What are you listening to?
- Thread starter GDCarrington
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OP
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Kenny Burrell : Have Yourself A Soulful Little Christmas
When Kenny Burrell Came to Town - Memories of a very Kenny Christmas
By Tom Wilmeth - Jazz Times
Sometimes it seems that almost every artist has released a Christmas record—if not an entire album, then at least an individual song: Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Willie Nelson, the Eagles. Who could possibly be next? Bob Dylan, perhaps? No, wait—he already has a Christmas album. (And who could see that coming?)
In jazz, too, Christmas albums are now ubiquitous. But in the 1970s, jazz Christmas albums were still somewhat unusual.
Guitarist Kenny Burrell was one of the few to release such a record. Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (Verve) was, and remains, a landmark album. Recorded in October 1966 and released a few weeks later, Burrell provided a mix of old and new, sacred and secular. Expected selections like “Away in a Manger†and “Silent Night†are included, but so are nods to gospel, with “Go Where I Send Thee†and especially “Mary's Little Boy Chile.†A blues closes the record, with Burrell's take on the Charles Brown hit “Merry Christmas, Baby.â€
The album's original liner notes suggest that Soulful Little Christmas is the first to include Rogers & Hammerstein's “My Favorite Things†as a Christmas selection. Is this accurate or promotional hyperbole? Burrell himself has stated that this The Sound of Music selection was a “year 'round number†which he decided to use on his Christmas album. By the fall of 1966, of course, John Coltrane had put his indelible stamp on this melody in the jazz community, but not in a Yuletide setting. The song had only been around for seven years at the time Burrell recorded the Christmas LP. So: was Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas the first holiday album to use “My Favorite Things†as a Christmas song? Some digging would be in order. But not today.
I was fortunate enough to see Kenny Burrell in a club setting in early December 1981, 30 years ago this month. Minneapolis' Carlton Supper Club was a place where people like Andy Williams played (in the days before Branson). When it was announced that the Kenny Burrell Trio was booked for a week into this Back Room, we all thought it must be some other Kenny Burrell or that it was a booking error. This place had never featured jazz before and, to my knowledge, never again afterwards. But it did that week.
Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas had been out of print for several years by 1981, something that would not be remedied for another full decade. Clearly not striving to promote an unavailable album, Burrell's trio nonetheless featured selections from the Christmas album in each of their sets. In fact, Burrell was aware that some were there specifically to hear his Christmas arrangements, for early in the program he indicated that they would indeed be playing material from his Soulful Little Christmas album. The audience was quiet and respectful throughout; he was just letting them know that he was aware of the season.
An hour in, Burrell pulled his acoustic guitar from its case and proceeded to play three unplugged numbers with the gentle backing of bass and drums. He indicated that he was not really known as an acoustic player and didn't often pull out “the guitar with the big hole†for club dates. But when an audience was as attentive and appreciative as this one, he was glad to get the chance. One number he performed was the title selection from his 1979 release, Moon and Sand.
Returning to his large electric, Burrell led the trio through a short set of holiday fare, beginning with “My Favorite Things.†After this, the following three selections flowed together without band or audience interruption, but I hesitate to call it a medley since these renditions were not at all truncated. Full versions of “White Christmas,†“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,†and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town†were presented as the nostalgic and joyful songs they are. The group acknowledged the applause of the audience as drummer Sherman Ferguson softly started what would become his percussion feature on “The Little Drummer Boy.â€
Burrell began to close out the evening with a two-song Ellington tribute, “Love You Madly†and “I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So,†on which he not only took a hot, chord-driven solo but also sang! The trio launched into the closing break theme, Kenny Burrell thanked the audience for coming out, and the evening was over. A generous set, to be sure, especially when remembering that this was his second show of the night. More generosity was still to come, however, as the group returned for a little more Ellington, with “Take the ‘A' Train,†and a little more Yuletide, with “The Christmas Song.â€
As the audience thinned I took a seat at the bar, hoping to be able to speak with Burrell. It wasn't long before he came out of the dressing room and appeared happy to talk. His manager wanted to get him back to the hotel, but during our short conversation I recall telling Burrell that he was an “important†jazz guitarist. He smiled at this and thanked me, but disagreed. He seemed appreciative for a lasting audience that would allow him to make a living playing music, but to be called “important†seemed to make him uneasy. “Historically important, maybe, as a continuation of a musical heritage,†he said, “but that goes far beyond me as an individual.†I indicated how much I enjoyed the Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas LP, and that I had been in the audience to hear him twice during the past week.
