Clyde Julian Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968), better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II.

For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the genre, selling more than 25 million records. His 1951 hit, "Peace in the Valley", was among the first million-selling gospel records. A Grand Ole Opry veteran until his death, Foley also hosted the first popular country music series on network television, Ozark Jubilee, from 1955 to 1960.

He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which called him "one of the most versatile and moving performers of all time" and "a giant influence during the formative years of contemporary Country music."

Biography[link]

Foley was born June 17, 1910 on a 24-acre (97,000 m²) farm in Blue Lick, Kentucky, grew up in nearby Berea, and gained the nickname Red for his hair color. He was born into a musical family; and by the time he was nine, was giving impromptu concerts at his father's general store, playing French harp, piano, banjo, trombone, harmonica and guitar. At 17, he won first prize in a statewide talent show. He graduated from Berea High School, and later worked as a $2-a-show usher and singer at a theater in Covington, Kentucky.

Early radio and recording career[link]

In 1930, as a freshman at Georgetown College, Foley was chosen by a talent scout from Chicago's WLS-AM to sing with producer John Lair's Cumberland Ridge Runners, the house band on National Barn Dance. His first single, "Life is Good Enough for Me/Lonesome Cowboy", was released in June 1933 on the Melotone label. In 1937 he returned to Kentucky with Lair to help establish the Renfro Valley Barn Dance stage and radio show near Mt. Vernon in 1939, performing everything from ballads to boogie-woogie to blues.

In late 1939, Foley became the first country artist to host a network radio program, NBC's Avalon Time (co-hosted by Red Skelton), and he performed extensively at theaters, clubs and fairs. He then returned for another seven-year stint with National Barn Dance.

In 1941, the same year he made his only film appearance (portraying himself) with Tex Ritter in the Western, The Pioneers, Foley signed a lifetime contract with Decca Records. He also released "Old Shep" in 1941, a song he wrote with Arthur Willis in 1933 about a dog he owned as a boy (in reality, his German shepherd, poisoned by a neighbor, was named Hoover). The song, later recorded by many artists including Hank Snow and Elvis Presley, became a country classic.^[1] His controversial patriotic 1944 single, "Smoke on the Water", topped the folk records chart for 13 consecutive weeks, and on January 17, 1945, Foley was the first country performer to record in Nashville, Tennessee. During the session at WSM-AM's Studio B, he recorded "Tennessee Saturday Night", "Blues in the Heart" and "Tennessee Border". He soon became known for such songs as "The Death of Floyd Collins" and "The Sinking of the Titanic".^[2] He moved to Nashville in 1946 and was briefly a member of the Brown's Ferry Four, recording "Jesus Hold My Hand" and "I'll Meet You in the Morning".

Mr. Country Music[link]

In April 1946, Foley signed on to emcee and perform on The Prince Albert Show, the segment of the Grand Ole Opry carried on NBC Radio. During the next eight years he established himself as one of the most respected and versatile performers in country music. He acted as master of ceremonies, the straight man for Opry comedians Rod Brasfield and Minnie Pearl, and proved himself a vocalist who could handle all types of material.^[1] His popularity was credited with establishing the Opry as America's top country music radio show. In 1949, Foley was part of the Opry's first European tour, visiting U.S. military bases in England, West Germany and the Azores, with Brasfield, Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, Little Jimmy Dickens, Hank Williams and others.^[3]

Foley began recording with his backing group, the Cumberland Valley Boys, in 1947. He recorded seven top five hits with the group between 1947 and 1949, including a No. 1 single, "New Jolie Blonde (New Pretty Blonde)" (a cover of a 1946 Moon Mullican hit), and the country boogie anthem "Tennessee Saturday Night", a chart-topper in 1948. In 1950, he had three million-sellers: "Just a Closer Walk with Thee", "Steal Away" (recorded by Hank Williams as "The Funeral"), and a solo version of the song that became his trademark, "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy". Featuring guitarist Grady Martin, it stayed at No. 1 on Billboard's country chart for 13weeks and hit the pop chart as well.

In April, 1951, Foley was pleased when the immensely popular Andrews Sisters (Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne) flew from Hollywood to Nashville to join him for a two day recording session, both acts hoping to repeat the previous successes that the sisters enjoyed when they teamed with Burl Ives in 1947 and Ernest Tubb in 1949, producing both folk and country hits. While the results proved to be less popular, the ten tunes recorded were vocally well executed and received a good deal of play on the country radio stations. The songs included the rhythmic "Satins and Lace," the rockabilly-flavored novelty "Where Is Your Wandering Mother Tonight?," a very slow rendering of the forlorn hillbilly classic "Bury Me Beneath the Willow," two duets by Red and Patty Andrews, and two country gospel favorites: "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)" and "He Bought My Soul at Calvary."^[4]

In 1951, Foley's second wife, Judy Martin, took her own life. To devote more time to his family in Nashville, he cut back on performing but continued to release hits in a variety of styles, including rockabilly and rhythm and blues. His 1951 hit, "(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (for Me)" backed by the Sunshine Boys quartet, was one of the first gospel music records to sell one million copies. He also released his first LP that year, Souvenir Album (Decca DL-5303).

