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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 ZWHITMAN, Slim(b Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr, 20 January 1923, Tampa FL; d 19 June 2013, Orange Park FL) Country singer with a yodelling style and a smooth falsetto; one of the first crossover artists and an international star, bigger in UK than he was at home. Played pro baseball, worked in a shipyard and as a mailman, making regular appearances on radio (WDAE and WHBU in Tampa '47). He was discovered by Tom Parker, then Eddy Arnold's manager, later Elvis Presley's. He signed with RCA but had no hits; appeared on Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, signed with Imperial and had no. 2 country, no. 10 pop hit '52 with 'Indian Love Call' (written by Rudolph Friml for operetta Rose-Marie '24, words by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II). Further top ten country hits included 'Keep It A Secret', 'North Wind', 'Secret Love', 'Rose Marie' '52-4; the title song from the operetta was no. 1 for a record-breaking eleven weeks in UK '55. At one point Presley was the opening act for Whitman gigs. 'The Cattle Call' '55 was a top ten country hit suiting his yodel (other hit versions were by Jimmy Wakely '42, Eddy Arnold '55); He joined the Grand Ole Opry '55, but on a UK tour he played to packed theatres for a year and his career suffered at home: he had no more country hits until '61, though a charming version of 'I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen' (song from 1876) reached the pop Hot 100 '57, backed with 'Lovesick Blues' (reminiscent of the big Hank Williams hit); at about the same time he recorded 'Careless Love' (aka 'Loveless Love', by W. C. Handy), with male harmony backing and a dixielandish muted trumpet, a sort of restrained rollick. 'Indian Love Call' and 'China Doll' were issued in the UK '55 and both hit; other hits there '56-7 included 'Kathleen'; he had no more chart singles in the UK except 'Happy Anniversary' '74, but returned to the U.S. country chart and was a steady seller for years, rarely in the top ten; often recorded standards and pop songs such as 'Twelfth Of Never', 'My Happiness', 'It's A Sin To Tell A Lie', 'It's All In The Game'. By this time Imperial had been taken over by United Artists. In the late '70s he was popular in the UK all over again, TV-advertised albums selling well in both UK and USA; he signed a new contract with Epic/Cleveland. There were TV- advertised albums '89 and '91; he continued touring in the UK '90s; CD compilations included a boxed set Rose Marie on Bear Family. His last album was Twilight on the Trail 2010. George Hamilton IV gave Whitman credit for making American country music popular internationally. 'Love Song of the Waterfall' was recorded in the early '50s, used over 20 years later in the soundtrack of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He was also heard in the soundtrack of Mars Attacks '96. |