The Tennessean

225px The July 27, 2005 front page of The Tennessean
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner	Gannett Company
Publisher	Carol Hudler
Editor	Maria De Varenne
Founded	1907
Headquarters	1100 Broadway Nashville, Tennessee 37203  United States
Circulation	174,073 Daily 232,334 Sunday[1]
Official website	Tennessean.com

The Tennessean (known until 1970 as The Nashville Tennessean) is the principal daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky.

The Tennessean was nominated in 2011 for a Pulitizer Prize in breaking news for its coverage of "the most devastating flood in Middle Tennesee history."

As of November 2, 2005, the paper reported daily circulation of 177,714; Saturday circulation of 199,489 and Sunday circulation of 250,575. These values were lower than Audit Bureau of Circulations figures for late 2004, which listed circulation as 199,366, 199,366 and 271,849, respectively.

It is owned by the Gannett Corporation, which also owns several smaller community newspapers in Middle Tennessee, including The Dickson Herald, the Gallatin News-Examiner, the Hendersonville Star-News, the Fairview Observer, and the Ashland City Times. Its circulation area overlaps those of the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle and The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, two other independent Gannett papers.

The company publishes several specialty publications including the Nashville Record, Metromix Nashville (a weekly entertainment-oriented publication), and Nashville Lifestyles magazine. It publishes Davidson AM, Williamson AM, and Rutherford AM, local supplements covering these counties.

The paper's primary print competitors are the weekly The City Paper, the weekly Nashville Scene and the Nashville Business Journal. In 2004 Gannett announced the acquisition of the Franklin Review-Appeal, and The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro from Morris Multimedia. The Review-Appeal became a supplement of The Tennessean, while the Daily News Journal continued to operate as an independent newspaper.

The paper maintains two Goss Colorliner presses. In 2002, the paper completed installation of a MAN Roland UNISET press, which is now used to print regional editions of USA Today, as well as commercial printing jobs.

Ellen Leifeld was named as publisher in September 2005, succeeding Leslie Giallombardo, who became the newspaper's first female publisher in April 2002.

Frank Sutherland served as editor of the newspaper from 1989-2004. He began his journalism career as a reporter at the paper in the 1960s, and returned as editor after a serving in several leadership positions at other newspapers. He announced his retirement in September 2004. He was briefly succeeded by Everett J. Mitchell II, the former managing editor of the Detroit News, who was the first African American to be editor of The Tennessean. In September 2006, Mark Silverman was announced as editor.

History[link]

The Tennessean, Nashville's primary daily newspaper, traces its roots back to the Nashville Whig, a weekly paper that began publication on September 1, 1812. The paper underwent various mergers and acquisitions throughout the 19th century, emerging as the Nashville American.

The first issue of the Nashville Tennessean was printed on Sunday May 12, 1907. The paper was founded by Col. Luke Lea, a 28-year-old attorney and local political activist.

In 1910, the publishers purchased a controlling interest in the Nashville American. They began publishing an edition known as The Tennessean American. When the American formally folded in 1911, some of its employees banded together to found the Nashville Democrat. This paper was purchased by the Tennessean in 1913.

In 1931, Col. Luke Lea and his son Luke Lea, Jr. were indicted for their role in the failure of the Central Bank and Trust Co. of Asheville, North Carolina. On March 3, 1933, the newspaper was placed under federal receivership, and Ashland City attorney and former Tennessean editorial writer Littleton J. Pardue was appointed to direct the paper. Under his leadership circulation grew swiftly, but the newspaper continued to lose money.

In 1935, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation acquired a large portion of the paper's outstanding bonds. It eventually sold them to Paul Davis, president of the First American National Bank of Nashville.

Still suffering from effects of the Great Depression, the paper was sold at auction in 1937, when it was purchased for $850,000 by Silliman Evans, Sr. a former reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Evans came to an agreement with Nashville Banner publisher James Stahlman to move both newspapers into new offices at 1100 Broadway. He created the Newspaper Printing Corporation as a business agent for both papers. As part of this agreement, the Tennessean ceased publication of its evening editions, and the Banner ceased publication of its Sunday edition. The two newspapers maintained a joint operating agreement from 1937 until the Banner ceased publication February 20, 1998. The two papers operated out of the same building and shared advertising and production staff, but maintained separate (and distinct) ownership and editorial voices.

