Ernest Tubb born 9 February 1914

Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the "Texas Troubadour", was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. A true original; with his distinctive, growling vocals, the honky-tonk legend registered an astonishing 91 country chart hits.

The incomparable Ernest Tubb ("E.T." to all who knew him) became a legend as much for what he was personally as for the half-century career that stretched from his first radio date in 1932 to his death in 1984. Though other singers with better voices and more raw musical talent have come and gone, none has inspired greater love from fans over six decades

His biggest career hit song "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941) marked the rise of the honky-tonk style of music. In 1948-49, he was the first singer to record a hit version of "Blue Christmas," a song more commonly associated with Elvis Presley and his mid-1950s version. Another well-known Tubb hit is "Waltz Across Texas" (1965), which became one of his most requested songs and is often used in dance halls throughout Texas during waltz lessons. In the early 1960s, he recorded duets with then-newbie Loretta Lynn, including their hit "Sweet Thang".

Tubb was born on a cotton farm near Crisp, Texas (now a ghost town in Ellis County, Texas). His father was a sharecropper, so Tubb spent his youth working on farms throughout the state. He was inspired by Jimmie Rodgers and spent his spare time learning to sing, yodel, and play the guitar. At the age of nineteen, he took a job as a singer on a San Antonio radio station. The pay was low, so Tubb also dug ditches for the Works Progress Administration and then clerked at a drug store.

In 1936, Tubb contacted Jimmie Rodgers’s widow (Rodgers died in 1933) to ask for an autographed photo. A friendship developed and she was instrumental in getting Tubb a recording contract with RCA. His first two records were unsuccessful.

In 1939 he moved to San Angelo, Texas and was hired to do a 15 minute afternoon live show on radio station KGKL. He drove a beer delivery truck in order to support himself during this time. A tonsillectomy in 1939 affected his singing style, so he turned to songwriting. In 1940, he switched to Decca records to try singing again and it was his sixth Decca release with the single "Walking the Floor Over You" that brought Tubb to stardom. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc in 1965 by the RIAA. During World War II he wrote and recorded a song titled "Beautiful San Angelo".

                             

Tubb joined the Grand Ole Opry in February, 1943 and put together his band, the "Texas Troubadours." He remained a regular on the radio show for four decades, and hosted the Midnight Jamboree after it. 

He always surrounded himself with some of Nashville's best musicians. Jimmy Short, his first guitarist in the Troubadours, is credited with the Tubb sound of single-string guitar picking. From about 1943 to 1948, Short featured clean, clear riffs throughout Tubb's songs.

Other well-known musicians to either travel with Tubb as band members or record on his records were steel guitarist Jerry Byrd and Tommy "Butterball" Paige, who replaced Short as Tubb's lead guitarist in 1947. Billy Byrd joined the Troubadours in 1949 and brought jazzy riffs to the instrumental interludes, especially the four-note riff at the end of his guitar solos that would become synonymous with Tubb's songs. A jazz musician, Byrd — no relation to Jerry — remained with Tubb until 1959

Ernest Tubb never possessed the best voice. In fact, he missed some notes horribly on some recordings. When Tubb was recording "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" in 1949 and tried to hit a low note, Red Foley, his duet partner at the time, was sitting in the booth when somebody asked, "I bet you wish you could hit that low note." Foley replied, "I bet Ernest wishes he could hit that low note."

In the 1960s, Tubb was well known for having one of the best bands in country music history. Beginning in the fall of 1965, he hosted a half-hour TV program, The Ernest Tubb Show, which aired in first-run syndication for three years. That same year, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame; and in 1970, Tubb was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

But Tubb inspired one of the most devoted fan bases of any country artist – and his fans followed him throughout his career even until the 1970s when Tubb could only croak his songs and his band was probably the least talented bunch of Troubadours. However, Tubb would "bring the house down"

every time he broke into "Waltz Across Texas" or another favourite. He continued to tour, but in late 1982 he was forced to retire due to his health.

During the last days of his final tours, he had to take oxygen and rest on a cot between shows, eerily resembling the circumstances of Rodgers' last recording sessions. Tubb succumbed to emphysema on September 6, 1984, leaving behind an enormous legacy that helped shape the face of contemporary country music.

(Edited mainly from Wikipedia with additional information from AllMusic)