Foley's manager was Jim McConnell and "Dub" Albritton was his personal appearances manager. Starting in 1951, he hosted The Red Foley Show on Saturday afternoons on NBC Radio from Nashville (moving to ABC Radio and Springfield, Missouri from 1956 to 1961) sponsored by Dow Chemical. On November 21, 1953, he was one of the first eight singers named to Billboard magazine's Honor Roll of Country and Western artists, "named by the disk jockeys of America as an all-time great of country & western music."^[5]

Foley never lost his love for country music and, unlike Eddy Arnold, never sought success as a pop artist, even though many of his recordings made the pop charts.^[1] Other hits included "Sugarfoot Rag", "Cincinnati Dancing Pig" and "Birmingham Bounce", which stayed at No. 1 for 14 weeks. Foley's success with the song prompted 21 cover versions. "One By One", a duet with Kitty Wells, hit No. 1 in 1954 and stayed on the charts for 41 weeks. He also recorded with Ernest Tubb (with whom he maintained a fictitious on-air "feud"), the Dixie Dons, the Andrews Sisters, the Anita Kerr Singers, Rosetta Tharpe, Evelyn Knight and the Lawrence Welk Orchestra. Known by then as Mr. Country Music and America's Favorite Country Gentleman, critics dubbed him the "barnyard Bing Crosby."^[6]

Television career[link]

After several years in virtual retirement, Foley moved to Springfield, Missouri in July 1954 after music executive Si Siman convinced him to host Ozark Jubilee on ABC-TV and radio. The deal was made over a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey at the Andrew Jackson Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.^[7] Foley struggled with alcohol,^[8] which according to Maxine Brown, "was a well-kept secret among all the entertainers because we loved him so much."^[9]

In 1955, an official act of the Oklahoma Legislature honored him as the artist who has "contributed with humility and reverence more than any other person to perpetuate the music so deeply embedded in the hearts of the American people."^[10] That same year, he was credited with discovering 11-year-old Brenda Lee, who became a Jubilee regular. On the October 4, 1956 program, Decca executives presented him with a gold record for "Peace in the Valley".^[11] The Jubilee ran for nearly six years and further cemented Foley's fame, but was canceled partly because of federal income tax evasion charges pending against him in 1960. His first trial that fall ended with a hung jury, but on April 23, 1961, he was quickly acquitted.^[12]

From 1954 to 1955, Foley recorded a number of transcriptions for RadiOzark Enterprises in Springfield with his band of Tommy Jackson on fiddle, Grady Martin on guitar, steel guitarist Bud Isaacs, guitarist Jimmie Selph, Bob Moore on bass and Billy Burke on accordion.

On April 25, 1956, he appeared on ABC's Masquerade Party as Little Red Riding Hood, and made a guest appearance the next day on CBS' Strike it Rich.^[13] He appeared on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, a 1957–1960 program hosted by his son-in-law Pat Boone. On February 22, 1960, he appeared on Tonight Starring Jack Paar.^[14] In the summer of 1961, Foley appeared twice on NBC-TV's Five Star Jubilee and made 58 appearances at 22 state fairs with Boob Brasfield.^[15] He moved to Los Angeles, California, and from 1962 to 1963 played Fess Parker's Uncle Cooter on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, an ABC-TV sitcom. In 1963, he returned to Nashville and performed and toured with the Grand Ole Opry. He was a guest on The Joey Bishop Show on August 24, 1967.

Foley was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967 (the first Kentuckian and one of only six then-living inductees), which honored him as "one of the most versatile and moving performers of all time" and "a giant influence during the formative years of contemporary Country music and today a timeless legend."

Death[link]

On September 19, 1968, Foley appeared in two Opry performances in Fort Wayne, Indiana sponsored by the local Sheriff's Posse^[16] that included Billy Walker and 20-year-old Hank Williams, Jr., son of his long-time friend Hank Williams. Before the second show, according to Walker, Foley came to his dressing room and Walker shared his faith in Christ: "[Foley] said, 'Do you think God could ever forgive a sinner like me?' He began to tell me all the rotten things he had done in his life and I looked him in the face and said, 'Red, if God can forgive me, He can forgive you.' I prayed with Red, he went out and the last song he sang was "Peace In The Valley". He came over to side of the stage and said, 'Billy, I've never sung that song and feel the way I do tonight.'"^[17] Foley suffered respiratory failure that night and died in his sleep, prompting Hank Williams, Jr. to write and record (as Luke the Drifter, Jr.) "I Was With Red Foley (The Night He Passed Away)". According to the song, which charted that November, his last words were, "I’m awful tired now, Hank, I’ve got to go to bed." Foley had sung "Peace In The Valley" at Hank Sr.'s funeral. Red Foley was interred in Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville.

