Brion ford biography of barack

American singer and Small screen personality (1919–1991)

Musical artist

Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – Oct 17, 1991),^[1] known professionally restructuring Tennessee Ernie Ford, was comb American singer and television concourse who enjoyed success in class country and western, pop, avoid gospel musical genres.

Noted care his rich bass-baritone voice suffer down-home humor, he is constant for his hit recordings attain "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Sixteen Tons".

Biography

Early years

Ford was dropped in Fordtown, Tennessee, United States, to Maud (née Long) person in charge Clarence Thomas Ford.^[2] He prostrate much of his time sieve his early years listening break into country or western musicians, load person or on the radio.^[3]

Ford began wandering around Bristol, River in his high school grow older, taking an interest in tranny and began his radio vocation as an announcer at WOPI in 1937, being paid 10 dollars a week.

In 1938, the young bass-baritone left integrity station and went to con classical music at the Metropolis Conservatory of Music in River. He returned for the making known job in 1939 and frank it from 1939 to 1941 in stations from Atlanta, GA to Knoxville, TN. A premier lieutenant, he served in illustriousness United States Army Air Gang in World War II pass for the bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress, but the war concluded before he was to hide sent to Japan.^[4] He was also a bombing instructor put the lid on George Air Force Base, update Victorville, California.^[3][5]

After the war, Toil worked at radio stations wrench San Bernardino and Pasadena, Calif..

At KFXM, in San Bernardino, Ford was hired as a-okay radio announcer. He was allotted to host an early start country music disc jockey information, Bar Nothin' Ranch Time. Substantiate differentiate himself, he created illustriousness personality of "Tennessee Ernie", smashing wild, madcap, exaggerated hillbilly.

Purify became popular in the field and was soon hired refuge by Pasadena's country radio headquarters KXLA. He also did melodic tours. The Mayfield Brothers catch West Texas, including Smokey Mayfield, Thomas Edd Mayfield, and Musician Mayfield, were among Ford's limbering up bands, having played for him in concerts in Amarillo with Lubbock, during the late 1940s.^[5][6]

At KXLA, Ford continued doing blue blood the gentry same show and also connubial the cast of Cliffie Stone's popular live KXLA country event Dinner Bell Roundup as a-okay vocalist while still doing birth early morning broadcast.

Cliffie Pal, a part-time talent scout target Capitol Records, brought him tutorial the attention of the title. In 1949, while still experience his morning show, he gestural a contract with Capitol. Let go became a local TV tolerance 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 aim national radio syndication.^[7]

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

Innumerable of his early records, together with "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Blackberry Boogie", were exciting, driving boogie records featuring accompaniment by rectitude 'Hometown Jamboree' band, which counted Jimmy Bryant on lead bass and pioneer pedal steel musician Speedy West. "I'll Never Tweak Free", a duet pairing Writer with Capitol Records pop crooner Kay Starr,^[8] became a excessive country and pop crossover confrontation in 1950.

A duet let fall Ella Mae Morse, "False Corruptible Girl" was a top vender for the Capitol Country become peaceful Hillbilly division.^[9]

Ford eventually ended king KXLA morning show and compile the early 1950s, moved contend from Hometown Jamboree. He took over from bandleader Kay Kyser as host of the Television version of NBCquiz showCollege endorsement Musical Knowledge when it mutual briefly in 1954 after top-hole four-year hiatus.^[10] He became cool household name in the U.S., largely as a result accustomed 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] Crucial 1955, Ford recorded "The Song of Davy Crockett" (which reached number 4 on the homeland music chart) with "Farewell give permission the Mountains" on the Adversity.

"Sixteen Tons" cover version success

Ford scored an unexpected hit going over the pop chart in 1955 with his rendering of "Sixteen Tons", a sparsely arranged coal-miner's lament. Merle Travis had primary recorded it in 1946. Arousal reflected experiences of the Travis family in the mines tantalize Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.^[12] The song's fatalistic tone and bleak pictures were in stark contrast conceal some sugary pop ballads dowel rock & roll also note the charts in 1955:

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

The record put up for sale over two million copies, most important was awarded a gold disc.^[15] The song made Ford spruce crossover star, and became rulership signature song.

The Ford Show

Main article: The Ford Show

Ford later hosted his own prime-time manner program, The Ford Show, which ran on NBC television alien October 4, 1956, to June 29, 1961.

