Burl Ives


 
 
Burl Ives

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was a successful folk singer, author and actor.

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Born in Jasper County, Illinois, Ives is probably best remembered for his music. Carl Sandburg described him as "the mightiest ballad singer born in any century". He dropped out of college to travel about as an itinerant singer during the early 1930s, earning his way by doing odd jobs and playing his banjo. He was jailed in Mona, Utah for singing "Foggy Foggy Dew", which the authorities decided was a bawdy song.

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In 1940 Ives began his own radio show, called The Wayfaring Stranger after one of his popular ballads. The show was very popular, and in 1946 Ives was cast as a singing cowboy in the movie Smoky. His first book, The Wayfaring Stranger, was published in 1948.

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Other movie credits include East of Eden (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and The Big Country (1958), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Our Man in Havana (1959), based on the Graham Greene novel.

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In the 1940s he popularized several very old folk songs, such as "Lavender Blue" (his first hit, a folk song from the 17th century), "Foggy Foggy Dew" (an English folk song), "Blue Tail Fly" (an old Civil War tune) and "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (an old hobo ditty).

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Ives's reputation was tarnished in the eyes of some when he cooperated with the House Unamerican Activities Committee, and named fellow folk singer Pete Seeger and others as possible Communists. His cooperation with the HUAC ended his blacklisting, allowing him to continue with his movie acting.

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In the 1960s he began singing country music. In 1962 he released three major hits, "A Little Bitty Tear," "Call Me Mr In-Between," and "Funny Way of Laughing", all three of which crossed over and topped the pop charts as well.

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Possibly his most remembered role today is as narrator Sam the Snowman in the Rankin-Bass animated television special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Ives performed in other television productions, most notably Pinocchio (1968) and Roots (1977).

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Ives's most famous song, "Holly Jolly Christmas" is a very popular tune during the Christmas season, as it's frequently played on the radio. The song is also featured in the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special. Frank Black of The Pixies is a contemporary fan of Ives according to Apple's iTunes Music Store. In a contribution to "Celebrity Playlists", Black includes no less than 15 of Ives' hits in his playlist.

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During his lifetime, Ives and his wife lived with their children in a home located alongside the water in Anacortes, in the Puget Sound area of Washington, where he died of cancer of the mouth at the age of 85.

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REFERENCES:

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Burl Ives Song Book,1953, Ballantine Books, New York.

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More Burl Ives Songs, 1966, Ballantine Books,New York.

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June 14: June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining....

1909: 1909 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar)....

1995: 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the first year of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2005): http://www.unesco.org/culture/indigenous/...


Burl Ives related Images and Photos (experimental)

Burl Ives - The Hollywood Palace
Burl Ives - The Hollywood Palace
St. Ives (DVD)
St. Ives (DVD)
Telefon/St. Ives (DBFE) (DVD) (WS) (Tough Guys Charles Bronson)
Telefon/St. Ives (DBFE) (DVD) (WS) (Tough Guys Charles Bronson)
Beach Boats  St. Ives
Beach Boats St. Ives
The Harbor  St. Ives  Cornwall
The Harbor St. Ives Cornwall
St. Ives  England - Harbor Scene with Girl and Gulls Railway Poster
St. Ives England - Harbor Scene with Girl and Gulls Railway Poster
Christie Brinkley and Michael Ives  Rolling Stone no. 397  June 1983
Christie Brinkley and Michael Ives Rolling Stone no. 397 June 1983
American Farm Scenes  Pub. by Currier and Ives  New York
American Farm Scenes Pub. by Currier and Ives New York
Loading Fish at Low Tide  St. Ives
Loading Fish at Low Tide St. Ives
Gold Mining in California  Published by Currier & Ives  1861
Gold Mining in California Published by Currier & Ives 1861
Low Water in the Mississippi  Pub. by Currier and Ives  1867
Low Water in the Mississippi Pub. by Currier and Ives 1867
Landscape  Fruit and Flowers  1862  Publisher  Currier and Ives
Landscape Fruit and Flowers 1862 Publisher Currier and Ives

~ Table of Content ~

Introduction
External Links
 


 

~ Related Subjects ~

Gregorian calendar (2) - June 14 (2) - Animated (1) - Rankin-Bass (1) - Pinocchio (1) - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1) - Television special (1) - Communists (1) - Pete Seeger (1) - Country music (1) - Sam the Snowman (1) - 1962 (1) - Roots (1) - Washington (1) - Puget Sound (1) -
 

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