Family[link]

Foley had an older brother, Clarence "Cotton" Foley (1903–1988), who in 1939, along with brother Red, John Lair, and Whitey Ford, co-founded the Renfro Valley Barn Dance in Rockcastle County, Kentucky.

After his first wife, Axie Pauline Cox, died giving birth to their daughter Betty, he married Eva Alaine Overstake on August 9, 1933. Known during her solo career as Judy Martin, she was one of the Three Little Maids on National Barn Dance and a sister of country music songwriter Jenny Lou Carson. Their daughters were Shirley Lee (Boone), Julie Ann (Neely) and Jenny Lou (Pankratz); who recorded with their parents on Decca as the Little Foleys. On November 17, 1951, Overstake committed suicide. On December 17, 1952, Foley announced in Nashville that he had secretly married radio and TV entertainer Sally Sweet, who became his third wife, on October 28 in Iuka, Mississippi.^[18] That spring he had settled out-of-court with Sweet's former husband, Nashville music publisher Frank B. Kelton, who had sued him in April for $100,000 for alienation of affection.^[19]

Betty Foley's son is country music performer Clyde Foley Cummins. Betty, (1933–1990) was married to Bentley Cummins in 1948 and aside from their son Clyde, had two other children, Charlotte Jean and Patrick Bentley. Shirley Lee Foley married actor-singer Pat Boone in 1953. Their daughters are Cheryl Lynn, Linda Lee, Laura Gene and country and Christian music singer Debby Boone.

Legacy[link]

Foley was an inspiration to rock 'n' roll, in particular Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, who both covered many of his songs. His country boogie material was a clear precursor of the style.

Foley has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for his recording career at, 6225 Hollywood Blvd. and one for his television career, at 6300 Hollywood Blvd. On June 10, 2003, a Kentucky State historical marker (No. 2114) was placed at Foley's boyhood home in Berea.

In 2002, he was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, where his corncob pipe is on display. In 2006, his 1951 version of "Peace in the Valley" was entered into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.^[20]

In 1970, Berea College established the Red Foley Memorial Music Award. Initiated by his long-time friend and colleague Si Siman, the annual award is presented to talented Berea College students in recognition of their musical contributions to the campus community. It is intended to promote the music associated with Foley’s career, such as folk, country, bluegrass, gospel and popular music.

A dance to Foley's song, "The Salty Dog Rag", has been traditional at Dartmouth College since 1972, where it is taught to freshman during orientation.^[21] Cumberland Falls State Park, in Corbin, Kentucky, near Foley's hometown of Berea, has been playing the song with an accompanying dance at its square dance nights since at least the mid-1970s.

The Rooks Van Dellen Residence Hall at Calvin College has an annual celebration of Red Foley Day in mid-November. The celebration began in 1968 when a few students from the hall heard a radio announcer say, "Red Foley was a great country music singer, too bad no one will ever remember him." The day has been celebrated (with a few lapses) to remember Foley ever since.^[22][23]

Foley Middle School, located in Berea near Foley's boyhood home, opened in 1978 and educates students in southern Madison County in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. The school retains a large collection of personal items once owned by Foley on display in the library. The collection was donated by members of his family.

Red Foley Court is among several streets in Nixa, Missouri named for performers on Ozark Jubilee, and Red Foley Road is in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, north of Renfro Valley.^[24]

In 2009, singer/songwriter James Power released a song based on Foley's second wife, Eva Overstake (aka Judy Martin), entitled "A Cowgirl's Suicide".^[25] The song was featured in the independent film Laid Off by director John Launchi.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• The Associated Press (September 21, 1968) "Red Foley Dead; Country Singer", The New York Times, p. 33
• Brown, Maxine (2005). Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-790-2. 
• "Foley Acquitted Of Tax Evasion" (April 23, 1961), Springfield Leader & Press, p. A1
• "Honor Roll of C&W Artists" (December 5, 1953) The Billboard, p. 48
• The Ozark Jubilee starring Red Foley (1956), RadiOzark Enterprises, Inc.
• "Red Foley Set on 58 Fair Dates" (July 3, 1961), Billboard, p. 9
• "The Red Foley Story" (March, 1955), Country & Western Jamboree
• "Red Foley Fans Tribute". myspace.com. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=416559146. Retrieved 2009-03-14. 
• Rumble, John (1998). "Red Foley". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 176.
• Spears-Stewart, Rita (1993). Remembering the Ozark Jubilee. Stewart, Dillbeck & White Productions. ISBN 0-9638648-0-7. .

