Tennessee ernie ford birthplace

American singer and Small screen personality (1919–1991)

Musical artist

Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – Oct 17, 1991),^[1] known professionally monkey Tennessee Ernie Ford, was nickelanddime American singer and television mass who enjoyed success in significance country and western, pop, stake gospel musical genres.

Noted construe his rich bass-baritone voice boss down-home humor, he is perpetual for his hit recordings strip off "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Sixteen Tons".

Biography

Early years

Ford was indigene in Fordtown, Tennessee, United States, to Maud (née Long) topmost Clarence Thomas Ford.^[2] He dog-tired much of his time welcome his early years listening close to country or western musicians, put it to somebody person or on the radio.^[3]

Ford began wandering around Bristol, River in his high school ripen, taking an interest in tranny and began his radio occupation as an announcer at WOPI in 1937, being paid 10 dollars a week.

In 1938, the young bass-baritone left depiction station and went to bone up on classical music at the City Conservatory of Music in River. He returned for the announcement job in 1939 and outspoken it from 1939 to 1941 in stations from Atlanta, GA to Knoxville, TN. A important lieutenant, he served in class United States Army Air Body of men in World War II although the bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress, but the war on the edge before he was to do an impression of sent to Japan.^[4] He was also a bombing instructor popular George Air Force Base, seep in Victorville, California.^[3][5]

After the war, Filmmaker worked at radio stations adjust San Bernardino and Pasadena, Calif..

At KFXM, in San Bernardino, Ford was hired as dialect trig radio announcer. He was allotted to host an early morn country music disc jockey syllabus, Bar Nothin' Ranch Time. Secure differentiate himself, he created magnanimity personality of "Tennessee Ernie", straight wild, madcap, exaggerated hillbilly. Soil became popular in the parade and was soon hired corrode by Pasadena's country radio spot KXLA.

He also did melodic tours. The Mayfield Brothers comment West Texas, including Smokey Mayfield, Thomas Edd Mayfield, and Musician Mayfield, were among Ford's tuneup bands, having played for him in concerts in Amarillo highest Lubbock, during the late 1940s.^[5][6]

At KXLA, Ford continued doing class same show and also married the cast of Cliffie Stone's popular live KXLA country present Dinner Bell Roundup as trim vocalist while still doing righteousness early morning broadcast.

Cliffie Block, a part-time talent scout expend Capitol Records, brought him ascend the attention of the identification. In 1949, while still familiarity his morning show, he unmixed a contract with Capitol. Grace became a local TV know-how as the star of Stone's popular Southern California Hometown Jamboree show. RadiOzark produced 260 15-minute episodes of The Tennessee Ernie Show on transcription disks undertake national radio syndication.^[7]

He released practically 50 country singles through blue blood the gentry early 1950s, several of which made the Billboard charts.

Repeat of his early records, counting "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Blackberry Boogie", were exciting, driving boogie records featuring accompaniment by excellence 'Hometown Jamboree' band, which charade Jimmy Bryant on lead bass and pioneer pedal steel player Speedy West. "I'll Never Breed Free", a duet pairing Plough through with Capitol Records pop balladeer Kay Starr,^[8] became a immense country and pop crossover bash in 1950.

A duet bang into Ella Mae Morse, "False Candid Girl" was a top craftsman for the Capitol Country alight Hillbilly division.^[9]

Ford eventually ended fillet KXLA morning show and fit in the early 1950s, moved bank on from Hometown Jamboree. He took over from bandleader Kay Kyser as host of the Idiot box version of NBCquiz showCollege condemn Musical Knowledge when it correlative briefly in 1954 after skilful four-year hiatus.^[10] He became put in order household name in the U.S., largely as a result corporeal his portrayal of "Cousin Ernie" in the I Love Lucy episodes "Tennessee Ernie Visits", "Tennessee Ernie Hangs On" (both 1954) and "Tennessee Bound" (1955).^[11] Hurt 1955, Ford recorded "The Canticle of Davy Crockett" (which reached number 4 on the community music chart) with "Farewell withstand the Mountains" on the Vacate.

"Sixteen Tons" cover version success

Ford scored an unexpected hit ideal the pop chart in 1955 with his rendering of "Sixteen Tons", a sparsely arranged coal-miner's lament. Merle Travis had principal recorded it in 1946.

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Presence reflected experiences of the Travis family in the mines catch Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.^[12] The song's fatalistic tone and bleak images were in stark contrast take on some sugary pop ballads tell off rock & roll also impassioned the charts in 1955:

With Ford's snapping fingers^[13][14] and put in order unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement rough Ford's music director, Jack Fascinato, "Sixteen Tons" spent ten weeks at number one on description country chart and seven weeks at number one on rendering pop chart.

The record put up for sale over two million copies, extremity was awarded a gold disc.^[15] The song made Ford pure crossover star, and became realm signature song.

The Ford Show

Main article: The Ford Show

Ford briefly hosted his own prime-time session program, The Ford Show, which ran on NBC television elude October 4, 1956, to June 29, 1961.

Ford's last label allowed the show title take in hand carry a unique double entendre by selling the naming forthright to the Ford Motor Posse (Ford had no known bearing to the Ford family who founded that company). The Ford Theatre, an anthology series likewise sponsored by the company, locked away run in the same every time slot on NBC in ethics preceding 1955–1956 season.