I likely strayed over the fence a little when I told Mr. Burrell that I had searched-out both a stereo and a mono copy of his Christmas album. He looked somewhat vexed at this unexpected compliment (or so I meant it), but had no real comment. As such, I thought it best not to mention that I had recorded that evening's music on my portable cassette machine. Instead, I asked him when he thought Soulful Little Christmas would again be available.
He hoped it would be back in print soon, but also told me that he had little input over such things. When I showed surprise at this lack of artistic control, Burrell explained that this was normal in the recording industry in general and jazz artists probably had even less control than most. He considered himself lucky because he had experienced some tangible success with one album in particular, which had earned numerous critical accolades as well as made money for the record label. “The success of my Midnight Blue record [1963] opened a lot of doors that remain important for me to this day,†he said. “Lots of fine musicians don't have the opportunities I've had, and I am grateful for the way things have worked out.†It seemed that he really did consider himself “a lucky so and so,†as he had told the audience in song just a few minutes earlier.
I thanked him for his time and his music, and said again how much I enjoyed his Christmas album and the live versions he had offered to appreciative audiences that week. Knowing he was headed to the next town for the next gig, I asked one final question of Mr. Burrell as we parted while his manager again pointed to his watch.
“Being constantly on the road, does it even seem like the Christmas season to you?†I asked.
“It does now,†he smiled.
http://jazztimes.com/articles/29026-when-kenny-burrell-came-to-town
Addendum:
After its original release on Cadet Records in 1966, Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas was out of print for years until a 1992 reissue. With pensive, meditative, precise playing, it's a must-have and features a definitive jazz hit version of "Little Drummer Boy." Source: Michael G. Nastos - AllMusic.com
When Kenny Burrell Came to Town - Memories of a very Kenny Christmas
By Tom Wilmeth - Jazz Times
Sometimes it seems that almost every artist has released a Christmas record—if not an entire album, then at least an individual song: Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Willie Nelson, the Eagles. Who could possibly be next? Bob Dylan, perhaps? No, wait—he already has a Christmas album. (And who could see that coming?)
In jazz, too, Christmas albums are now ubiquitous. But in the 1970s, jazz Christmas albums were still somewhat unusual.
Guitarist Kenny Burrell was one of the few to release such a record. Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (Verve) was, and remains, a landmark album. Recorded in October 1966 and released a few weeks later, Burrell provided a mix of old and new, sacred and secular. Expected selections like “Away in a Manger†and “Silent Night†are included, but so are nods to gospel, with “Go Where I Send Thee†and especially “Mary's Little Boy Chile.†A blues closes the record, with Burrell's take on the Charles Brown hit “Merry Christmas, Baby.â€
The album's original liner notes suggest that Soulful Little Christmas is the first to include Rogers & Hammerstein's “My Favorite Things†as a Christmas selection. Is this accurate or promotional hyperbole? Burrell himself has stated that this The Sound of Music selection was a “year 'round number†which he decided to use on his Christmas album. By the fall of 1966, of course, John Coltrane had put his indelible stamp on this melody in the jazz community, but not in a Yuletide setting. The song had only been around for seven years at the time Burrell recorded the Christmas LP. So: was Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas the first holiday album to use “My Favorite Things†as a Christmas song? Some digging would be in order. But not today.