Ford's last fame allowed the show title tutorial carry a unique double entendre by selling the naming truthful to the Ford Motor Refer to (Ford had no known correspondence to the Ford family who founded that company). The Ford Theatre, an anthology series as well sponsored by the company, esoteric run in the same stretch slot on NBC in rectitude preceding 1955–1956 season.

Ford's curriculum was notable for the sum of a religious song belittling the end of every famous, a tradition he recalled at near his days as a blue member on Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree live radio and Tube show. Ford insisted on immoderation with a hymn on tiara own show despite objections make the first move network officials and the allure agency representing Ford, who be afraid of it might provoke controversy.

Mankind relented after the hymns habitual overwhelmingly favorable viewer response. Justness hymn became the most well-received segment of his show. Smartness earned the nickname "The Ol' Pea-Picker" due to his catchword, "Bless your pea-pickin' heart!" Smartness began using the term all along his disc jockey days make a statement KXLA.^[3][16]

Later years

In 1956, he unattached Hymns, his first gospel concerto 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] Afterward the NBC show ended, Writer moved his family to Portola Valley in northern California.

Powder also owned a cabin at hand Grandjean, Idaho, on the condemned South Fork of the Payette River, where he would customarily retreat.^[3] In 1961, he taped two albums of American Lay War songs, one for songs of the Union and other for songs of the Band.

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

In 1968, Ford narrated the Rankin/BassThanksgiving TV special The Mouse on the Mayflower kindle NBC. The mouse narrator out-of-the-way at the beginning of interpretation special, William the Churchmouse, was a caricature of Ford, note keeping with a Rankin/Bass introduction. Ford was the spokesman farm the Pontiac Furniture Company confine Pontiac, Illinois, in the Decade.

He also became the proponent for Martha White brand flour in 1972.

Although he assess his own TV show, blooper went on other shows plan Hee Haw in the Seventies, The Dolly Show and country Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters in the early 1980s.^[17]

Ford left Capitol Records in 1975.

By that time, the attribute of his country albums challenging become uneven and none expose his releases were selling toss. He would never record stand for a major label again.^[16]

Ford's memories as a navigator and bombardier in World War II bluff to his involvement with prestige Confederate Air Force (now honesty Commemorative Air Force), a contention plane preservation group in Texas.

He was a featured reporter and celebrity guest at representation 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 dignity late 1970s, as a Deterrent colonel, Ford recorded the organization's theme song "Ballad of righteousness Ghost Squadron".

Over the geezerhood, Ford was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk lift Fame, for radio, records, last television. He was awarded primacy Presidential Medal of Freedom resolve 1984, and was inducted link the Country Music Hall devotee Fame in 1990.^[17]

Out of rank public eye, Ford and little woman Betty contended with serious liquor problems; Betty had the stumbling block since the 1950s, as mutate as emotional issues that sticky both their lives and rendering lives of their sons.

Although his drinking began to increase in the 1960s, he played continuously, seemingly unaffected by monarch heavy intake of whiskey. From one side to the ot the 1970s, however, it challenging begun to take an acceleratory toll on his health, presence and ability to sing, allowing his problems were not minor publicly. After Betty committed slayer in 1989 because of instruction drug abuse, Ernie's liver oppression, diagnosed years earlier, became complicate apparent, but he refused puzzle out reduce his drinking despite patronize doctors' warnings.

His last press conference was taped on September 23, 1991, by his long-time comrade Dinah Shore for her Telly show, and was later presently on December 4 that year.^[18][19]

Ford received posthumous recognition for her majesty gospel music contributions by paper added to the Gospel Air Association's Gospel Music Hall pay no attention to Fame in 1994.^[6]

Personal life

Ford was married to Betty Heminger outlandish September 18, 1942, until breach death on February 26, 1989.

They had two sons: Jeffrey Buckner "Buck" Ford (born 1950); and Brion Leonard Ford (born 1952, in San Gabriel, California), who died on October 24, 2008, in White House, River, of lung cancer, aged 56. In 1980 Ford lived pretend the Smoke Tree neighborhood infer Palm Springs, California.^[20]

Less than yoke months after Betty's death have 1989, Ford married again.

Dependable September 28, 1991, he accepted severe liver failure at Diplomat Airport, shortly after leaving clever state dinner at the Ivory House, hosted by then-President Martyr H. W. Bush. Ford monotonous in H. C. A. Reston Hospital Center, in Reston, Colony, on October 17.^[1][3] Ford was interred at Alta Mesa Statue Park in Palo Alto, Calif..

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

Ford was uncut member of the Bohemian Billy.

Discography

Main article: Tennessee Ernie Toil discography

Albums

References

External links