External links[link]

• Watch Red Foley on Jubilee USA, "Chattanoogie Shoeshine Boy," June 20, 1959 Flash player file
• Listen to Red Foley: "Salty Dog Rag" MP3 audio file
• Red Foley in the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Red Foley biography at Country Music Television.com
• Photo of Red and Sally Foley
• Tribute by Foley's grandson, Clyde Foley Cummins
• Red Foley at Find a Grave

Ellen Muriel Deason (born August 30, 1919), known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star. Her Top 10 hits continued until the mid-1960s, inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.

Wells ranks as the sixth most successful female vocalist in the history of Billboard's country charts, according to historian Joel Whitburn's book The Top 40 Country Hits, behind Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Tammy Wynette, and Tanya Tucker. In 1976, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is currently its oldest living member. In 1991, she became the third country music artist, after Roy Acuff and Hank Williams, and the eighth woman to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Wells' accomplishments earned her the nickname The Queen of Country Music.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Wells was born Ellen Muriel Deason in 1919 in Nashville, Tennessee, one of the few country singers born in Nashville. She began singing as a child, learning guitar from her father. As a teenager, she sang with her sisters, who performed under the name the Deason Sisters on a local radio station beginning in 1936.^[1]

At the age of 18 she married Johnnie Wright, a cabinet-maker who aspired to country-music stardom (which he'd eventually achieve as half of the duo Johnnie & Jack).^[2]

Music career[link]

Wells sang with Wright and his sister Louise Wright; the three toured as Johnnie Right and the Harmony Girls. Soon Wright met Jack Anglin, who married Louise and became part of the band, which became known first as the Tennessee Hillbillies and then the Tennessee Mountain Boys.

Wright and Wells performed as a duo; it was at this time she adopted "Kitty Wells" as her stage name. When Anglin returned from the Army, he and Wright formed the Johnnie & Jack duo. Wells would tour with the pair, occasionally performing backup vocals.^[1]

On Louisiana Hayride, she performed with her husband's duo. Wells, however, did not sing on their records until signing with RCA Records in 1949 releasing some of her first singles, including "Death At The Bar" and "Don't Wait For The Last Minute To Pray", neither of which charted. While these early records gained some notice, promoters still weren't keen on promoting female singers, and therefore Wells was dropped from the label in 1950.

1952: "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"[link]

In 1952, Paul Cohen, an executive at Decca Records, approached Wells to record "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels".^[1] Wells was disenchanted with her career prospects and was considering retirement, but agreed to the session (at Owen Bradley’s studio on May 3, 1952) because of the $125 union scale recording payment. "I wasn't expecting to make a hit," said Wells later. "I just thought it was another song."

"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was an answer song to Hank Thompson's No. 1 smash, "The Wild Side of Life", and its lyrical treatment of seductive, wayward women. Wells' single retorted, "It's a shame that all the blame is on us women."

The record's message was controversial at the time, and was banned by many radio stations.^[3] It was also temporarily banned from the Grand Ole Opry. Nevertheless, audiences couldn’t get enough of it.^[4] The single took off during the summer of 1952, and sold more than 800,000 copies in its initial release. It became the first single by a female singer to peak at No. 1 in the eight-year history of the country music chart, where it remained for six weeks. (Certain female country songs, notably Patsy Montana's million-selling "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" predate the creation of Billboard's country chart in 1944.) "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" also crossed over to Billboard’s pop charts, hitting No. 27.^[4] Because of her major breakthrough, Wells received a membership to the Grand Ole Opry, which had originally banned the single.

Writer Bill Friskics-Warren has argued that part of the song's appeal came from its combination of a modern message with

a familiar, antediluvian tune, a melody drawn from the Carter Family's "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" (as were "The Wild Side of Life" and Roy Acuff's "The Great Speckled Bird"). Practically anyone could hum along with "Angels" the first time they heard it.^[5]

Wells is also credited as the one who discovered and encouraged a young 15-year-old musician who would be known as Zane Ashton (real name Bill Aken), to pursue his musical ambitions as a singer and guitarist. Elvis would later nickname the young guitar player "The Fixer," due to his ability to 'fix' mediocre sound tracks with his guitar work, and this further served to validate her ability to recognize young talent in its early stages.

1953–1969: Career peak[link]

"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was followed by "Paying For That Back Street Affair", a response to Webb Pierce's "Back Street Affair". The single reached number six in the spring of 1953, helping to establish a lasting place at the top of the charts for Wells.^[1] Between 1953 and 1955, she was popular on the country charts, and was the only female solo artist at the time to be able to maintain her success. In 1953, Wells had two Top 10 hits with "Hey Joe" and "Cheatin's A Sin". The next year, Wells partnered with country star Red Foley for the duet "One By One", which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart, and became her second chart-topper. The song led to a string of hit singles from the duo within the next two decades, including 1954's "As Long as I Live", which peaked at No. 3. As a solo artist in 1954, Wells had two major hits with the No. 8 "Release Me" and the Top 15 hit, "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (written by Don Everly of the Everly Brothers).

