- Tennessee Ernie Ford
-
Tennessee Ernie Ford 
Background information Birth name Ernest Jennings Ford Born February 13, 1919
Bristol, Tennessee,
United StatesDied October 17, 1991 (aged 72)
Reston, Virginia,
United StatesGenres Country & Western, Pop, Gospel Occupations Singer, actor Instruments Vocals, Guitar, violin Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Today, he is best remembered for his hit recording of "Sixteen Tons".
Contents
Biography
Early years
Born in Bristol, Tennessee, to Clarence Thomas Ford and Maud Long, Ford began his radio career as an announcer at WOPI-AM in Bristol, Tennessee. In 1939, the young bass-baritone left the station to study classical singing at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in Ohio. First Lieutenant Ford served in World War II as the bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress flying missions over Japan. After the war, Ford worked at radio stations in San Bernardino and Pasadena, California. In San Bernardino, Ford was hired as a radio announcer. He was assigned to host an early morning country music disc jockey program titled Bar Nothin' Ranch Time. To differentiate himself, he created the personality of "Tennessee Ernie," a wild, madcap exaggerated hillbilly. He became popular in the area and was soon hired away by Pasadena's KXLA radio.
Ford also did musical tours. The Mayfield Brothers of West Texas, including Smokey Mayfield, Thomas Edd Mayfield, and Herbert Mayfield, were among Ford's warmup bands, having played for him in concerts in Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas, during the late 1940s. At KXLA, Ford continued doing the same show and also joined the cast of Cliffie Stone's popular live KXLA country show Dinner Bell Roundup as a vocalist while still doing the early morning broadcast. Cliffie Stone, a part-time talent scout for Capitol Records, brought him to the attention of the label. In 1949, while still doing his morning show, he signed a contract with Capitol. He also became a local TV star 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 for national radio syndication.
He released almost 50 country singles through the early 1950s, several of which made the charts. Many of his early records, including "The Shotgun Boogie", "Blackberry Boogie," and so on were exciting, driving boogie-woogie records featuring accompaniment by the Hometown Jamboree band which included Jimmy Bryant on lead guitar and pioneer pedal steel guitarist Speedy West. "I'll Never Be Free," a duet pairing Ford with Capitol Records pop singer Kay Starr, became a huge country and pop crossover hit in 1950. A duet with Ella Mae Morse, False Hearted Girl was a top seller for the Capitol Country and Hillbilly division,[1] and has been evaluated as an early tune.[2]
Ford eventually ended his KXLA morning show and in the early 1950s, moved on from Hometown Jamboree. He took over from band-leader Kay Kyser as host of the TV version of NBC quiz show Kollege of Musical Knowledge when it returned briefly in 1954 after a four-year hiatus. He became a household name in the U.S. largely as a result of his hilarious portrayal of the 'country bumpkin,' "Cousin Ernie" on three episodes of I Love Lucy. He called Ricky Ricardo "Cousin Ricky Rickerdo". Most famous was the scene of Cousin Ernie and "The Wicked City Woman" (Lucy). where two of the greatest lines were derived. "You got quite a hitch in your get-a-long", referring to Lucy's swinging of her hips while portraying "The Wicked City Woman". This portrayal as "The Wicked City Woman" was an attempt to scare Cousin Ernie out of the city and Ricky & Lucy's home by "Vamping" (rubbing his head and messing up his hair). Instead of scaring him, Cousin Ernie liked it, and the famous lines "Vamp me some more " was born as a renowned favorite memory of "Cousin Ernie" on "I Love Lucy".
In 1955, Ford recorded "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" (which reached number 4 on the country chart) with "Farewell to the Mountains" on side B.
"Sixteen Tons"
Sixteen Tons album coverFord scored an unexpected hit on the pop charts in 1955 with his rendition of Merle Travis' "Sixteen Tons", a sparsely arranged coal-miner's lament that Travis wrote in 1946, based on his own family's experience in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Its fatalistic tone contrasted vividly with the sugary pop ballads and rock & roll just starting to dominate the charts at the time:
- You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
- Another day older and deeper in debt.
- Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
- I owe my soul to the company store...
With a unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement by Ford's musical director, Jack Fascinato, "Sixteen Tons" spent ten weeks at number one on the country charts and eight weeks at number one on the pop charts, and made Ford a crossover star. It became Ford's 'signature song.'
Later years
Ford subsequently helmed his own prime-time variety program, The Ford Show, which ran on NBC television from October 4, 1956, to June 29, 1961. In an ironic play of words, the show was named not after Ernie, but rather, the sponsor—Ford automobiles. Ford Theatre, an anthology series, had run in the same time slot on NBC in the preceding 1955-1956 season. Ford's program was notable for the inclusion of a religious song at the end of every show; Ford insisted on this despite objections from network officials who feared it might provoke controversy. This became the most popular segment of his show. He earned the nickname "The Ol' Pea-Picker" due to his catch-phrase, "Bless your pea-pickin' heart!" He began using the term during his disc jockey days on KXLA.