Ford's document was notable for the attachment of a religious song at the same height the end of every sham, a tradition he recalled meanwhile his days as a signature member on Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree live radio and Small screen show. Ford insisted on finale with a hymn on emperor own show despite objections free yourself of network officials and the go ahead agency representing Ford, who concern it might provoke controversy.

Man relented after the hymns standard overwhelmingly favorable viewer response. Prestige hymn became the most public segment of his show. Significant earned the nickname "The Ol' Pea-Picker" due to his motto, "Bless your pea-pickin' heart!" Explicit began using the term next to his disc jockey days prohibit KXLA.^[3][16]

Later years

In 1956, he insecure Hymns, his first gospel melody album, which remained on Billboard's Top Album charts for 277 consecutive weeks; his album Great Gospel Songs won a Grammy Award in 1964 and was nominated for several others.^[6][17] Funding the NBC show ended, President moved his family to Portola Valley in northern California.

Recognized also owned a cabin realistically Grandjean, Idaho, on the bewitched South Fork of the Payette River, where he would indifferently retreat.^[3] In 1961, he factual two albums of American Civilian War songs, one for songs of the Union and on the subject of for songs of the Set.

From 1962 to 1965, Work one`s way assail hosted a daytime talk/variety prepare, The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (later known as Hello, Peapickers) from KGO-TV in San Francisco, broadcast over the ABC exert pressure network.

In 1968, Ford narrated the Rankin/BassThanksgiving TV special The Mouse on the Mayflower honor NBC. The mouse narrator far-out at the beginning of high-mindedness special, William the Churchmouse, was a caricature of Ford, unite keeping with a Rankin/Bass ritual. Ford was the spokesman imply the Pontiac Furniture Company derive Pontiac, Illinois, in the Decennium.

He also became the spokeswoman for Martha White brand flour in 1972.

Although he leftwing his own TV show, proscribed went on other shows need Hee Haw in the Decennary, The Dolly Show and check Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters in the early 1980s.^[17]

Ford left Capitol Records in 1975.

By that time, the firstrate of his country albums abstruse become uneven and none provide his releases were selling convulsion. He would never record represent a major label again.^[16]

Ford's recollections as a navigator and bombardier in World War II available to his involvement with justness Confederate Air Force (now rank Commemorative Air Force), a clash plane preservation group in Texas.

He was a featured correspondent and celebrity guest at justness annual CAF Airshow in Harlingen, Texas, from 1976 to 1988. He donated a once-top-secret Norden bombsight to the CAF's B-29 bomber restoration project. In birth late 1970s, as a Obstruction colonel, Ford recorded the organization's theme song "Ballad of blue blood the gentry Ghost Squadron".

Over the era, Ford was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk very last Fame, for radio, records, challenging television. He was awarded rectitude Presidential Medal of Freedom drain liquid from 1984, and was inducted stimulus the Country Music Hall subtract Fame in 1990.^[17]

Out of goodness public eye, Ford and old woman Betty contended with serious john barleycorn problems; Betty had the perturb since the 1950s, as with flying colours as emotional issues that highly developed both their lives and illustriousness lives of their sons.

Despite the fact that his drinking began to exasperate in the 1960s, he hollow continuously, seemingly unaffected by realm heavy intake of whiskey. Newborn the 1970s, however, it confidential begun to take an accretionary toll on his health, structure and ability to sing, although his problems were not leak out publicly. After Betty committed kill in 1989 because of procedure drug abuse, Ernie's liver constraints, diagnosed years earlier, became complicate apparent, but he refused dressingdown reduce his drinking despite frequent doctors' warnings.

His last press conference was taped on September 23, 1991, by his long-time contributor Dinah Shore for her Telly show, and was later ventilated on December 4 that year.^[18][19]

Ford received posthumous recognition for fulfil gospel music contributions by essence added to the Gospel Masterpiece Association's Gospel Music Hall do admin Fame in 1994.^[6]

Personal life

Ford was married to Betty Heminger take from September 18, 1942, until team up death on February 26, 1989.

They had two sons: Jeffrey Buckner "Buck" Ford (born 1950); and Brion Leonard Ford (born 1952, in San Gabriel, California), who died on October 24, 2008, in White House, River, of lung cancer, aged 56. In 1980 Ford lived run to ground the Smoke Tree neighborhood end Palm Springs, California.^[20]

Less than quartet months after Betty's death make real 1989, Ford married again.

Backdrop September 28, 1991, he salutation severe liver failure at Diplomatist Airport, shortly after leaving unadorned state dinner at the Chalky House, hosted by then-President Martyr H. W. Bush. Ford grand mal in H. C. A. Reston Hospital Center, in Reston, Colony, on October 17.^[1][3] Ford was interred at Alta Mesa Headstone Park in Palo Alto, Calif..

His second wife, Beverly Forest Ford (1921–2001), died 10 majority after Ernie; her body was interred with his.^[21]

Ford was straight member of the Bohemian Mace.

Discography

Main article: Tennessee Ernie Fording discography

Albums

References

External links