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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZFORD, Ernie(b 13 February 1919, Fordtown TN; d 17 October 1991, Reston VA) Country, pop and gospel singer; 'Tennessee Ernie'. Deep, warm voice, humour and easy country charm made him a big star in '50s. He played trombone in a school orchestra; worked as disc jockey and announcer in Atlanta, Knoxville; served in the USAAF. After WWII in Pasadena he worked with bandleader Cliffie Stone on Hometown Jamboree radio show, leading to a Capitol contract '48, country hits 'Smokey Mountain Boogie', 'Anticipation Blues', 'Mule Train' '49; 'Cry Of The Wild Goose', 'Shotgun Boogie' '50: the last three crossed over to pop chart, and 'Shotgun' is a good example of the fast-paced hillbilly boogie style which contributed to rockabilly. He had enormous crossover hits '55: 'Ballad Of Davy Crockett' no. 6 country, no. 5 pop; 'Sixteen Tons' (by Merle Travis) no. 1 on both charts; 'That's All' no. 12 country, no. 17 pop '56. Altogether there were 15 entries in the Hot 100 '49-59, 16 country chart '49-71 including 'Hicktown' '65, 'Honey Eyed Girl' '69, 'Happy Songs Of Love' '71. He became a national TV personality on College Of Musical Knowledge '53, I Love Lucy '54, Daytime Show '55; own variety show '56-61; also film River Of No Return '54. He turned to gospel '56 with Hymns, the first country LP to sell a million. Great Gospel Songs '64 won a Grammy. Other LPs included This Lusty Land '55, Spirituals '68, 25th Anniversary '74 (two-disc set later reissued as single LPs), Ernie Sings, Glen Picks '75 with Glen Campbell, all on Capitol. Also gospel released on Word from late '70s: Swing Wide Your Gate Of Love with the Jordanaires, He Touched Me, Tell Me The Old, Old Story, There's A Song In My Heart. There were Capitol reissues on Bear Family and Rhino, and a three-CD set Masters 1949-1976 on Liberty. Then in 2015 Bear Family issued Tennessee Ernie Ford: Portrait of an American Singer, a boxed set of 154 tracks from 1949-1960. Ted Olson's notes describe an artist who 'refused to let arbitrary genre rules dictate how he should interpret a song.' Reviewing the set in the Wall Street Journal, Barry Mazer points out
Mazer also mentions the diverse women has recorded duets with: Swing Era vocalist Helen O'Connell, Kay Starr, Ella Mae Morse, Molly Bee. Ford was a fine entertainer, much bigger than the finger-snapping 'Sixteen Tons'. |