Biography of Tennessee Ernie Ford

This radio announcer quickly changed careers when "Smokey Mountain Boogie," "The Cry of the Wild Goose," "Mule Train," and his self-penned rockabilly song "Shotgun Boogie" made him a star in 1950. The best was yet to come. In 1955 he recorded Merle Travis's superb "Sixteen Tons," a grimly real song about life in the coal mines that sold more than 4 million copies over the next ten years. Ernie's TV show on NBC lasted until he grew tired of it (six years), at which time he took his warm bass voice out of the business for a while; when he returned, it was mainly to gospel, on material that was beautifully suited to his exceptional voice. His Hymns album is considered the first country album to sell a million. This gentleman of country music died in 1991, shortly after a television special tribute to him. ~ David Vinopal