Record companies were reluctant to issue albums by country's female artists until Wells proved that women could sell.^[6] She became the first female country singer to issue an LP, starting with 1956's Kitty Wells' Country Hit Parade, which consisted of her biggest hits. She released her first studio album in 1957 with Winner of Your Heart. Soon other female country singers released LPs in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

"Making Believe" and "Lonely Side of Town" became chart-toppers^[7] for Wells, however not on Billboard magazine. "Making Believe" is widely regarded as one of the greatest songs in country music history and Wells' as the definitive version of the song despite scores of covers over the years. Wells' later 1950s releases included "Searching (For Someone Like You)", "I Can't Stop Loving You", and "Amigo's Guitar", which she wrote with John D. Loudermilk.^[7] In 1957, Wells issued Winner of Your Heart. This was followed by a string of LPs released from Decca Records between 1957 and 1973. She also partnered with Webb Pierce the same year for two duet singles, including the Top 10 hit, "Oh So Many Years". The duo didn't record together again until 1964 with the Top 10 hit, "Finally". In 1959, Wells had two Top 5 hits with "Amigo's Guitar" and "Mommy For A Day". Wells was later awarded a BMI award for writing "Amigo's Guitar." Although not known much for her songwriting, Wells has won two BMI awards, including one for "Amigo's Guitar". She has published more than 60 songs.

She continued to put much of herself into her songs throughout her career, inspiring other female country singers to record risky material as well. Loretta Lynn was one of her followers in this sense, when she recorded "Don't Come A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)" in 1967. Dolly Parton's 1968 recording "Just Because I'm a Woman", like "Honky Tonk Angels", questioned the male-female double-standard.

Wells entered the 1960s on top with songs like "Heartbreak U.S.A." and "Day into Night".^[7] "Heartbreak USA" peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and became her third and final No. 1 hit. The follow-up, "Day Into Night" was a Top 10 hit the same year. Owen Bradley took over as Wells' producer in the 1960s. While Bradley did produce some of the biggest-selling country crossover singers of the time period, including Patsy Cline, he did have to record some of what Nashville then called "The Old-Timers," or the "Honky-Tonkers" from the 1950s, including Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb, and Wells. With these singers, including Wells, he steered them all into the new contemporary sound without pushing them out of their limits. Wells' sound changed slightly due to Bradley's influence, incorporating some of the new Nashville sound into her material.^[6] The well-known Nashville Sound vocal group, The Jordanaires, can be heard backing Wells on her big country hit from 1961, "Heartbreak USA".

In the early '60s, her career dipped slightly, but she continued to have Top Ten hits frequently.^[8]

In 1962, Wells had three Top 10 hits with "Will Your Lawyer Talk to God", "Unloved Wanted," and "We Missed You". Beginning in 1964, Wells' albums began to chart the Top Country Albums chart, starting with the LP, Especially for You. Some of Wells' albums peaked within the Top 10 on that chart. That same year, her singles began to return to the Top 10 with "This White Circle on My Finger" and "Password", both of which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Country Chart. In 1965, Wells had her last Top 10 hit with "Meanwhile, Down At Joe's" and in 1966, Wells then had her final Top 20 hit with "It's All Over But the Crying", which peaked at No. 14 on the country charts.

During the late '60s and '70s, Wells' streak of hits evaporated, but she managed to have a string of minor hits and remained a popular concert attraction.^[9] She continued with a string of Top 40 hits nearly until the end of the decade with her last Top 40 single, "My Big Truck Drivin' Man" in 1968. In 1968, Wells recorded a duet album with husband Johnnie Wright called, We'll Stick Together. Wells also reunited with Red Foley at the end of the decade for a studio album. Her albums continued to chart the Top Country Albums chart until 1969 with Guilty Street.

Wells was popular enough to start her own syndicated television program with her husband in 1969. The Kitty Wells/Johnnie Wright Family Show also featured appearances by their children, including actor Bobby Wright, and stayed on the air for several years.^[7] She became the first female country star to have her own syndicated television show, but the program could not compete against shows starring more contemporary male artists like Porter Wagoner and Bill Anderson and only ran for one year.

1970–present: Later career and retirement[link]

Wells stayed under the Decca label until 1973. She released three studio albums in 1970 and two in 1971. The singles from these albums did not become major hits, some which didn't even make the Top 70 on the Billboard Country Chart. In 1973, when Decca became MCA Records, Wells stayed with them for a short period time, before leaving the label. In 1974 she signed with Capricorn Records, a southern rock label of the era, and recorded a blues-flavored album entitled Forever Young on which she was backed by members of the Allman Brothers Band. The album was not a huge commercial success (though the Dylan-penned title tune did receive some airplay), but it received considerable acclaim and, through its association with the Allmans, brought Wells to the attention of a younger audience.