On June 2, 1955, Silliman Evans Jr. was named president of the paper. After his father died unexpectedly of a heart attack on June 26, the board of the paper elected him publisher, and he became president of the Newspaper Printing Corporation in August.

In 1957, Tennessean cartoonist Tom Little won a Pulitzer Prize for his cartoon encouraging parents to have their children immunized against polio.

In 1961, Silliman Evans Jr. died of a heart attack at age 36 while on his boat on Old Hickory Lake. Ownership of the newspaper passed to his mother, and several months later his brother Amon Carter Evans was named Chief Executive of the paper.

Tennessean reporters Nat Caldwell and Gene Graham won a Pulitzer Prize in 1962 "[f]or their exclusive disclosure and six years of detailed reporting, under great difficulties, of the undercover cooperation between management interests in the coal industry and the United Mine Workers." In the same year, John Seigenthaler Sr. was named editor of the newspaper. He would earn the additional title of publisher in 1973.

Offices for The Tennessean. The Gannett logo replaced the Nashville Banner logo in 1998.

In 1972, the Gannett Corporation purchased the Nashville Banner from the Stahlman family. In 1979, Gannett sold the Banner to a group of local investors including political figure John Jay Hooker, businessman Brownlee Currey and Franklin banker Irby Simpkins for about $25 million. It then purchased the Tennessean from the Evans family for about $50 million. John Seigenthaler became president, publisher, and editor of the Gannett-owned Tennessean. Historian E. Thomas Wood says that "without question" Seigenthaler ran the newspaper as a liberal one.^[2]

In 1976, when it was revealed that Tennessean reporter Jacqueline Srouji had for many years been working as an informant (and possibly agent provocateur) for the FBI, including spying on her colleagues at the paper, Seigenthaler fired her immediately. Srouji claimed that when she had started as a reporter for the Nashville Banner over a decade before, that paper's publisher had encouraged her to hand over information to the FBI.^[3]

In 1989, Frank Sutherland was named editor. He had begun his career as a reporter at the paper in 1963. Seigenthaler retired as publisher in 1991. He was replaced by Craig Moon, who held the post until he moved into a corporate position with Gannett in 2002; Moon was later named publisher of USA Today. Leslie Giallombardo was publisher from 2002 to 2005. Seigenthaler remains "Chairman Emeritus."

In September 1998, the paper launched Tennessean.com, its news and information website.

Among the notable journalists who have worked for The Tennessean are Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper, Pulitzer Prize winning author David Halberstam, and cartoonist Anthony Wright.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Tennessee portal
	Journalism portal

• Tennessean.com
  • Davidson A.M.
  • Rutherford
  • Williamson A.M.
• Tennessean.com mobile version
• Ashland City Times
• Dickson Herald
• Dickson Shoper
• Fairview Observer
• The (Gallatin) News-Examiner
• Hendersonville Star-News
• Metromix Nashville
• Nashville Record
• Gannett subsidiary profile of The Tennessean

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Benjamin C. Bradlee
Born	Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (1921-08-26) August 26, 1921 (age 90) Boston, Massachusetts
Residence	Laird-Dunlop House, Washington, D.C. (Main Residence) Grey Gardens, East Hampton, New York (Summer Home), Porto Bello, Drayden, Maryland (Farm)
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Education	Dexter School, St. Marks School
Alma mater	Harvard
Occupation	Vice President at-large of the Washington Post
Employer	The Washington Post
Known for	His role in exposing the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal
Spouse	Jean Saltonstall, Antoinette Pinchot, Sally Quinn
Children	Ben Jr., Dominic (Dino), Marina, Quinn
Relatives	Bradlee family, Crowninshield family, Choate family, Putnam family, Heinrich XXIX, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf
Awards	Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor Pulitzer Prize Father of the Year Illionis Prize "We the People" A Friend of Children

Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (born August 26, 1921) is a vice president at-large of The Washington Post. As executive editor of the Post from 1968 to 1991, he became a national figure during the presidency of Richard Nixon, when he challenged the federal government over the right to publish the Pentagon Papers and oversaw the publication of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's stories documenting the Watergate scandal.