In 1956 he released Hymns, his first gospel music album, which remained on Billboard's Top Album charts for 277 consecutive weeks; his album "Great Gospel Songs" won a Grammy Award in 1964. After the NBC show ended, Ford moved his family to Portola Valley in Northern California. He also owned a cabin near Grandjean, Idaho on the upper South Fork of the Payette River where he would regularly retreat.
A photo of Ford with country singer Hank Thompson and Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby appeared in the 1988 book, The Ruby-Oswald Affair, by Alan Adelson.
From 1962-65, Ford hosted a daytime talk/variety show, The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (later known as Hello, Peapickers) from KGO-TV in San Francisco, broadcast over the ABC television network.
Ford was the spokesman for the Pontiac Furniture Company in Pontiac, Illinois in the 1970s.
Ford's experiences as a navigator and bombardier in World War II led to his involvement with the Confederate Air Force (now the Commemorative Air Force), a war plane preservation group in Texas. He was a featured announcer and celebrity guest at the 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 the late 1970s, as a CAF colonel, Ford recorded the organization's theme song "Ballad of the Ghost Squadron."
Over the years, Ford was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for radio, records, and television. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990.
Offstage, both Ford and wife Betty contended with serious alcohol problems; Betty had the problem since the 1950s. Though his drinking worsened in the 60's, he worked continuously, seemingly unaffected by his heavy intake of Cutty Sark whisky. By the 1970s, however, it had begun to take an increasing toll on his health and ability to sing. After Betty's substance abuse-related death in 1989, Ernie's liver problems, diagnosed years earlier, became more apparent, but he refused to reduce his drinking despite repeated doctors' warnings. In 1990, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His last interview was taped in September 1991 by his old friend Dinah Shore for her TV show. His physical deterioration by then was quite obvious.
Ford received posthumous recognition for his gospel music contributions by adding him to the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1994.
Personal life
Ford was married to Betty Heminger from September 18, 1942, until her death on February 26, 1989; they had two children - Jeffrey Buckner “Buck” Ford (born January 6, 1950) and Brion Leonard Ford (born September 3, 1952 in San Gabriel, California - died Friday, October 24, 2008 in White House, Tennessee, of lung cancer at age 56).
Less than four months after Betty's death, Ford, who had long suffered from severe alcoholism, married again. On September 28, 1991, he fell into severe liver failure at Dulles Airport, shortly after leaving a state dinner at the White House hosted by then President George H. W. Bush. Ford died in H. C. A. Reston Hospital Center, in Reston, Virginia, on October 17—exactly 36 years after "Sixteen Tons" was released, and one day shy of the first anniversary of his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.[3] Ford was interred at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, Palo Alto, California, Plot: Lot 242 Sub 1, Urn Garden. His second wife, Beverly Wood Ford (1921–2001), died ten years after Ernie and her body was interred with her husband's.
Discography
Albums
Year Album Chart Positions RIAA Label US Country US 1956 This Lusty Land 12 Capitol Hymns 2 Platinum 1957 Spirituals 5 Gold Ford Favorites Ol' Rockin' Ern 1958 Nearer the Cross 5 Gold Star Carol 4 Platinum 1959 Gather Round Friend We Have 1960 Sing a Hymn with Me 23 Sixteen Tons Sing a Spiritual with Me Come to the Fair 1961 Civil War Songs of the North Civil War Songs of the South Looks at Love Hymns at Home 67 1962 Mississippi Showboat 110 I Love to Tell the Story 43 Book of Favorite Hymns 71 1963 Long Long Ago We Gather Together Story of Christmas 14 1964 Great Gospel Songs Country Hits Feelin' Blue World's Best Loved Hymns 1965 Let Me Walk with Thee Sing We Now of Christmas 31 1966 My Favorite Things Wonderful Place God Lives Bless Your Pea Pickin' Heart 1967 Aloha Faith of Our Fathers 1968 Our Garden of Hymns (w/ Marilyn Horne) World of Pop and Country Hits O Come All Ye Faithful The Best of Tennessee Ernie Ford Hymns 1969 Songs I Like to Sing New Wave Holy Holy 1970 America the Beautiful 192 Everything Is Beautiful 1971 Abide with Me C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S Folk Album 1972 Mr. Words and Music Standin' in the Need of Prayer 1973 Country Morning 46 Sings About Jesus 1975 Make a Joyful Noise 35 Ernie Sings & Glen Picks (w/ Glen Campbell) 1976 His Great Love For the 83rd Time 1977 He Touched Me Word 1978 Swing Wide Your Golden Gate 1980 Tell Me the Old Story 1984 Keep Looking Back Singles