In 1976 she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.^[10] Wells became the second female country singer to be elected (Patsy Cline was the first to be honored as a solo act in 1973). In the late 1970s, Wells and husband formed their own record label, Rubocca (the name was a composite of their three children's names: Ruby, Bobby, and Carol) and released several albums. In 1979 at age 60 she was back on the Billboard charts with a modest hit, "I Thank You for the Roses".

Despite her waning popularity, Wells remained a successful concert attraction at smaller venues throughout the country and was still performing on the summer resort circuit as late as the mid-1980s.^[7] In 1987 she joined fellow Opry legends Brenda Lee and Loretta Lynn on k.d. lang's "Honky Tonk Angels Medley", which failed to crack the U.S. country charts despite high critical acclaim and crossover success in Canada. Wells' 1955 recording "Making Believe" was included in the soundtrack of the film Mississippi Burning.

In 1991, Wells was awarded from the Grammy Awards a Lifetime Achievement award. She, along with Johnnie and Bobby, joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night CD “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” performing "Jingle Bells" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.

Wells and her husband opened the Family Country Junction Museum and Studio in 1983 in their hometown of Madison, but stopped running it on their own in 2000. Their grandson, John Sturdivant, Jr. has kept the Junction Recording Studio at its present location which also houses Junction Records and Music Entertainment.^[11] Wells and her husband-singing partner of 53 years performed their final show together on December 31, 2000 at the Nashville Nightlife Theater; they had announced their retirement earlier that year.^[3]

Wells was ranked No. 15 on CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002.

An exhibit honoring Wells at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville ran from August 2008 through June 2009.^[12] On May 14, 2008, Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, along with Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman".

Personal life[link]

Wells married Johnnie Wright (1914–2011) in 1937. They had three children: two daughters, Ruby (1939–2009)^[13] and Carol Sue and a son, Bobby. In addition, Wells has five siblings: Jewel, William, Orville, Raymond, and Mae. Her parents were Charles Cary and Myrtle Deason. She and Johnnie also have 8 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren. ^[14]

Carol Sue released a single with Wells in the mid-'50s titled "How Far Is Heaven", which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Country Chart. Wells' other children have both had tries as country music singers, but neither had any bigger success. Ruby recorded an album for the Kapp label, while Bobby recorded albums for both Decca and ABC Dot.^[15] Wells and her husband – lifelong members of the Church of Christ celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2007, a rare achievement for any couple and one of the longest celebrity marriages in history. Ruby died in 2009 at the age of 69 and Johnnie died in 2011 at the age of 97.

Honors[link]

• NARAS Governor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Recording Industry (1981)
• Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award (1985)
• NARAS Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1991)
• The Music City News Living Legend Award (1993)

Discography[link]

References[link]

1910, 1920 U.S. Federal Census

External links[link]

• Kitty Wells' official website
• CMT.com: Kitty Wells
• Kitty Wells at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929–December 3, 2001) was one of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant American session musicians in country music and rockabilly.

A member of Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits ranging from Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" and Marty Robbins' "El Paso" to Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter" and Sammi Smith's "Help Me Make It Through the Night".^[1] During a nearly 50-year career, Martin backed such names as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Johnny Burnette, Don Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Bing Crosby. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Biography[link]

Grady Martin was born January 17, 1929 in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. He grew up on a farm with his oldest sister, Lois, his older brothers, June and Bill, and his parents, Claude and Bessey;^[2] and had a horse he named Trigger. His mother played the piano and encouraged his musical talent.^[2]

At age 15, Martin was invited to perform regularly on WLAC-AM in Nashville, Tennessee, and made his recording debut two years later on February 15, 1946^[3] with Curly Fox and Texas Ruby in Chicago, Illinois.^[4]

That same year, he joined Paul Howard's Western swing-oriented Arkansas Cotton Pickers as half of Howard's twin guitar ensemble with Robert "Jabbo" Arrington and performed on the Grand Ole Opry. When Howard left, Opry newcomer Little Jimmy Dickens hired several former Cotton Pickers, including Martin, as his original Country Boys road band. He later joined Big Jeff Bess and the Radio Playboys followed by a stint with the Bailes Brothers Band.

By 1950, Martin was a part of the rising Nashville recording scene as a studio guitarist and fiddler, and his guitar hooks propelled Red Foley's "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" and "Birmingham Bounce". In 1951, he signed with Decca Records with own country-jazz band, Grady Martin and the Slew Foot Five.^[5] In addition to backing mainstream acts like Bing Crosby and Burl Ives, they began to record in their own right, with later sessions under the name Grady Martin and his Winging Strings^[6] when he introduced his twin-neck Bigsby guitar.^[7] The band, with Hank Garland, Bob Moore, Tommy Jackson and Bud Isaacs made regular appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee in the mid-1950s.