I was fortunate enough to see Kenny Burrell in a club setting in early December 1981, 30 years ago this month. Minneapolis' Carlton Supper Club was a place where people like Andy Williams played (in the days before Branson). When it was announced that the Kenny Burrell Trio was booked for a week into this Back Room, we all thought it must be some other Kenny Burrell or that it was a booking error. This place had never featured jazz before and, to my knowledge, never again afterwards. But it did that week.
Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas had been out of print for several years by 1981, something that would not be remedied for another full decade. Clearly not striving to promote an unavailable album, Burrell's trio nonetheless featured selections from the Christmas album in each of their sets. In fact, Burrell was aware that some were there specifically to hear his Christmas arrangements, for early in the program he indicated that they would indeed be playing material from his Soulful Little Christmas album. The audience was quiet and respectful throughout; he was just letting them know that he was aware of the season.
An hour in, Burrell pulled his acoustic guitar from its case and proceeded to play three unplugged numbers with the gentle backing of bass and drums. He indicated that he was not really known as an acoustic player and didn't often pull out “the guitar with the big hole†for club dates. But when an audience was as attentive and appreciative as this one, he was glad to get the chance. One number he performed was the title selection from his 1979 release, Moon and Sand.
Returning to his large electric, Burrell led the trio through a short set of holiday fare, beginning with “My Favorite Things.†After this, the following three selections flowed together without band or audience interruption, but I hesitate to call it a medley since these renditions were not at all truncated. Full versions of “White Christmas,†“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,†and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town†were presented as the nostalgic and joyful songs they are. The group acknowledged the applause of the audience as drummer Sherman Ferguson softly started what would become his percussion feature on “The Little Drummer Boy.â€
Burrell began to close out the evening with a two-song Ellington tribute, “Love You Madly†and “I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So,†on which he not only took a hot, chord-driven solo but also sang! The trio launched into the closing break theme, Kenny Burrell thanked the audience for coming out, and the evening was over. A generous set, to be sure, especially when remembering that this was his second show of the night. More generosity was still to come, however, as the group returned for a little more Ellington, with “Take the ‘A' Train,†and a little more Yuletide, with “The Christmas Song.â€
As the audience thinned I took a seat at the bar, hoping to be able to speak with Burrell. It wasn't long before he came out of the dressing room and appeared happy to talk. His manager wanted to get him back to the hotel, but during our short conversation I recall telling Burrell that he was an “important†jazz guitarist. He smiled at this and thanked me, but disagreed. He seemed appreciative for a lasting audience that would allow him to make a living playing music, but to be called “important†seemed to make him uneasy. “Historically important, maybe, as a continuation of a musical heritage,†he said, “but that goes far beyond me as an individual.†I indicated how much I enjoyed the Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas LP, and that I had been in the audience to hear him twice during the past week.
I likely strayed over the fence a little when I told Mr. Burrell that I had searched-out both a stereo and a mono copy of his Christmas album. He looked somewhat vexed at this unexpected compliment (or so I meant it), but had no real comment. As such, I thought it best not to mention that I had recorded that evening's music on my portable cassette machine. Instead, I asked him when he thought Soulful Little Christmas would again be available.
He hoped it would be back in print soon, but also told me that he had little input over such things. When I showed surprise at this lack of artistic control, Burrell explained that this was normal in the recording industry in general and jazz artists probably had even less control than most. He considered himself lucky because he had experienced some tangible success with one album in particular, which had earned numerous critical accolades as well as made money for the record label. “The success of my Midnight Blue record [1963] opened a lot of doors that remain important for me to this day,†he said. “Lots of fine musicians don't have the opportunities I've had, and I am grateful for the way things have worked out.†It seemed that he really did consider himself “a lucky so and so,†as he had told the audience in song just a few minutes earlier.
I thanked him for his time and his music, and said again how much I enjoyed his Christmas album and the live versions he had offered to appreciative audiences that week. Knowing he was headed to the next town for the next gig, I asked one final question of Mr. Burrell as we parted while his manager again pointed to his watch.
“Being constantly on the road, does it even seem like the Christmas season to you?†I asked.