Early life and ancestry[link]

A member of the Boston Brahmin Crowninshield family, Bradlee was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 26, 1921, His father was Frederick Josiah Bradlee Jr. (1892–1970), a direct descendant of John Bradley – the first of the Bradleys to come to America – who in 1630 helped build what is now Dorchester, Massachusetts. His mother, Josephine de Gersdorff (1896–1975), was awarded the Legion of Honor for helping keep children safe from Nazi Germany and France during World War II.^{[citation needed]} Bradlee's maternal grandfather, Carl August de Gersdorff (1865–1944), was a wealthy New York lawyer, and his maternal grandmother was Helen Suzette Crowninshield (1868–1941), daughter of artist Frederic Crowninshield (1845–1918), another member of the Crowninshield family.^[1] His great-great-uncle was American lawyer and Ambassador Joseph Hodges Choate; and his great-uncle (and cousin second removed) was Francis "Frank" Welch Crowninshield, the creator and editor of Vanity Fair, and a roommate of Conde Nast. Josephine de Gersdorff, Bradlee's mother, was a direct descendant of Heinrich XXIX, Princely Count of Reuss-Ebersdorff, who was a direct descendant of King John II of France and Bonne of Bohemia. Bradlee's maternal great grandfather was Dr. Ernst Bruno von Gersdorffk, Josephine's grandfather, who was a third cousin of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom through Heinrich XXIX.^[2][3]

Bradlee attended Dexter School before finishing at St. Mark's School. He received his naval commission two hours after graduating in 1942, joined the Office of Naval Intelligence and worked as a communications officer in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. His duties included handling classified and coded cables. The main ship on which Bradlee served was a destroyer, the USS Philip. He fought off the shores of Guam and arrived at Guadalcanal with the Second Fleet; his main battles were Vella Lavella, Saipan, Tinian, and Bougainville. He also fought in the biggest naval battle ever fought, the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. He made every landing in the Solomon Islands campaign and Philippines campaign.

When Bradlee married for the first time, it was to Jean Saltonstall. They had one son, Ben Bradlee Jr., who was raised in Cambridge by his mother and her second husband, Bill Haussermann.^[4] Ben Bradlee Jr. is a former deputy managing editor of The Boston Globe.^[5]

World War II[link]

During WWII Bradlee was in the Navy and he had fought in total of thirteen naval battles; the first battles that he fought in were during the Solomon Islands Campaign: First Battle of Tulagi, Battle of Vella Lavella, and the Battle of Bouganville. The next two battles that he fought in were during the Guadalcanal Campaign: Battle of Henderson Field, The Naval Battle of Guadalcanall; he arrived at Guadal Canal with the Second Fleet on the USS Philip. The next five battles that he fought in were during the Philippines Campaign: The Battle of Letye Gulf also known as The Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, The Battle of Mindoro, The Battle of Manila, The Battle of Surigao Straits, and The Invasion of Lingayen Gulf. The next and last three battles the he fought in were during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign: The Battle of Saipan, The Battle of Tinian, and The Battle of Guam.

After the war, in 1946, Bradlee Sr. became a reporter at the New Hampshire Sunday News, a venture he helped launch. In 1948 he started working for The Washington Post as a reporter. He got to know associate publisher Philip Graham, who was the son-in-law of the publisher, Eugene Meyer. On November 1, 1950, Bradlee was alighting from a streetcar in front of the White House just as two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to shoot their way into Blair House in an attempt to kill President Harry S. Truman.^[6] In 1951 Graham helped Bradlee become assistant press attaché in the American embassy in Paris, France.

Government work[link]

In 1952 Bradlee joined the staff of the Office of U.S. Information and Educational Exchange (USIE), the embassy's propaganda unit. USIE produced films, magazines, research, speeches, and news items for use by the CIA throughout Europe. USIE (later known as USIA) also controlled the Voice of America, a means of disseminating pro-American "cultural information" worldwide. While at the USIE, according to a Justice Department memo from an assistant U.S. attorney in the Rosenberg Trial, Bradlee was helping the CIA manage European propaganda regarding the spying conviction and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on June 19, 1953.

Bradlee was officially employed by USIE until 1953, when he began working for Newsweek. While based in France, Bradlee divorced his first wife and married Antoinette Pinchot. At the time of the marriage, Antoinette's sister, Mary Pinchot Meyer, was married to Cord Meyer, a key figure in Operation Mockingbird, a CIA program to influence the media.