Nashville A-Team[link]

It was as a session musician starting in the late 1950s that Martin made his greatest mark on country and rockabilly music. He played lead guitar on Johnny Burnette's Rock 'n' Roll Trio album on tracks such as "Honey Hush", "Lonesome Train", "Sweet Love On My Mind" "Rockbilly Boogie", "Lonesome Tears in my Eyes", "All by Myself", "The Train Kept a Rollin'", "I Just Found Out", "Your Baby Blue Eyes", "Chains Of Love", "I Love You So", "Drinkin Wine Spo Dee o Dee", "Eager Beaver Baby", "If You Want it Enough", "Blues Stay Away from Me", "Rock Therapy", and "Please Don't Leave"; Don Woody's recordings including "Bird Dog", "Morse Code", "Make Like Rock and Roll"; and with other rockabilly artists who recorded with MCA in Owen Bradley's studio.

As a guitarist with The Nashville A-Team, he provided the guitar on the Marty Robbins hits "El Paso" (1959) and "Don't Worry" (1961), on Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964) and Lefty Frizzell's "Saginaw, Michigan" (1964).^[8] His guitar work was also displayed in Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans" (1959) and "Honky Tonk Man" (1956), and especially his pure rockabilly sound on "I'm Coming Home" (1957). He shaped countless other classics, including Elvis Presley's "(You're The) Devil in Disguise", Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again", Ray Price's "For the Good Times" and Jeanne Pruett's "Satin Sheets".

Martin is credited with accidentally stumbling onto the electric guitar "fuzz" effect during a recording session with Robbins; his guitar was run through a faulty channel in a mixing console, generating the fuzz sound on "Don't Worry".

In the 1960s, he played on sessions with Joan Baez, J. J. Cale and others; and played on Sammi Smith's 1971 hit, "Help Me Make it Through the Night", among the most successful country singles of all time. In the early 1970s, Martin played on many records by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, worked with Kris Kristofferson and produced the country-rock band Brush Arbor.

Later years[link]

In 1978, with his studio career over, Martin returned to the life of a touring musician; first with Jerry Reed and then as lead guitarist for Willie Nelson's band, appearing in Nelson's 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose. In 1994, deteriorating health forced him to retire, but he produced Nelson's 1995 honky tonk album, Just One Love.

The Nashville Entertainment Association gave him its first Master Award in 1983, and he was the 83rd inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. On April 5, 2000, he received a Chetty award for significant instrumental achievement at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium during the Chet Atkins Musician Days festival. Health problems prevented Martin from attending; Nelson, Vince Gill and Marty Stuart presented the award—named after Atkins, who attended—to Martin's son, Joshua. Grady Martin was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007.

He was married three times and had three daughters, Alisa, Angie and Julie; and seven sons, Grady Jr., Joe, Tal, Jason, Joshua, Justin and Steve.

Martin died from a heart attack on December 3, 2001 in Lewisburg, Tennessee; and was interred at Hopper Cemetery in Marshall County, Tennessee.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Cooper, Peter "Grady Martin, Guitarist Who Did It all, Dies at 72" (December 4, 2001), Nashville Tennessean
• Jessen, Wade "Good Works 'A-Team' Sessionist Grady Martin Dies" (December 15, 2001) Billboard, p. 66
• Martin, Josh. "Biography of Grady Martin". http://www.nashvillesound.net/gradymartinbio.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
• Martin, Tal. "Grady Martin". http://www.myspace.com/thegradymartin. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
• Roland, Tom. "Grady Martin". The Nashville Tennessean. http://www.nashvillesound.net/gradynews.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
• Wadey, Paul "Obituaries: Grady Martin'" (December 7, 2001), The Independent, p. 6

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Watch and hear Grady Martin videos and music on son Tal Martin's MySpace page
• Grady Martin biography at CMT.com
• Grady Martin biography by son Josh Martin at Nashvillesound.com
• Grady Martin tribute website
• Grady Martin and Bob Moore tribute website
• Grady Martin at Find a Grave

Faron Young
Capitol Records promotional photo
Background information
Birth name	Faron Young
Also known as	The Hillbilly Heartthrob The Singing Sheriff The Young Sheriff
Born	(1932-02-25)February 25, 1932
Origin	Shreveport, Louisiana, United States
Died	December 10, 1996(1996-12-10) (aged 64)
Genres	Country music
Occupations	singer, songwriter, movie actor
Instruments	guitar
Years active	1951–1994
Labels	Gotham, Capitol, Mercury, MCA, Step One

Faron Young (February 25, 1932 – December 10, 1996) was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars. Hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" marked him as a honky-tonk singer in sound and personal style; and his chart-topping singles "Hello Walls" and "It's Four in the Morning" showed his versatility as a vocalist. Known as the Hillbilly Heartthrob, and following a movie role, the Young Sheriff, Young's singles reliably charted for more than 30 years. He committed suicide in 1996. Young is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Biography[link]

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Young was the youngest of six children. He grew up on a dairy farm that his family operated outside the city. He began singing at an early age. He performed at the local Optimist Club and was discovered by Webb Pierce, who brought him to star on Louisiana Hayride on KWKH-AM in 1951. He graduated from Fair Park High School that year and attended Centenary College of Louisiana.