“It does now,†he smiled.
http://jazztimes.com/articles/29026-when-kenny-burrell-came-to-town
Addendum:
After its original release on Cadet Records in 1966, Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas was out of print for years until a 1992 reissue. With pensive, meditative, precise playing, it's a must-have and features a definitive jazz hit version of "Little Drummer Boy." Source: Michael G. Nastos - AllMusic.com
OP
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Ramsey Lewis Trio - Sound of Christmas
Review By David Rickert - All About Jazz
Those who purchase a Christmas album are mainly looking for festive music suitable for decorating the tree or baking cookies and not an introspective, challenging listening experience. Thus an artist who records such a record must take into account what the audience wants to hear and not his own musical aspirations, which may be why Mingus and Miles never recorded one. Ramsey Lewis, however, is the perfect guy for such a task, since he always approached playing jazz from the standpoint of creating a catchy hit with the public rather than arty noodling. Although recorded in 1961, a few years before he hit it big with "The 'In' Crowd," he still can swing harder than most at this early stage.
Lewis and his trio barrel through the first five songs with a healthy dose of jubilant bounce and a penchant for uncovering the unexpected blue notes in carols. He glides through "Winter Wonderland" with heavy, funky chords and a propulsive snap but takes a more reverent approach on "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," a slow, gospel-tinged treatment.
The latter half of the album adds a string section (which fortunately doesn't oversaturate the music with glitz like on other Christmas albums) and Lewis tinkers around with the celeste a little bit here. "The Sound Of Christmas" is one of the most euphoric songs, a cascading wash of strings and bells awash with the glee of holiday tunes. While Lewis deserves most of the credit, Eldee Young and Redd Holt also deserve an extra candy cane for providing such enthusiastic support.
Simply put, this is one of the most flat-out fun jazz Christmas albums you'll find. Lewis avoids the overly reverent—no "Silent Night" or "What Child Is This?"—in favor of songs he can tear through with the brisk gait of a sleigh ride and the delight of a full stocking. Lewis was later criticized for his eagerness to land on the charts, but his sensitivity to the tastes of the public served him well here.
Track Listing: 1. Merry Christmas Baby 2. Winter Wonderland 3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 4. Christmas Blues 5. Here Comes Santa Claus 6. The Sound Of Christmas 7. The Christmas Song 8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 9. Sleigh Ride 10. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
Personnel: Ramsey Lewis - piano; Eldee Young - bass; Redd Holt - drums; string section on 6-10.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=15587#.UMdhwXewV8E
Review By David Rickert - All About Jazz
Those who purchase a Christmas album are mainly looking for festive music suitable for decorating the tree or baking cookies and not an introspective, challenging listening experience. Thus an artist who records such a record must take into account what the audience wants to hear and not his own musical aspirations, which may be why Mingus and Miles never recorded one. Ramsey Lewis, however, is the perfect guy for such a task, since he always approached playing jazz from the standpoint of creating a catchy hit with the public rather than arty noodling. Although recorded in 1961, a few years before he hit it big with "The 'In' Crowd," he still can swing harder than most at this early stage.
Lewis and his trio barrel through the first five songs with a healthy dose of jubilant bounce and a penchant for uncovering the unexpected blue notes in carols. He glides through "Winter Wonderland" with heavy, funky chords and a propulsive snap but takes a more reverent approach on "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," a slow, gospel-tinged treatment.
The latter half of the album adds a string section (which fortunately doesn't oversaturate the music with glitz like on other Christmas albums) and Lewis tinkers around with the celeste a little bit here. "The Sound Of Christmas" is one of the most euphoric songs, a cascading wash of strings and bells awash with the glee of holiday tunes. While Lewis deserves most of the credit, Eldee Young and Redd Holt also deserve an extra candy cane for providing such enthusiastic support.
Simply put, this is one of the most flat-out fun jazz Christmas albums you'll find. Lewis avoids the overly reverent—no "Silent Night" or "What Child Is This?"—in favor of songs he can tear through with the brisk gait of a sleigh ride and the delight of a full stocking. Lewis was later criticized for his eagerness to land on the charts, but his sensitivity to the tastes of the public served him well here.
