Richard Edward "Eddy" Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May
8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He
was a so-called Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late
1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only
to George Jones. He sold more than 85 million records.
Arnold was born on May 15, 1918 on a farm near Henderson,
Tennessee. His father, a sharecropper, played the fiddle, while his mother
played guitar. As a boy Arnold helped on the farm, which later gained him his
nickname—the Tennessee Plowboy. Arnold attended Pinson High School in Pinson,
Tennessee, where he played guitar for school functions and events. He quit
before graduation to help with the farm work, but continued performing, often
arriving on a mule with his guitar hung on his back. Arnold also worked
part-time as an assistant at a mortuary.
In 1934, at age 16, Arnold debuted musically on WTJS-AM in
Jackson, Tennessee and obtained a job there during 1937. He performed at local
nightclubs and was a permanent performer for the station. During 1938, he was
hired by WMPS-AM in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was one of its most popular
performers. He soon quit for KWK-AM in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by a brief
stint at WHAS-AM in Louisville, Kentucky.
He performed for WSM-AM on the Grand Ole Opry during 1943 as
a solo artist. In 1944, Arnold signed a contract with RCA Victor, with manager
Colonel Tom Parker, who later managed Elvis Presley. Arnold's first single was
little noticed, but the next, "Each Minute Seems a Million Years",
scored No. 5 on the country charts during 1945. Its success began a decade of
unprecedented chart performance; Arnold's next 57 singles all scored the Top
Ten, including 19 number one scoring successes.
In 1946, Arnold scored his first major success with
"That's How Much I Love You". In 1948, he had five successful songs
on the charts simultaneously. That year he had nine songs score the top 10;
five of these scored No. 1 and scored No. 1 for 40 of the year's 52 weeks. With
Parker's management, Arnold continued to dominate, with 13 of the 20
best-scoring country music songs of 1947–1948. He became the host of Mutual
Radio's Purina-sponsored segment of the Opry and of Mutual’s Checkerboard
Jamboree.. Recorded radio programs increased Arnold’s popularity, as did the
CBS Radio series Hometown Reunion with the Duke of Paducah. Arnold quit the
Opry during 1948, and his Hometown Reunion briefly broadcasted in competition
with the Opry on Saturday nights. In 1949 and 1950, he performed in the
Columbia movies Feudin’ Rhythm and Hoedown.
Arnold began working for television in the early 1950s,
hosting The Eddy Arnold Show. The summer program was broadcast successively by
all three television networks, replacing the Perry Como and Dinah Shore
programs. He also performed as a guest and a guest host on the ABC-TV show
Ozark Jubilee from 1955–60. Arnold featured in the syndicated Eddy Arnold Time
from 1955 to 1957. From 1960 to 1961, he hosted NBC-TV's Today on the Farm.
With the rise of rock and roll in the 1950s, Arnold's record
sales declined, though he and fellow RCA Victor recording artist Jim Reeves had
a greater audience with popular-sounding string-laced arrangements. Arnold
annoyed many people of the country music establishment by recording with the
Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra at RCA's studios in New York. The pop-oriented
arrangements of "The Cattle Call" and "The Richest Man (in the
World)", however, helped to expand his appeal beyond its country music
base. This style, pioneered by Reeves and Arnold, became known as the
"Nashville Sound". During 1953, Arnold and Tom Parker had a dispute,
and Arnold dismissed him. From 1954 to 1963, Arnold's performances were managed
by Joe Csida; during 1964 Csida was replaced by Jerry Purcell.
Arnold embarked on a second career that brought his music to
a more diverse audience. In the summer of 1965, he had his first Number One
country song in ten years, What's He Doing in My World and struck gold again
six months later with the song that would become his most well-known Make the
World Go Away accompanied by pianist Floyd Cramer on piano and featuring the
Anita Kerr Singers. As a result, Arnold's rendition became an international
success.
Bill Walker's orchestra arrangements provided the lush
background for 16 continuous successes sung by Arnold in the late 1960s. Arnold
performed with symphony orchestras in New York City, Las Vegas and Hollywood.
He performed in Carnegie Hall for two concerts, and in the Coconut Grove in Las
Vegas. During 1966, Arnold was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame,
the youngest performer to receive the honour. The following year Arnold was
voted the first-ever awarded Country Music Association's Entertainer Of The
Year. Two years later, Arnold released an autobiography named It's A Long Way
From Chester County.
Having been with RCA Victor since his debut during 1944,
Arnold left the company in 1973 for MGM Records, for which he recorded four
albums, which included several top 40 successes. He returned to RCA in 1976.
During the 1980s, Arnold declared himself semi-retired;
however, he continued recording. In 1984, the Academy of Country Music awarded
Arnold its Pioneer Award. His next album, You Don't Miss A Thing wasn't
released until 1991. Arnold performed road tours for several more years. By
1992, he had sold nearly 85 million records, and had a total of 145 weeks of
No. 1 songs, more than any other singer.
In 1996, RCA issued an album of Arnold's main successes
since 1944 as part of its 'Essential' series. Arnold, then 76 years old,
retired from active singing, though he still performed occasionally. On May 16,
1999, the day after his 81st birthday, he announced his final retirement during
a concert at the Hotel Orleans in Las Vegas. That same year, the National Academy
of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted the recording of "Make The World
Go Away" into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was awarded the
National Medal of Arts. In 2005, Arnold received a lifetime achievement award
from the Recording Academy, and later that year, released a final album for RCA
entitled After All These Years.
Eddy Arnold died from natural causes at 5:00 a.m. Central
Time on May 8, 2008 in a nursing home in Nashville, exactly one week before his
90th birthday. His wife of 66 years, Sally Gayhart Arnold, had preceded him in
death by two months. (Info edited from Last.fm)
2 comments:
For “The Best Of Eddy Arnold” go here:
http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/auA3aSM9/file.html
1. Bouquet Of Roses 2:22
2. Make The World Go Away 2:37
3. Anytime 2:14
4. I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms) 2:28
5. I Want To Go With You 2:38
6. The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me 2:11
7. What's He Doin' In My World 2:08
8. Just A Little Lovin' (Will Go A Long Way) 2:48
9. I Really Don't Want To Know 2:47
10. You Don't Know Me 2:40
11. That's How Much I Love You 2:40
12. Cattle Call 2:38
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