Recording career[link]

Young recorded in Shreveport, but his first releases were on Philadelphia’s Gotham Records.^[1] By February 1952, he was signed to Capitol Records, where he recorded for the next ten years. His first Capitol single appeared that spring.

Young moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and recorded his first chart hit, "Goin’ Steady", in October 1952, but his career was sidetracked when he was drafted into the US Army the following month. The song hit the Billboard country charts while Young was in basic training. It peaked at No. 2, and the US Army Band took the young singer to replace Eddie Fisher on tours—its first country music singer—just as "If You Ain’t Lovin’" was hitting the charts.^[1] He was discharged in November 1954.

From 1954 to 1962, Young recorded many honky-tonk classics for Capitol, including the first hit version of Don Gibson’s "Sweet Dreams". Most famous was "Hello Walls," a 1961 crossover hit for Young written by Willie Nelson.^[1] It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[2]

During the mid-1950s, Young starred in four low-budget movies: Hidden Guns, Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer, Raiders of Old California and Country Music Holiday. He appeared as himself in cameo roles and performances in later country music movies and was a frequent guest on television shows throughout his career, including ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee. His band, the Country Deputies, was one of country music's top bands and they toured for many years. He invested in real estate along Nashville's Music Row in the 1960s and, in 1963, co-founded, with Preston Temple, the trade magazine, Music City News.

The same year, Young switched to Mercury Records and drifted musically, but by the end of the decade he had recaptured much of his fire with hits including "Wine Me Up". Released in 1971, waltz-time ballad "It's Four In The Morning" written by Jerry Chesnut^[3] was one of Young’s finest records and his last number one hit, also becoming his only major success in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 3 on the pop charts. By the mid-1970s his records were becoming overshadowed by his behavior, making headlines in 1972 when he was charged with assault for spanking a girl in the audience at a concert in Clarksburg, West Virginia, who he claimed spat on him,^[4] and for other later incidents. In the mid-70s, Young was the spokesman for BC Powder.^[5]

Later years[link]

Young signed with MCA Records in 1979 but the association lasted only two years. Nashville independent label Step One signed him in 1988 where he recorded into the early 1990s (including a duet album with Ray Price), then withdrew from public view. Though new country acts including BR549 were putting his music before new audiences in the mid-1990s, Young apparently felt the industry had turned its back on him.^[1] That and despondency over his deteriorating health were cited as possible reasons why Young shot himself on December 9, 1996. He died in Nashville the following day and was cremated. His ashes were spread by his family over Old Hickory Lake outside Nashville at Johnny and June Carter Cash's home while the Cash's were away.^[6]

Legacy and influence[link]

• A live performance video clip of Young's "It's Four in The Morning" was the first music video to air on CMT when it was launched on March 6, 1983.
• In 1985, British rock group Prefab Sprout's album, Steve McQueen, included the song "Faron Young" with the refrain, "You give me Faron Young four in the morning/Forgive me Faron Young four in the morning..."
• A Country Music Song written by Tex Garrison mentions Faron Young in his opening lyrics and contains the lines "Got a stack of records when I was one, listened to Hank Williams and Faron Young.
• In 2000, Young was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
• The cat owned by Peanuts comic strip character Frieda was named "Faron" after Young, whom Charles Schulz "admired very much",^[7] but made few appearances in the strip.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

B-sides[link]

Movie roles[link]

• 1956 Hidden Guns
• 1956 Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer
• 1957 Raiders of Old California
• 1958 Country Music Holiday
• 1966 Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar
• 1966 Nashville Rebel
• 1967 What Am I Bid?
• 1967 The Road to Nashville
• 1977 That's Country

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Cooper, Daniel (2004), In The Encyclopedia of Country Music, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-517608-7 ., p. 606-7
• Diekman, Diane. "Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story." Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2007, p. 27

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Faron Young at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Faron Young biography and links
• Faron Young biography at CMT.com
• Faron Young obituary at CountryStandardTime.com
• The short film Country Style USA Recruitment: Episode 19 is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film Country Style USA Recruitment: Episode 35 is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• Faron Young at the Internet Movie Database