Track Listing: 1. Merry Christmas Baby 2. Winter Wonderland 3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 4. Christmas Blues 5. Here Comes Santa Claus 6. The Sound Of Christmas 7. The Christmas Song 8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 9. Sleigh Ride 10. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
Personnel: Ramsey Lewis - piano; Eldee Young - bass; Redd Holt - drums; string section on 6-10.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=15587#.UMdhwXewV8E
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East Tennessee Christmas - Chet Atkins
OP
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TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD - THE STAR CAROL
The booming baritone voice of Tennessee Ernie Ford was best known for his 1955 cover of Merle Travis' grim coal-mining song "Sixteen Tons," watered down by the dulcet strains of a Hollywood studio orchestra but retaining its innate seriousness thanks to the sheer power of Ford's singing. But there was more to Tennessee Ernie Ford than that. Over his long career, Ford sang everything from proto-rock & roll to gospel, recorded over 100 albums, and earned numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. His popularity and recognition transcended country music, and he was among the earliest and most successful "crossover" artists to come out of country music, paving the way for such diverse popular culture figures as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntire, and many more.
Born Ernest Jennings Ford in 1919, he was a native of Bristol, TN, a town that subsequently came to be regarded -- thanks to the Ralph Peer field recording sessions (featuring Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family) conducted there in 1927 -- as one of the birthplaces of modern country music. He started singing as a boy and, after graduating from high school, became a voice student at Virginia Intermount College. The latter was officially a women's college but admitted a limited number of male students to its daytime study program, and it was with the help of one of his teachers and her husband that Ford, with his deep and resonant voice, broke into radio, as an announcer on WOPI in northeast Tennessee. By 1939, he'd moved to Cincinnati, OH, and was studying at that city's Conservatory of Music. He moved around the country in the year leading up to America's entry into World War II, holding announcer jobs in Atlanta, Georgia, and Knoxville, TN. Following America's entry into World War II with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ford enlisted in the United States Army in early 1942 and was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corps, which kept him stateside, serving in Alabama and later in California, where he was posted to a bomberdier school. His talent wasn't dormant during this period, and he was able to participate in various special services entertainment programs.
After the war, Ford -- who had married while serving in the military -- moved his family to San Bernardino, CA, and took a DJ job on a local radio station. It was there that he first took on the name "Tennessee Ernie," which became the focus of his comedic on-air persona, a kind of good-hearted bumpkin who was smarter than he let on and funnier (and more eccentric) than he seemingly knew; in some respects, "Tennessee Ernie" was a bit like some of the more benign rural characters that had been essayed in the movies by Walter Brennan. In reality, Ford had extraordinary flexibility and range, so much so that some employers and potential employers in radio were astonished to learn that they were drawing on the services of a vast array of "characters" and personas -- he could speak and sing in a magnificent, full-bodied baritone that would have been the envy of many an operatic singer, but he had an array of twangy, Southern- (and distinctly rustic Southern) inflected voices that he used, along with catch phrases that quickly got picked up by his listening audience, in Pasadena and Los Angeles. He was almost a one-man radio network and cast at one point on KXLA, and drawing an ever-larger audience. In 1947 he also made the acquaintance of Cliffie Stone, a musician, announcer, and producer who was rapidly becoming one of the most influential figures in country music on the West Coast. Initially, Ford appeared on Stone's Hometown Jamboree, which started on radio and moved to television later in the 1940s, and in 1948 Stone brought him to Capitol Records, the beginning of a relationship that would last for 40 years, covering the rest of the singer's life.