Year Single Chart Positions Album US Country US 1949 "Tennessee Border" 8 singles only "Country Junction" 14 "Smokey Mountain Boogie" 8 "Blues Stay Away from Me" (w/ Merle Travis) "Mule Train" 1 9 "Anticipation Blues" 3 1950 "The Cry of the Wild Goose" 2 15 "Feed'em in the Morning" "Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own" (w/ Kay Starr) 5 22 "I'll Never Be Free" (w/ Kay Starr) 2 3 "What This Country Needs" "Cincinnati Dancing Pig" (w/ The Starlighters) "Little Juan Pedro" 1951 "The Shotgun Boogie" 1 14 "Tailor Made Woman" (w/ Joe "Fingers" Carr) 8 "Ocean of Tears" (w/ Kay Starr) 15 "You're My Sugar" (w/ Kay Starr) 22 "Mr. and Mississippi" 2 18 "The Strange Little Girl" 9 "Kissin' Bug Boogie" "Hey Good Lookin'" (w/ Helen O'Connell) "Rock City Boogie" (w/ The Dinning Sisters) 1952 "Hambone" "Everybody's Got Girl But Me" "Snowshoe Thompson" "Blackberry Boogie" 6 "False Hearted Girl" (w/ Ella Mae Morse) 1953 "I Don't Know" "Hey, Mr. Cotton Picker" 8 "Don't Start Courtin' in a Hot Rod Ford" (w/ Molly Bee) "Kiss Me Big" 1954 "Honeymoon's Over" (w/ Betty Hutton) 16 "River of No Return" 9 "Ein Zwei Drei" "Somebody Bigger Than You or I" 1955 "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" 4 5 "His Hands" 13 Spirituals "Sixteen Tons" 1 1 Ford Favorites 1956 "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" 78 "That's All" 12 17 "John Henry" This Lusty Land "Rovin' Gambler" 60 "Rock and Roll Boogie" single only "First Born" 46 Ford Favorites 1957 "Watermelon Song" 87 "One Suit" 93 "False Hearted Girl" This Lusty Land "In the Middle of an Island" 23 singles only "Ivy League" 1958 "Bless Your Pea Pickin' Heart" singles only "Sunday Barbeque" 97 "Glad Rags" 100 1959 "Black-Eyed Susie" "Sunny Side of Heaven" 1960 "O Mary Don't You Weep" Sing a Spiritual with Me "Little Klinker" singles only "Bless the Land" 1961 "Dark as a Dungeon" "Little Red Rockin' Hood" 1962 "Take Your Girlie to the Movies" Mississippi Showboat "Rags an Old Iron" single only "How Great Thou Art" I Love to Tell the Story 1965 "Hicktown" 9 single only "Now It's All Over" Bless Your Pickin' Heart "Sing We Now of Christmas"A Sing We Now of Christmas 1966 "God Lives" God Lives 1967 "Lahaina Luna" Aloha "Hand-Me-Down Things" single only 1968 "Talk to the Animals" World of Pop and Country Hits 1969 "Honey-Eyed Girl (That's You That's You)" 54 New Wave 1970 "Rainy Night in Georgia" Everything Is Beautiful 1971 "Happy Songs of Love" 58 singles only 1972 "Pea-Pickin' Cock" 1973 "Printers Alley Stars" 66 Country Morning "Farther Down the River (Where the Fishin's Good)" 73 "Colorado Country Morning"B 70 1974 "Sweet Child of Sunshine" "I've Got Confidence" Make a Joyful Noise 1975 "Come On Down" 52 "Baby" (w/ Andra Willis) 63 Country Morning "The Devil Ain't a Lonely Woman's Friend" 96 single only 1976 "I Been to Georgia On a Fast Train" 95 For the 83rd Time "Dogs and Sheriff John" - A"Sing We Now of Christmas" peaked at #2 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada.
- B"Colorado Country Morning" peaked at #85 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.
Notes
- ^ Billboard Oct 4, 1952. page 31.
- ^ Rockin Country Style @ Emory University
- ^ Glenn Collins (18 October 1991). "Tennessee Ernie Ford Dies at 72; Folksy Singer Recorded '16 Tons'". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6D6103CF93BA25753C1A967958260. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
References
- Whiteside, Johnny; Kingsbury, Paul (ed.) (1998). "Tennessee Ernie Ford". The Encyclopedia of Country Music. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 176–7. ISBN 0195116712.
External links
Categories:- 1919 births
- 1991 deaths
- People from Bristol, Tennessee
- American Methodists
- American country singers
- American male singers
- American gospel singers
- American television personalities
- Capitol Records artists
- Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Grammy Award winners
- People from Palo Alto, California
- United States Air Force airmen
- Southern Gospel performers
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