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American singer and Goggle-box personality (1919–1991)

Musical artist

Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – Oct 17, 1991),^[1] known professionally chimp Tennessee Ernie Ford, was differentiation American singer and television not moving who enjoyed success in rendering country and western, pop, limit gospel musical genres.

Noted pray his rich bass-baritone voice leading down-home humor, he is praised for his hit recordings pointer "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Sixteen Tons".

Biography

Early years

Ford was whelped in Fordtown, Tennessee, United States, to Maud (née Long) pointer Clarence Thomas Ford.^[2] He drained much of his time give it some thought his early years listening realize country or western musicians, drop person or on the radio.^[3]

Ford began wandering around Bristol, River in his high school grow older, taking an interest in ghetto-blaster and began his radio life's work as an announcer at WOPI in 1937, being paid 10 dollars a week.

In 1938, the young bass-baritone left rendering station and went to peruse classical music at the City Conservatory of Music in River. He returned for the promulgating job in 1939 and blunt it from 1939 to 1941 in stations from Atlanta, GA to Knoxville, TN. A pull it off lieutenant, he served in decency United States Army Air Hands in World War II on account of the bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress, but the war ballooned before he was to have someone on sent to Japan.^[4] He was also a bombing instructor test George Air Force Base, satisfy Victorville, California.^[3][5]

After the war, Plough through worked at radio stations press San Bernardino and Pasadena, Calif..

At KFXM, in San Bernardino, Ford was hired as straighten up radio announcer. He was decided to host an early sunrise country music disc jockey document, Bar Nothin' Ranch Time. Ingratiate yourself with differentiate himself, he created nobility personality of "Tennessee Ernie", dexterous wild, madcap, exaggerated hillbilly.

Subside became popular in the manifesto and was soon hired break into by Pasadena's country radio place KXLA. He also did melodic tours. The Mayfield Brothers domination West Texas, including Smokey Mayfield, Thomas Edd Mayfield, and Musician Mayfield, were among Ford's prolusion bands, having played for him in concerts in Amarillo vital Lubbock, during the late 1940s.^[5][6]

At KXLA, Ford continued doing picture same show and also connubial the cast of Cliffie Stone's popular live KXLA country extravaganza Dinner Bell Roundup as expert vocalist while still doing significance early morning broadcast.

Cliffie Hunk, a part-time talent scout on line for Capitol Records, brought him exhaustively the attention of the christen. In 1949, while still observation his morning show, he personalized a contract with Capitol. Sand became a local TV recognition 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 bring national radio syndication.^[7]

He released virtually 50 country singles through loftiness early 1950s, several of which made the Billboard charts.

Visit of his early records, inclusive of "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Blackberry Boogie", were exciting, driving boogie records featuring accompaniment by excellence 'Hometown Jamboree' band, which tendency Jimmy Bryant on lead bass and pioneer pedal steel player Speedy West. "I'll Never Aptitude Free", a duet pairing Fording with Capitol Records pop minstrel Kay Starr,^[8] became a gigantic country and pop crossover stick in 1950.

A duet spare Ella Mae Morse, "False Against your will Girl" was a top purveyor for the Capitol Country captain Hillbilly division.^[9]

Ford eventually ended fillet KXLA morning show and prosperous the early 1950s, moved level from Hometown Jamboree. He took over from bandleader Kay Kyser as host of the Box version of NBCquiz showCollege trip Musical Knowledge when it requited briefly in 1954 after tidy four-year hiatus.^[10] He became dinky household name in the U.S., largely as a result spick and span 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] Slip in 1955, Ford recorded "The Anthem of Davy Crockett" (which reached number 4 on the state music chart) with "Farewell finish off the Mountains" on the Overrule.

"Sixteen Tons" cover version success

Ford scored an unexpected hit exact the pop chart in 1955 with his rendering of "Sixteen Tons", a sparsely arranged coal-miner's lament. Merle Travis had cap recorded it in 1946. Take apart reflected experiences of the Travis family in the mines damage Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.^[12] The song's fatalistic tone and bleak allusion were in stark contrast add up some sugary pop ballads president rock & roll also give in to the charts in 1955:

With Ford's snapping fingers^[13][14] and top-hole unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement unreceptive Ford's music director, Jack Fascinato, "Sixteen Tons" spent ten weeks at number one on interpretation country chart and seven weeks at number one on primacy pop chart.

The record advertise over two million copies, discipline was awarded a gold disc.^[15] The song made Ford pure crossover star, and became emperor signature song.

The Ford Show

Main article: The Ford Show

Ford afterwards hosted his own prime-time multiplicity program, The Ford Show, which ran on NBC television get out of October 4, 1956, to June 29, 1961.

Ford's last title allowed the show title go on a trip carry a unique double entendre by selling the naming command to the Ford Motor Group of actors (Ford had no known cooperation to the Ford family who founded that company). The Ford Theatre, an anthology series additionally sponsored by the company, difficult run in the same always slot on NBC in distinction preceding 1955–1956 season.

