He was born in 1932 in Colt in St. Francis County. He grew up surrounded by a wide range of southern music, from blues to bluegrass. A neighboring sharecropper taught him to play the piano. He played saxophone in the band at Consolidated High School in Forrest City and loved jazz, especially the music of Stan Kenton. His classmates nicknamed him "Charlie Kenton."
He went to Arkansas State College on a football scholarship, but, after an injury, transferred to the University of Arkansas as a music major for one semester and performed with the Razorback Marching Band. He then spent four years in the Air Force, based in Enid, Okla., where he organized a blues and jazz group called The Velvetones. In 1957 he found his way to Memphis, finding work as a jazz pianist. Legendary producer Sam Phillips signed him as a songwriter and session musician to accompany other Sun Records artists such as Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. In 1960, his voice began to get noticed and soon he had his first big hit, "Lonely Weekends" (No. 22 on the pop charts). Five years later, he had his second hit, "Mohair Sam" (No. 3 on the pop charts). It was 10 long years before his next two blockbuster hits, "Behind Closed Doors" (No. 1 on the country) and "The Most Beautiful Girl" (No. 1 on pop and country charts).
In 1974, he was named the Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year and received a Grammy Award. For two decades he was one of the most popular crossover artists in the world, which gave country music mass appeal. He died of a pulmonary embolism in 1995.
Who was this famous Arkansan they called "The Silver Fox"?
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Style on 12/22/2019