Herman Crook

Born: December 22, 1898 Died: June 10, 1988 Member of the WSM Grand Ole Opry I n the summer of 1926 and the Crook Brothers made their debut on July 24 that year. This gave the Crooks seniority over all the other bands except Dr. Bates. During the early years the Crooks appeared on rival Nashville stations. When Lewis Crook left the band Herman became full leader of the group and changed the complexion of the band. Unable to find a satisfactory harmonica player, Herman added a fiddle player and began developing a style build around the odd tonal texture of the harp and fiddle playing together. The four recordings in the 1928 Victor session, all done with the pre-Lewis Crook ensemble, were all instrumentals featuring a twin harmonica lead.