Antoinette Bradlee was also a close friend of Cicely d'Autremont, who was married to James Jesus Angleton. Bradlee worked closely with Angleton in Paris.^{[citation needed]} At the time, Angleton was liaison for all Allied intelligence in Europe. His deputy was Richard Ober, a fellow student with Bradlee at Harvard University.

In 1957, while working as a reporter for Newsweek, Bradlee created controversy when he interviewed members of the FLN. They were Algerian guerrillas who were in rebellion against the French government at the time. According to Deborah Davis, author of Katharine the Great about Katharine Graham, this had all the "earmarks of an intelligence operation." As a result of these interviews, Bradlee was given an expulsion order from France; however, the order was suspended and finally repealed.

[edit] Washington Post

As a reporter in the 1950s, Bradlee became close friends with then-Senator John F. Kennedy, who lived nearby. In 1960 he toured with both Kennedy and Richard Nixon in their presidential campaigns. He later wrote a book, Conversations With Kennedy (W.W. Norton, 1975), recounting their relationship during those years. Bradlee was, at this point, Washington Bureau chief for Newsweek, a position from which he helped negotiate the sale of the magazine to the Washington Post holding company. Bradlee maintained that position until being promoted to managing editor at the Post in 1965. He became executive editor in 1968 and, in 1978, married fellow journalist Sally Quinn. Quinn and Bradlee have one child, Quinn Bradlee, who was born in 1982 when she was 41 and Bradlee was 61. In 2009, they appeared with Quinn Bradlee on the Charlie Rose show on PBS and spoke of their son's having been born with Velo-cardio-facial syndrome, also known as DiGeorge syndrome and Shprintzen syndrome (named after Dr. Robert Shprintzen who first identified the disorder in 1978 and also diagnosed Quinn Bradlee).

Bradlee retired as the executive editor of the "Post" in September 1991, but continues to serve as its Vice President At Large. He was succeeded as executive editor at The Washington Post by Leonard Downie, Jr., who Bradlee had appointed as managing editor seven years earlier.

Under Bradlee's leadership, The Washington Post took on major challenges during the Nixon Administration. In 1971 The New York Times and the Post successfully challenged the government over the right to publish the Pentagon Papers. One year later, Bradlee backed reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they probed the break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. According to Bradlee: “You had a lot of Cuban or Spanish-speaking guys in masks and rubber gloves, with walkie-talkies, arrested in the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at 2:00 in the morning. What the hell were they in there for? What were they doing? The follow-up story was based primarily on their arraignment in court, and it was based on information given our police reporter, Al Lewis, by the cops, showing them an address book that one of the burglars had in his pocket, and in the address book was the name ‘Hunt,’ H-u-n-t, and the phone number was the White House phone number, which Al Lewis and every reporter worth his salt knew. And when, the next day, Woodward -- this is probably Sunday or maybe Monday, because the burglary was Saturday morning early -- called the number and asked to speak to Mr. Hunt, and the operator said, ‘Well, he's not here now; he's over at,’ such-and-such a place, gave him another number, and Woodward called him up, and Hunt answered the phone, and Woodward said, ‘We want to know why your name was in the address book of the Watergate burglars.’ And there is this long, deathly hush, and Hunt said, ‘Oh my God!’ and hung up. So you had the White House. You have Hunt saying ‘Oh my God!’ At a later arraignment, one of the guys whispered to a judge. The judge said, ‘What do you do?’ and Woodward overheard the words ‘CIA.’ So if your interest isn't whetted by this time, you're not a journalist.” ^[7] Ensuing investigations of suspected cover-ups led inexorably to Congressional committees, conflicting testimonies, and ultimately, to the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. For decades, Bradlee was one of only four publicly known people who knew the true identity of press informant Deep Throat, the other three being Woodward, Bernstein, and Deep Throat himself, who later revealed himself to be Nixon's FBI Associate Director Mark Felt.

