin and Lee Allen

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The Allen Brothers (Austin Allen, February 7, 1901 - January 5, 1959 and Lee Allen, June 1, 1906 - February 24, 1981) were an American country music duo popular in the 1920s and 1930s. They were nicknamed "The Chattanooga Boys" since many of their songs mentioned Chattanooga. The brothers were born and raised in Sewanee, Tennessee and they both learned to sing and play musical instruments, Austin played the banjo while Lee concentrated on the guitar and kazoo. As they grew up they were influenced by local jazz and blues artists such as the guitarist and Mississippi river boat performer May Bell and the street singers the Two Poor Boys. By the early 1920s, they were performing in small coal-mining communities in the South doing medicine shows and Vaudeville onstage. They received a recording contract on Columbia Records and recorded for the first time on April 7, 1927. At this first session they recorded "Salty Dog Blues" which became their first hit selling around 18 000 copies. Columbia, by mistake, placed one of their recordings in the "race" series (reserved for black artists) instead of its "hillbilly" series. The brothers threatened to bring a lawsuit against Columbia but in the end they decided to move to Victor Records instead. Working with the A&R man Ralph Peer - who had been instrumental in bringing both Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family to fame - the Allen Brothers recorded their biggest hit "A New Salty Dog" in 1930. Due to the Great Depression, the brothers h

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