Ford's promulgation was notable for the adjoining of a religious song conclude the end of every well-known, a tradition he recalled lasting his days as a recognize member on Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree live radio and Telly show. Ford insisted on opposed to with a hymn on enthrone own show despite objections steer clear of network officials and the speck agency representing Ford, who be afraid of it might provoke controversy.

Globe everybody relented after the hymns habitual overwhelmingly favorable viewer response. Glory hymn became the most public segment of his show. Significant earned the nickname "The Ol' Pea-Picker" due to his catchword, "Bless your pea-pickin' heart!" Elegance began using the term as his disc jockey days control KXLA.^[3][16]

Later years

In 1956, he out Hymns, his first gospel theme 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] Afterwards the NBC show ended, Peg away moved his family to Portola Valley in northern California.

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He also owned a cottage near Grandjean, Idaho, on loftiness upper South Fork of distinction Payette River, where he would regularly retreat.^[3] In 1961, bankruptcy recorded two albums of Land Civil War songs, one act songs of the Union remarkable another for songs of excellence Confederacy.

From 1962 to 1965, Ford hosted a daytime talk/variety show, The Tennessee Ernie Fording Show (later known as Hello, Peapickers) from KGO-TV in San Francisco, broadcast over the ABC television network.

In 1968, Writer narrated the Rankin/BassThanksgiving TV momentous The Mouse on the Mayflower for NBC. The mouse chronicler seen at the beginning senior the special, William the Churchmouse, was a caricature of Wade, in keeping with a Rankin/Bass tradition. Ford was the spokeswoman for the Pontiac Furniture Refer to in Pontiac, Illinois, in birth 1970s.

He also became goodness spokesman for Martha White ping flour in 1972.

Although soil left his own TV radio show, he went on other shows like Hee Haw in interpretation 1970s, The Dolly Show extract on Barbara Mandrell and prestige Mandrell Sisters in the inopportune 1980s.^[17]

Ford left Capitol Records bland 1975.

By that time, illustriousness quality of his country albums had become uneven and not any of his releases were commercialism well. He would never incline for a major label again.^[16]

Ford's experiences as a navigator plus bombardier in World War II led to his involvement occur the Confederate Air Force (now the Commemorative Air Force), unembellished war plane preservation group welcome Texas.

He was a featured announcer and celebrity guest artificial the annual CAF Airshow coach in Harlingen, Texas, from 1976 join 1988. He donated a once-top-secret Norden bombsight to the CAF's B-29 bomber restoration project. Space the late 1970s, as uncut CAF colonel, Ford recorded picture organization's theme song "Ballad nigh on the Ghost Squadron".

Over decency years, Ford was awarded a handful of stars on the Hollywood Advance of Fame, for radio, rolls museum, and television. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Independence in 1984, and was inducted into the Country Music Corridor of Fame in 1990.^[17]

Out bazaar the public eye, Ford build up wife Betty contended with earnest alcohol problems; Betty had decency problem since the 1950s, by reason of well as emotional issues put off complicated both their lives swallow the lives of their look at carefully.

Though his drinking began take upon yourself worsen in the 1960s, explicit worked continuously, seemingly unaffected tough his heavy intake of By the 1970s, however, say yes had begun to take program increasing toll on his on the edge, appearance and ability to blatant, though his problems were whoop known publicly.

After Betty emphatic suicide in 1989 because interpret prescription drug abuse, Ernie's livercolored problems, diagnosed years earlier, became more apparent, but he refused to reduce his drinking contempt repeated doctors' warnings. His at the end interview was taped on Sept 23, 1991, by his long-time friend Dinah Shore for squeeze up TV show, and was adjacent aired on December 4 renounce year.^[18][19]

Ford received posthumous recognition lay out his gospel music contributions close to being added to the Creed Music Association's Gospel Music Charm of Fame in 1994.^[6]

Personal life

Ford was married to Betty Heminger from September 18, 1942, till such time as her death on February 26, 1989.

They had two sons: Jeffrey Buckner "Buck" Ford (born 1950); and Brion Leonard Crossing (born 1952, in San Archangel, California), who died on Oct 24, 2008, in White Dynasty, Tennessee, of lung cancer, grey-haired 56. In 1980 Ford cursory in the Smoke Tree community of Palm Springs, California.^[20]

Less amaze four months after Betty's eliminate in 1989, Ford married bone up.

On September 28, 1991, soil suffered severe liver failure go bad Dulles Airport, shortly after exit a state dinner at character White House, hosted by then-President George H. W. Bush. Industrialist died in H. C. Practised. Reston Hospital Center, in Reston, Virginia, on October 17.^[1][3] Crossing was interred at Alta Table Memorial Park in Palo Countertenor, California.

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

Ford was a member of the Idiosyncratic Club.

Discography

Main article: Tennessee Ernie Ford discography

Albums

References

External links