In 1981, Post reporter Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for "Jimmy's World", a profile of an eight-year-old heroin addict. Cooke's article turned out to be based on a fiction: there was no such addict. As executive editor, Bradlee was roundly criticized in many circles for failing to ensure the article's accuracy. After questions about the story's veracity arose, Bradlee (along with publisher Donald Graham) ordered a "full disclosure" investigation to ascertain the truth. At one point during the investigation, Bradlee angrily compared Cooke with Richard Nixon over her attempted coverup of the fake story. Bradlee personally apologized to Mayor Marion Barry and the chief of police of Washington, D.C., for the Post's fictitious article. Cooke, meanwhile, was forced to resign and relinquish the Pulitzer.

Other work[link]

Bradlee published an autobiography in 1995, A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures. He had an acting role in Born Yesterday, the 1993 remake of the 1950 romantic comedy.

On May 3, 2006, Bradlee received a Doctor of Humane Letters from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.. Prior to receiving the honorary degree, he taught occasional journalism courses at Georgetown.

In 1991 he was persuaded by then-Governor of Maryland William Donald Schaefer to accept chairmanship of the Historic St. Mary's City Commission and continued in that position through 2003. He also served for 12 years as a member of the board of trustees at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and endowed the Benjamin C. Bradlee Annual Lecture in Journalism there. He continues to serve as vice chairman of the school's board of trustees.^[8]

In the fall of 2005, Jim Lehrer conducted six hours of interviews with Bradlee on a variety of topics—from the responsibilities of the press to the differences between Watergate and the Valerie Plame case. The interviews were edited for an hour-long documentary called Free Speech: Jim Lehrer and Ben Bradlee, which premiered on PBS on June 19, 2006.

Present-day[link]

Bradlee serves on The Washington Post's editorial board as vice president at large. Bradlee and Quinn live at two homes, the Todd Lincoln House in Georgetown, Washington, DC, The middle part of the house was built in 1792. They have also restored Porto Bello in Drayden, Maryland.^[9]

Depiction in popular culture[link]

Actor Jason Robards portrayed Bradlee in the film All the President's Men, winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance. G.D. Spradlin played the role of Bradlee in Dick, a spoof of Watergate. Henderson Forsythe played Bradlee, publisher of The Washington Press, in the romantic comedy Chances Are.

Books[link]

• Bradlee, Ben. Conversations With Kennedy (W W Norton & Co Inc, November 1, 1984) ISBN 978-0-393-30189-2
• Bradlee, Ben. A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures (Simon & Schuster, October, 1995) ISBN 978-0-684-80894-9

Family tree[link]

Ancestry[link]

See also[link]

• Operation Mockingbird

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Bill Green, Washington Post Ombudsman 19 April 1981
• Website for Free Speech: Jim Lehrer with Ben Bradlee 19 June 2006
• Interview via kayotix.com from the BBC news programme Hardtalk 2 November 2006
• Ben Bradlee in Dick 8 August 1999
• illinois.edu
• mediabistro.com
• philly.com
• http://www.americanancestors.org/boston-cousins-of-queen-victoria-and-yankee-ancestors/
• Booknotes interview with Bradlee on A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures, October 29, 1995.

William Edwin "Ed" Bruce, Jr. (born December 29, 1939) is an American country music songwriter and singer. He is known for penning the 1975 song "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and recording the 1982 country number one hit "You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had".

Early life & songwriting career[link]

Bruce was born in Keiser, Arkansas and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1957, at the age of 17, he went to see Jack Clement, a recording engineer for Sun Records. Bruce caught the attention of Sun owner Sam Phillips, for whom he wrote and recorded "Rock Boppin' Baby" (as "Edwin Bruce"). In 1962, he wrote "Save Your Kisses" for pop star Tommy Roe and in 1963 he reached #109 on the Billboard "Bubbling Under" chart with his own recording of "See the Big Man Cry" (Wand 140). Charlie Louvin recorded "See the Big Man Cry" (Capitol 5369) in 1965; Louvin's version reached #7 on the Billboard "Country Singles" chart.

In the early 1960s, Bruce recorded for RCA Records and some smaller labels like Wand/Scepter, singing rockabilly music, as well as more pop-oriented material such as "See the Big Man Cry." However, he didn't achieve significant success as a vocalist during this period.

