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CountryMusicSweden
A nonprofit organisation to promote country music
Nyhetsbrev nr. 20 18 mars 2003
(Titta tillbaka på tidigare nyhetsblad på http://home.bip.net/peruno )
Ännu en countrystjärna från den gamla stammen har avlidit och därför sänder jag detta EXTRA nyhetsbrev. Bill Carlisle har knappast varit någon känd person i Sverige, men vi som varit med sedan 60 – 70 talet har givetvis lyckats samla lite av hans fina material, bl a på Hickory Records.
BILL CARLISLE DEAD AT 94.
Nashville: 03/17/2003
Bill Carlisle
(1908-2003)
Grand Ole Opry star Bill Carlisle has established one of country music's most enduring careers. Born in Wakefield, Ky., in 1908, Carlisle began performing in the late 1920s on a Louisville radio station with his father and other family members as part of the Carlisle Family Saturday Night Barn Dance. This group included his older brother Cliff (1904-1983), who was one of country music's pioneer steel guitar and Dobro players and a popular singer in his own right.
In the early '30s, with his brother Cliff's assistance, Carlisle recorded for the ARC label group, where he recorded his first hit, "Rattlesnake Daddy." Eventually Carlisle became as popular as his older brother, with whom he shared a talent for yodeling and a tendency to sing songs filled with risqué double entendres, such as "Copper Head Mama" (1934) and "Jumpin' and Jerkin' Blues" (1935).
In the late '30s, he signed with Decca Records and explored various styles of music. Although at times the brothers worked as solo artists, they frequently teamed up to become one of country music's best-known brother duos. The Carlisle Brothers became major radio stars during the Depression, fusing hillbilly, Hawaiian, blues and vaudeville elements into their music and performances. In 1946 they scored their biggest hit as a duo with "Rainbow at Midnight." They toured extensively throughout the Midwest and Southeast and at various times were based in Memphis, Lexington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Shreveport and Asheville before beginning a long association with KNOX radio in Knoxville, Tenn.
The brothers amicably split in the late '40s as Cliff retired and Carlisle continued his career, earning a Top 20 hit with his recording of "Tramp on the Street" for King Records. He returned to Knoxville in 1951, where he (along with Archie Campbell) helped a young Chet Atkins by hiring him to work radio and road shows. He also worked with the Carter Family, Don Gibson, Homer & Jethro and others. During these performances Carlisle began to leap about on stage, developing his comical alter-ego "Hot Shot Elmer."
In the early '50s, Carlisle formed his new group The Carlisles, which included gospel singer Martha Carson and for a short time his brother Cliff. Through the years the members of the Carlisles would change and include Betty Amos, Tommy Jackson, Bobbi Sills, Dottie Sills and Roy Sneed among others. The group recorded for Mercury Records and specialized in up-tempo novelty songs, straight-ahead country music and gospel material. Their song "Too Old to Cut the Mustard" (written by Carlisle) became a huge country hit for the group (and was later recorded by Ernest Tubb and Red Foley). Through the years, they also had hits with "No Help Wanted," "Knothole," "Is Zat You, Myrtle?," "Tain't Nice to Talk Like That," "Shake-A-Leg" and "Honey Love."
The success of The Carlisles earned an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1953, where soon after Carlisle earned his familiar nickname "Jumpin' Bill." The Carlisles disbanded in the mid-60s, but Carlisle never slowed down, scoring a Top 5 hit with "What Kinda Deal Is This?" on Hickory Records in 1966. A heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery in 1993 as well as hip surgery the following year curtailed his jumping, but it could not keep him away from the stage and the audiences that love him. Carlisle currently reigns as the oldest member of the Grand Ole Opry (where he still performs regularly alongside son Billy and guitarists Joe Edwards and George Riddle), serving as a living link to the dawning days of the country music industry.
Carlisle was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002.
Lyssna på Radio Lidingö 97,8 ikväll klockan 20.00 så kommer ni att få höra några av Bills låtar på just skivmärket Hickory. Gäller förstås bara Stockholm, då vi inte har möjlighet att sända över Internet, ännu!
Benny Pedersen hälsar från sin turné i Danmark att det är fullsatta hus, hver gang! Artisterna är Charlie McCoy, Wanda Jackson och Heidi Hauge. Fint paket som säkert skulle bli populärt även i Sverige.
Från Helge Johannesen i Kristiansand, Norge får jag rapport om att countrymusiken inte ligger på topp just nu och att steelguitar blir allt sällsyntare på plattor. Ja, ja, samma tendens är det i Sverige trots att countrymusiken i USA är den mest säljande just nu. Se bara på Alan Jackson och George Strait. Själv har jag inte haft en "session" på flera månader och det är mycket dåligt. Bara för några år sedan blev jag bokad flera gånger i veckan för inspelningar, mest med dansband., men ändå! Tiderna förändras!
Grattis till Ben Olander som lyckas komma med i Expressen igen, med bild och allt! Ett sånt PR-sinne skulle jag vilja ha!
En alldeles utmärkt countrymusikklubb att vara medlem i är Smålands Country Club. Deras klubbtidning SCC-NYTT är outstanding i branschen. Snyggt tryck, fin layout och bra artiklar om countrymusik utan annat trams som ofta förekommer i andra liknande tidningar. I senaste utgåvan finns artiklar om Buck Owens, Jim & Jesse och Johnny Paycheck. Bra jobbat grabbar! Deras hemsida är: www.smalandscountryclub.tk
Oj, det blev mycket för att vara ett EXTRA nyhetsblad! Simma lugnt!
Janne Lindgren
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