With his grandfatherly image,
Burl Ives parlayed his talent as a folksinger into a wide-ranging career as a radio personality and stage and screen actor. After spending his early 20s traveling the country as an itinerant singer,
Ives moved to
New York City in
1937. By the end of
1938, he had made his
Broadway debut, and he also sang folk songs in
Greenwich Village clubs. In
1940, Ives began to appear regularly on radio, including his own show, The Wayfarin'
Stranger, on
CBS. Ives made his first records for Stinson, a small folk label, then was signed to Decca, a major label. He made his movie debut in
Smoky in 1946. In 1948, his first book,
Wayfaring Stranger, was published. In 1949, he had his first chart hit with "
Lavender Blue (
Dilly Dilly)." The same year, he moved to
Columbia Records. With the advent of the long-playing record, Ives suddenly had a flurry of LP releases from his three labels:
The Wayfaring Stranger on Stinson; three volumes of
Ballads &
Folk Songs,
Women: Folk Songs About the
Fair Sex, Folk Songs
Dramatic and Humorous, and
Christmas Day in the Morning on Decca; and Wayfaring Stranger,
Return of the Wayfaring Stranger, More Folk Songs,
American Hymns,
The Animal Fair and
Mother Goose Songs on
Columbia. He also recorded a series of albums for
Encyclopedia Brittanica Films under the overall title
Historical America in Song. In 1951, he hit the Top Ten with "
On Top of Old Smoky." In
1952, he returned to Decca. While continuing to publish books and to act on Broadway and in the movies, Ives made a series of albums that included
Coronation Concert,
The Wild Side of Life,
Men,
Down to the Sea in
Ships, In the
Quiet of the
Night, Burl Ives
Sings for
Fun,
Songs of Ireland, Old
Time Varieties,
Captain Burl Ives' Ark,
Australian Folk Songs, and
Cheers, all released in the second half of the
1950s. In
1961, Ives oriented himself toward country music, resulting in the hit "
A Little Bitty Tear," which made the Top Ten in both the pop and country charts. The single was contained on
The Versatile Burl Ives. "
Funny Way of Laughin'" was another pop and country Top Ten in 1962; it appeared on
It's Just
My Funny Way of Laughin' and won Ives a
Grammy Award for
Best Country Western Recording. He turned his attention primarily to movie work from
1963 on, especially with the
Walt Disney studio. But he charted with
Pearly Shells in 1964 and made a children's
album,
Chim Chim
Cheree and Other
Children's
Choices, for
Disney Buena Vista Records.
At the end of the '60s, Ives returned to Columbia Records for
The Times They Are A-Changin' and
Softly and Tenderly. He gave up popular recording, but returned in
1973 with the country album Payin' My Dues
Again. He also continued to record children's music and also released several religious albums on
Word Records.
Turning 70 in
1979, he became less active and finally retired to
Washington State. In the '90s, Decca and the
German Bear Family label reissued many of his recordings. ~
William Ruhlmann,
All Music Guide
PLEASE
NOTE: I divided my uploads among multiple channels, Bookmark this link in your browser for instant access to an index with links to all of John1948's oldies classics.
LINK:
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Index
- published: 24 Jul 2013
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