At Hank Snow's second recording session, November 6-9, 1937, he recorded a song called The Blue Velvet Band. The following paragraph is taken from Charles K. Wolfe's notes to the Bear Family Box of Hank's Early Canadian releases.

. . .the hit of the session was destined to be The Blue Velvet Band. "The song title was taken from an old song called 'The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band'" said Hank. "I changed the story and even changed the melody too." The older song had been recorded in 1934 by Cliff and Bill Carlisle, and was one of the more popular songs of the year; it in turn dated from an old British song called The Black Velvet Band that had appeared in print as far back as the 1870's. Carlisle's original song was a grim, Dashiell-Hammet-like account of a boy who is framed for theft by a girl with her hair tied in a blue velvet band; none of that survived in Hank's version, except the detail of the blue velvet band. Hank's song is a classic love lament, replete with a Rodgers-like yodel.

He recorded an answer song in 1941. Also, if CKW says 1934 was the first recording, I'd be inclined to believe him.