Tennessee Ernie Ford

Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 -October 17, 1991), better known by the stage name Tennessee Ernie Ford, was a pioneering U.S. recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country & western, pop, and gospel musical genres.

Related Topics:
February 13 - 1919 - October 17 - 1991 - Stage name - Country & western - Pop - Gospel - Musical genre

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Born in Bristol, Tennessee, Ford began his radio career as an announcer at station WOPI in Bristol, leaving in 1939 to study classical music and voice at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. After serving in World War II, Ford worked at radio stations in San Bernardino and Pasadena, Calif. before signing a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1949. He released almost 50 country singles through the early 1950s, several of which made the charts, and took over from bandleader Kay Kyser as host of the NBC quiz show "College of Musical Knowledge" when it returned briefly in 1954 after a four-year hiatus.

Related Topics:
Bristol, Tennessee - 1939 - Classical music - Cincinnati Conservatory of Music - World War II - San Bernardino - Pasadena - Capitol Records - 1949 - Singles - Charts - Kay Kyser - NBC - Quiz show - College of Musical Knowledge - 1954

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Ford 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 with bleak lyrics and a fatalistic tone that contrasted vividly with the sugary pop ballads and energetic proto-rock songs that dominated the charts at the time:

Related Topics:
1955 - Merle Travis - Sixteen Tons - Rock

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:You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

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:Another day older and deeper in debt.

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:Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;

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:I owe my soul to the company store...

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"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. Ford subsequently helmed his own primetime variety program, "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show," which ran on NBC from 1956 to 1961. 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. In 1956 he released "Hymns," his first gospel album, which remained on Billboard's "Top Album" charts for a remarkable 277 consecutive weeks; his album "Great Gospel Songs" won a Grammy Award in 1964.

Related Topics:
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show - 1956 - 1961 - Billboard - Grammy Award - 1964

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Over the years, Ford has been 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. Ford fell ill in 1991 after leaving a state dinner at the White House hosted by President George H. W. Bush, and died on October 17, exactly thirty-six years after "Sixteen Tons" was released and one day shy of the first anniversary of his induction into the Hall of Fame.

Related Topics:
Hollywood Walk of Fame - Radio - Records - Television - Presidential Medal of Freedom - 1984 - Country Music Hall of Fame - 1990 - 1991 - George H. W. Bush

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Ford was posthumously recognized for his gospel music contributions by adding him to the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1994.

Related Topics:
Gospel Music Association - Gospel Music Hall of Fame

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