Five singles had been released by late 1949, including "Tennessee Border" and "Smokey Mountain Boogie" (both Top Ten) and his first number one single, "Mule Train." His Western songs and boogie-flavored numbers offered an energy level and sexual suggestiveness that made them rock & roll in all but name, and his recordings featured the fabulous instrumental talents of Merle Travis on guitar and Speedy West on pedal steel. Early in 1951, "Shotgun Boogie" became his second number one, spending 14 weeks at the top of the country charts. By the beginning of 1953, although Ford wasn't having as many hits, he remained popular in America and also in England. He became a television quizmaster in 1954, hosting NBC's presentation of Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge. He also had his own daily show and continued recording. A series of appearances on I Love Lucy (then one of the top-rated shows in the country) as "Cousin Ernie" in two 1954 episodes was so funny and so popular that he made a follow-up appearance the next year on the same series in the identical role, using his comedic rural country persona. These performances only helped him maintain and broaden crossover appeal, and at the same time he was a downright ubiquitous figure on country music variety shows of the period, including the Old American Barn Dance. On many of these programs, he was billed simply as "Tennessee Ernie," owing to the fact that producers felt that using his last name would promote a car company that wasn't necessarily a sponsor. The public was never confused, however, and knew exactly who he was. He also contributed to movies as a singer. As early as 1946 he'd shown up uncredited as a hillbilly performer in the multi-Academy Award-winning drama The Best Years of Our Lives, but a decade later his presence in movies was a selling point, as with his performance of the title song over the credits of the Marilyn Monroe/Robert Mitchum adventure film River of No Return in 1954, which became a pop hit. And all of these activities serve to illustrate Ford's extraordinary range as a singer and performer, of music and comedy, and an appeal that cut across regional and cultural -- and even national -- lines. And although his hits tended to be written by others, he also composed songs, including "Hogtied Over You," "Kiss Me Big," and "Softly and Tenderly."
Ford had two Top Ten country hits in 1955 with "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and his biggest success, "Sixteen Tons," which spent ten weeks at number one on the country charts and eight weeks at number one on the pop charts. From 1956 to 1965 he was a primetime network television host, making "Bless your little pea-pickin' hearts" a household catch phrase and providing powerful exposure for Ford's increasingly middle-of-the-road music. For all of his occasionally risqué lyrics and humor, Ford also had a seriously religious side to his work and persona, and his voice was ideally suited to big arrangements of traditional hymns. His first gospel album, Hymns (1956), became the first religious album to go gold, while his second gospel album, Great Gospel Songs, earned him a Grammy. He was immensely popular as the 1960s commenced and remained a popular fixture on television for most of that decade, and his recordings were as ambitious as they were successful. We Gather Together, a 1963 release made with the San Quentin Prison Choir, was the first recording ever made at the prison. A year after that -- a period in which he issued two more religious-oriented albums, one a Christmas recording and the other a gospel collection cut with the Jordanaires -- he released Country Hits - Feelin' Blue, a back-to-basics recording on which Ford, backed solely by Billy Strange on guitar and John Mosher on bass, ran through a dozen country music standards; the latter is regarded by many fans as the best country LP of Ford's career. In 1965, he had his last major chart entry with the Top Ten single "Hicktown," but he continued to record gospel music and the occasional country album over the next two decades, interspersed with an album of patriotic songs in 1970 and a folk album the following year. He began working with Cliffie Stone's son Steve Stone early in that decade, which led to a revival of his presence on the sales charts with Country Morning, released in 1973, which yielded a brace of new singles including one hit, "Printers Alley Stars." His most enduring album of the decade, however, was Ernie Sings & Glen Picks, released in 1975; cut with Glen Campbell, it was similar to Country Hits - Feelin' Blue from 12 years before as a stripped-down country effort, and it not only sold well at the time but found a new audience as a CD in the 1990s. Ford joined the ranks of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990, at age 71. By that time, he was a beloved and somewhat enigmatic elder statesman in the field, having willingly stepped out of the limelight apart from the occasional gospel recording. The first serious reissues of his music began appearing on CD in 1990, starting with Rhino Records' 16 Tons of Boogie: The Best of Tennessee Ernie Ford, which covered material going back to his early honky tonk sound, and collections of his gospel recordings began appearing from Capitol during this same period. At the time of his death from liver failure in the fall of 1991, he remained a much-loved figure far beyond the boundaries of the country music audience.