The height of his career[link]

In 1966, he returned to RCA Records and recorded "Puzzles", "The Price I Pay to Stay" and "Lonesome Is Me". He still did not achieve great charting action. He made money doing voice-overs for television and radio commercials.^[1] He scored his first charted single with "Walker's Woods" in 1967, and also charted with his version of The Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville." Both of these singles were minor hits. In 1969, Bruce signed with Monument Records, where he continued to have minor successes with "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven" and "Song For Jenny". Meanwhile, he continued to write songs like "The Man That Turned My Mama On," which was a major hit for Tanya Tucker in 1974 and "Restless" for Crystal Gayle the same year. He signed with United Artists Records in 1973 and released several singles, but only one single in 1974 became a minor hit. He finally made the upper regions of the charts when he made the Top 20 on the country charts with his version of "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" in 1976.

In 1978, "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys" was recorded by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. It became a major hit, and put Bruce on an upward swing. Two more Top 40 hits followed for Bruce in 1976, and in 1977, he signed with Epic Records where he would score minor hits. In 1979, Tanya Tucker took Bruce's song "Texas (When I Die)" into the country Top 5.

In 1980, Bruce signed with MCA Records, where he would score his biggest successes. His early hits with MCA included "Diane", "The Last Cowboy Song", "When You Fall In Love (Everything's A Waltz)", "Evil Angel", and "Love's Found You And Me". His biggest hit, "You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had" went to number one on the country chart in 1982. This also was Bruce's first Top 10 as a singer after 15 years. He had other hit songs that made the Top 10 like "Ever, Never Lovin' You", "My First Taste of Texas", and "After All".

In 1984, he returned to RCA Records and scored a #3 hit with "You Turn Me On Like A Radio" in 1985. His last Top 10 single was "Nights" in 1986 and his last Top 40 single (and last chart single to date) was "Quietly Crazy" in 1987.

During this time, Bruce began to act and do commercials. One of his biggest acting roles was as the second lead on the television revival of 1957's Maverick, called Bret Maverick. Starring James Garner as a legendary western gambler, the series ran on NBC-TV during the 1981-82 season but was unexpectedly cancelled despite respectable ratings. Bruce played the irascibly surly town lawman who found himself reluctantly co-owning a saloon with Maverick, with whom he seemed to maintain a surreally adversarial relationship more or less throughout the entire season. Bruce also sang and wrote the theme song to the show,^[2] while Garner himself sang the same song over the end titles at the show's close, albeit while being relentlessly interrupted by network announcements about upcoming programming.

After the 1986 album entitled Night Things and a 1988 self-titled follow-up, Bruce made a conscious decision to cut back on his music to focus on his acting career, appearing in several made-for-TV films.^[1] He hosted two shows in the late 1980s, Truckin' USA and American Sports Calvacade^[3] Bruce has also appeared in several theatrical releases, including Fire Down Below with Steven Seagal.^[2]

Bruce's son, Trey Bruce, is a songwriter and record producer.^[4]

Discography[link]

Sources[link]

• Country Music:the Rough Guide; Wolff, Kurt; Penguin Publishing
• LP Discography.com
• Bubbling Under The Hot 100 1959-1985, Record Research Inc., Menomonee Falls WI, 1992

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Ed Bruce at Allmusic
• Ed Bruce on IMDB

Taylor Hicks
Taylor Hicks in the American Idol motorcade at Walt Disney World
Background information
Birth name	Taylor Reuben Hicks
Born	(1976-10-07) October 7, 1976 (age 35) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Genres	Blues rock, blue-eyed soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actor, author, musician, restaurateur
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Arista/19 (2006–2008) Modern Whomp (2008–present)
Associated acts	Little Memphis Blues Orchestra
Website	www.TaylorHicks.com

Taylor Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976) is an American singer who achieved fame in 2006, when he won the fifth season of American Idol. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released two independent albums. Upon winning Idol, he was signed to Arista Records, under which his self-titled major label debut was released on December 12, 2006. His energetic stage performances and influences derived from classic rock, blues, and R&B music had earned him a following of devout fans, who have been dubbed the "Soul Patrol." He performed on Broadway in 2008 and on national tour in 2009 in Grease playing Teen Angel, the role originated by Alan Paul.^[1] The new CD, The Distance, was released March 10, 2009, with the first single, "What's Right Is Right", going to AC adds January 27, 2009. The second single was confirmed to be "Seven Mile Breakdown" via his Myspace page.^[2] In May 2011, Taylor Hicks opened ORE Drink and Dine restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama’s Crestline Park. Birmingham Magazine readers voted ORE as Birmingham’s “Best New Restaurant” in the fall of 2011.^[3] On June 14, 2011, Taylor Hicks performed at Bama Rising: A Benefit Concert For Alabama Tornado Recovery at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center. According to Billboard, the Bama Rising benefit concert raised an estimated $2.2 million for Alabama tornado relief efforts.^[4]

