Biography

Music industry executive. Born March 5, 1918. Full name: Robert Murray Nash. Career active late 1940s-1950s. While working as a distributor for RCA during the 1940s he helped to sign Pee Wee King, Charlie Monroe, and Cliff Carlisle to the label. Head of country recording for Mercury Records, 1948-1951. From 1951-1954 he worked for Acuff-Rose, where he became a successful promoter and helped to launch the Acuff-Rose record label, Hickory Records.

Interview Summary

1983 June 8
(4 hours, 49 minutes)
Music industry executive Murray Nash gives an in-depth interview about the early years of his career. Discussion includes experiences during his years with Mercury Records; memories from the first Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival; comments on the making of the Al Gannaway films; a brief family history; a detailed chronology of his career; a description of his work as a record distributor; his role promoting country music; comments on the Knoxville country music scene; memories of Knoxville radio personalities; memories of country performers he worked with, including Bill Carlisle, Archie Campbell, Sue Thompson, and Flatt & Scruggs; his assessment of the Nashville Sound; the Mercury artists roster from the late 1940s, including the Masters Family; memories of songwriter Arthur Q. Smith; his move from Mercury to Acuff-Rose; a description of Fred Rose; and his move to Nashville in the early 1950s.