James Manheim - Allmusic.com
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tennessee-ernie-ford-mn0000020403
The booming baritone voice of Tennessee Ernie Ford was best known for his 1955 cover of Merle Travis' grim coal-mining song "Sixteen Tons," watered down by the dulcet strains of a Hollywood studio orchestra but retaining its innate seriousness thanks to the sheer power of Ford's singing. But there was more to Tennessee Ernie Ford than that. Over his long career, Ford sang everything from proto-rock & roll to gospel, recorded over 100 albums, and earned numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. His popularity and recognition transcended country music, and he was among the earliest and most successful "crossover" artists to come out of country music, paving the way for such diverse popular culture figures as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntire, and many more.
Born Ernest Jennings Ford in 1919, he was a native of Bristol, TN, a town that subsequently came to be regarded -- thanks to the Ralph Peer field recording sessions (featuring Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family) conducted there in 1927 -- as one of the birthplaces of modern country music. He started singing as a boy and, after graduating from high school, became a voice student at Virginia Intermount College. The latter was officially a women's college but admitted a limited number of male students to its daytime study program, and it was with the help of one of his teachers and her husband that Ford, with his deep and resonant voice, broke into radio, as an announcer on WOPI in northeast Tennessee. By 1939, he'd moved to Cincinnati, OH, and was studying at that city's Conservatory of Music. He moved around the country in the year leading up to America's entry into World War II, holding announcer jobs in Atlanta, Georgia, and Knoxville, TN. Following America's entry into World War II with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ford enlisted in the United States Army in early 1942 and was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corps, which kept him stateside, serving in Alabama and later in California, where he was posted to a bomberdier school. His talent wasn't dormant during this period, and he was able to participate in various special services entertainment programs.
After the war, Ford -- who had married while serving in the military -- moved his family to San Bernardino, CA, and took a DJ job on a local radio station. It was there that he first took on the name "Tennessee Ernie," which became the focus of his comedic on-air persona, a kind of good-hearted bumpkin who was smarter than he let on and funnier (and more eccentric) than he seemingly knew; in some respects, "Tennessee Ernie" was a bit like some of the more benign rural characters that had been essayed in the movies by Walter Brennan. In reality, Ford had extraordinary flexibility and range, so much so that some employers and potential employers in radio were astonished to learn that they were drawing on the services of a vast array of "characters" and personas -- he could speak and sing in a magnificent, full-bodied baritone that would have been the envy of many an operatic singer, but he had an array of twangy, Southern- (and distinctly rustic Southern) inflected voices that he used, along with catch phrases that quickly got picked up by his listening audience, in Pasadena and Los Angeles. He was almost a one-man radio network and cast at one point on KXLA, and drawing an ever-larger audience. In 1947 he also made the acquaintance of Cliffie Stone, a musician, announcer, and producer who was rapidly becoming one of the most influential figures in country music on the West Coast. Initially, Ford appeared on Stone's Hometown Jamboree, which started on radio and moved to television later in the 1940s, and in 1948 Stone brought him to Capitol Records, the beginning of a relationship that would last for 40 years, covering the rest of the singer's life.