Early life[link]

Taylor Hicks was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on October 7, 1976,^[5] to Bradley Hicks and Pamela Dickinson. His hair started turning gray by the time he was 14. He and his family had moved to suburban Hoover, Alabama when he was eight years old. His parents divorced, and stepmother Linda shared custody of their son until he became of age. Hicks has suggested his difficult childhood as the reason for his turning to soul and blues music for solace.^[6] He has a younger half-brother, Sean, who later convinced him to audition for American Idol.^[7]

He bought his first harmonica when he was 16, for $2 at a flea market in Bessemer, Alabama,^[6] and taught himself to play blues harp. He discovered that he possessed absolute pitch when he was able to recognize the pitches of ordinary noises and mimic them on the harmonica.^[8] Hicks was 18 when he wrote his first song, "In Your Time", and he taught himself to play electric guitar when he was 19.^[9]

Hicks graduated from Hoover High School in 1995. He played varsity baseball, soccer, and basketball while studying in Hoover. He then pursued a major in business and journalism at Auburn University, but lost interest and dropped out after three years.^[10]

Career[link]

Independent music[link]

	"The Fall" excerpt noicon "The Fall" is an acoustic ballad about a painful, failed relationship.[11]
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While in college, Hicks was part of a band called Passing Through, which he later quit to start his own band.^[12] In 1997, he independently recorded In Your Time, an album which included both studio and live tracks. In 2000, he moved to pursue a music career in Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked with Nashville veterans Billy Earl McClelland and Percy Sledge^[6] to record a three-track demo but was unable to find a label that would sign him. He left Nashville after a year due to what he called the "oversaturation of the market".^[13] Hicks returned to Alabama and launched a professional music career, performing at various venues and parties mostly around the Southeastern United States, including The War Eagle Supper Club (a popular college bar) in Auburn, Alabama.^[14] Hicks has performed with the likes of Widespread Panic, James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph, Snoop Dogg, and Keb Mo.^[15] He also performed in the huge infield of Talladega Superspeedway in 2004 during a NASCAR race weekend.^[16]

He recorded, produced, and released a second album, Under the Radar, in 2005. Despite releasing two albums prior to appearing on American Idol, he did not violate their requirements for contestants, as he had never held a recording contract.^[17]

Hicks has allowed audience members to record his concerts for personal, non-commercial use, and has authorized the Internet Archive to create a section for fans to upload and share their recordings. The Archive does not accept the upload of concerts recorded after January 1, 2006 due to the terms of his "American Idol" contract.^[18]

[edit] American Idol 2006

Hicks auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 10, 2005. Hicks passed the audition with the approval of judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, but not Simon Cowell, who said that Hicks would never make it to the final round. On Hicks' first performance for the voting public, Cowell called back to this quote, admitting he was wrong.

On the May 10, 2006, results show, Hicks along with Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin, were announced as the Top 3 finalists. On May 12, Idol producers brought Hicks to Birmingham for a weekend of promotional events including television interviews for the local Fox affiliate, a downtown parade, concerts, and an audience with Governor Bob Riley.^[19][20] May 12 was proclaimed "Taylor Hicks Day" and Hicks was given the key to the city.^[21] Also on May 12, Gov. Riley issued a proclamation making May 16 "Taylor Hicks Day".^[22]

Hicks was named the new American Idol on May 24, 2006, winning the title over McPhee, with over 63.4 million votes cast in total. The proclamation was aired to a worldwide audience of 200 million television viewers.^[23] With his win at age 29, Hicks became the oldest contestant to win American Idol. He was the first male contestant to win American Idol without ending up in the bottom two or three.

In June 2006, Ford Motor Company, the show's major sponsor, signed Hicks to promote Ford's "Drive on Us" year-end sales event.^[24] He was also named Hottest Bachelor by People magazine for 2006, appearing on the magazine's cover.^[25]