Five singles had been released by late 1949, including "Tennessee Border" and "Smokey Mountain Boogie" (both Top Ten) and his first number one single, "Mule Train." His Western songs and boogie-flavored numbers offered an energy level and sexual suggestiveness that made them rock & roll in all but name, and his recordings featured the fabulous instrumental talents of Merle Travis on guitar and Speedy West on pedal steel. Early in 1951, "Shotgun Boogie" became his second number one, spending 14 weeks at the top of the country charts. By the beginning of 1953, although Ford wasn't having as many hits, he remained popular in America and also in England. He became a television quizmaster in 1954, hosting NBC's presentation of Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge. He also had his own daily show and continued recording. A series of appearances on I Love Lucy (then one of the top-rated shows in the country) as "Cousin Ernie" in two 1954 episodes was so funny and so popular that he made a follow-up appearance the next year on the same series in the identical role, using his comedic rural country persona. These performances only helped him maintain and broaden crossover appeal, and at the same time he was a downright ubiquitous figure on country music variety shows of the period, including the Old American Barn Dance. On many of these programs, he was billed simply as "Tennessee Ernie," owing to the fact that producers felt that using his last name would promote a car company that wasn't necessarily a sponsor. The public was never confused, however, and knew exactly who he was. He also contributed to movies as a singer. As early as 1946 he'd shown up uncredited as a hillbilly performer in the multi-Academy Award-winning drama The Best Years of Our Lives, but a decade later his presence in movies was a selling point, as with his performance of the title song over the credits of the Marilyn Monroe/Robert Mitchum adventure film River of No Return in 1954, which became a pop hit. And all of these activities serve to illustrate Ford's extraordinary range as a singer and performer, of music and comedy, and an appeal that cut across regional and cultural -- and even national -- lines. And although his hits tended to be written by others, he also composed songs, including "Hogtied Over You," "Kiss Me Big," and "Softly and Tenderly."
Ford had two Top Ten country hits in 1955 with "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and his biggest success, "Sixteen Tons," which spent ten weeks at number one on the country charts and eight weeks at number one on the pop charts. From 1956 to 1965 he was a primetime network television host, making "Bless your little pea-pickin' hearts" a household catch phrase and providing powerful exposure for Ford's increasingly middle-of-the-road music. For all of his occasionally risqué lyrics and humor, Ford also had a seriously religious side to his work and persona, and his voice was ideally suited to big arrangements of traditional hymns. His first gospel album, Hymns (1956), became the first religious album to go gold, while his second gospel album, Great Gospel Songs, earned him a Grammy. He was immensely popular as the 1960s commenced and remained a popular fixture on television for most of that decade, and his recordings were as ambitious as they were successful. We Gather Together, a 1963 release made with the San Quentin Prison Choir, was the first recording ever made at the prison. A year after that -- a period in which he issued two more religious-oriented albums, one a Christmas recording and the other a gospel collection cut with the Jordanaires -- he released Country Hits - Feelin' Blue, a back-to-basics recording on which Ford, backed solely by Billy Strange on guitar and John Mosher on bass, ran through a dozen country music standards; the latter is regarded by many fans as the best country LP of Ford's career. In 1965, he had his last major chart entry with the Top Ten single "Hicktown," but he continued to record gospel music and the occasional country album over the next two decades, interspersed with an album of patriotic songs in 1970 and a folk album the following year. He began working with Cliffie Stone's son Steve Stone early in that decade, which led to a revival of his presence on the sales charts with Country Morning, released in 1973, which yielded a brace of new singles including one hit, "Printers Alley Stars." His most enduring album of the decade, however, was Ernie Sings & Glen Picks, released in 1975; cut with Glen Campbell, it was similar to Country Hits - Feelin' Blue from 12 years before as a stripped-down country effort, and it not only sold well at the time but found a new audience as a CD in the 1990s. Ford joined the ranks of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990, at age 71. By that time, he was a beloved and somewhat enigmatic elder statesman in the field, having willingly stepped out of the limelight apart from the occasional gospel recording. The first serious reissues of his music began appearing on CD in 1990, starting with Rhino Records' 16 Tons of Boogie: The Best of Tennessee Ernie Ford, which covered material going back to his early honky tonk sound, and collections of his gospel recordings began appearing from Capitol during this same period. At the time of his death from liver failure in the fall of 1991, he remained a much-loved figure far beyond the boundaries of the country music audience.
James Manheim - Allmusic.com
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tennessee-ernie-ford-mn0000020403
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ChrisTmas Time - Decca US
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Wombling Merry Christmas.
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Johnus said:
Something to be said for consistency.
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U2 Joshua Tree.
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Cricket.
And Brahms Requiem.
Nice combination.
And Brahms Requiem.
Nice combination.