Fitzie
08-13-2011, 08:38 PM
I the last little while we have lost Marshall Grant , the last member of Johnny Cash's Tennessee Two , and a friend sent me a notice and write up about Billy Grammer Passing at age 85
May they rest in peace Fitzie
BILLY GRAMMER HAS BEEN CALLED HOME
SUPER GUITARIST PASSES AT AGE 85
I realize that I am late in getting this sad news out to everyone, but I needed to write my feelings and I know that most of you already know that we have lost a wonderful human being. I know that he will be missed by his Grand Ole Opry Family.
I would not feel as though I have done my duty if I did not write a short paragraph about the man I know from the early days of my career. When I was living in Columbus, Ohio, working a steady job, and making as many trips to Nashville to record and just to be around an industry that was glowing and glimmering back then, with a chance for everyone to pursue their dream. Because of my love of country music and my recording activity, I was invited by Ott Devine to appear on the Grand Ole Opry, and on two of those appearances I was on the same show as Billy Grammer. I believe he introduced me on my first time. He was the one that calmed my nerves to the point that when I was introduced, I was still nervous, but Billy led me through the waiting time backstage, so that when I came to the stage, he had made me feel that I was a big star at that time. He complimented my dress, and my new song (which I knew he had listened to because Murray Nash had produced my record, and Billy and Murray were great friends.) He also told me that I done a super job, and that he hoped Mr. Devine would invite me back for many appearances on the Opry.
He gave the me insight to pursue my career with a feeling that I was good enough to make it. And every time I have seen Billy over the years, which has not been as much as I would like, he has never forgotten me. I will always be indebted to him for his support, his friendship, and his advice that I should “get after my career and move to Nashville.”
He will be missed by so many because he was loved by so many.
MAY HE REST AT PEACE IN THE HEAVENLY HOME OF HIS BLESSED SAVIOR, WHERE HE WILL NOT LONGER WILL SUFFER THE PAIN OF ANY ILLNESS, ONLY THE HAPPINESS OF THE BLESSED LORD.
Please keep Billy’s family in your thoughts and prayers in their time of sadness for their loss.
I will post the funeral arrangements as soon as I receive them.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Billy Grammer, whose 1958 hit "Gotta Travel On'" hit the top of the charts and led to a long career on the Grand Ole Opry, has died. He was 85.
Grammer died Wednesday morning in his home state of Illinois of natural causes, according to a statement from Grand Ole Opry spokeswoman Jessie Schmidt. He had suffered a heart attack in late March 2011 while visiting Plano, Texas.
A singer and guitarist who also was a Nashville recording session musician, Grammer performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry beginning in 1959. "Gotta Travel On," adapted from a British folk tune, was a million-seller and the first hit for Nashville's Monument Records and its famed founder, Fred Foster. It was a hit on the pop, country and rhythm & blues charts.
Grammer also designed guitars, and a brand of flat-top came from a company he started in the 1960s. He donated his first model to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969.
His other hits included "Bonaparte's Retreat" and he had his own syndicated television series in 1965.
A much sought-after session man, he played guitar in recording sessions for Patti Page, Louis Armstrong, Eddy Arnold and many others.
"I've got a little more of a broad sense of music than the average guy coming up playing country music," Grammer said once, according to his profile on the Grand Ole Opry website. "Musicians I have talked to through the years have told me that I have a little extra punch, a little extra push."
Grammer delivered the invocation for the opening of a new Grand Ole Opry House in 1974 with then President Richard Nixon in attendance.
The eldest of 13 children in a coal-mining family in Benton, Ill., Grammer spent his childhood on a farm, fishing the Wabash River and dreaming of becoming a mechanical engineer.
After high school he served in the Army and took on an apprenticeship as a toolmaker. He made his way to Washington, D.C., where he was hired in the bands of Hawkshaw Hawkins and Grandpa Jones. He also appeared as a guitarist on Jimmy Dean's television show.
He then formed his own band and began performing as a solo artist.
May they rest in peace Fitzie
BILLY GRAMMER HAS BEEN CALLED HOME
SUPER GUITARIST PASSES AT AGE 85
I realize that I am late in getting this sad news out to everyone, but I needed to write my feelings and I know that most of you already know that we have lost a wonderful human being. I know that he will be missed by his Grand Ole Opry Family.
I would not feel as though I have done my duty if I did not write a short paragraph about the man I know from the early days of my career. When I was living in Columbus, Ohio, working a steady job, and making as many trips to Nashville to record and just to be around an industry that was glowing and glimmering back then, with a chance for everyone to pursue their dream. Because of my love of country music and my recording activity, I was invited by Ott Devine to appear on the Grand Ole Opry, and on two of those appearances I was on the same show as Billy Grammer. I believe he introduced me on my first time. He was the one that calmed my nerves to the point that when I was introduced, I was still nervous, but Billy led me through the waiting time backstage, so that when I came to the stage, he had made me feel that I was a big star at that time. He complimented my dress, and my new song (which I knew he had listened to because Murray Nash had produced my record, and Billy and Murray were great friends.) He also told me that I done a super job, and that he hoped Mr. Devine would invite me back for many appearances on the Opry.
He gave the me insight to pursue my career with a feeling that I was good enough to make it. And every time I have seen Billy over the years, which has not been as much as I would like, he has never forgotten me. I will always be indebted to him for his support, his friendship, and his advice that I should “get after my career and move to Nashville.”
He will be missed by so many because he was loved by so many.
MAY HE REST AT PEACE IN THE HEAVENLY HOME OF HIS BLESSED SAVIOR, WHERE HE WILL NOT LONGER WILL SUFFER THE PAIN OF ANY ILLNESS, ONLY THE HAPPINESS OF THE BLESSED LORD.
Please keep Billy’s family in your thoughts and prayers in their time of sadness for their loss.
I will post the funeral arrangements as soon as I receive them.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Billy Grammer, whose 1958 hit "Gotta Travel On'" hit the top of the charts and led to a long career on the Grand Ole Opry, has died. He was 85.
Grammer died Wednesday morning in his home state of Illinois of natural causes, according to a statement from Grand Ole Opry spokeswoman Jessie Schmidt. He had suffered a heart attack in late March 2011 while visiting Plano, Texas.
A singer and guitarist who also was a Nashville recording session musician, Grammer performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry beginning in 1959. "Gotta Travel On," adapted from a British folk tune, was a million-seller and the first hit for Nashville's Monument Records and its famed founder, Fred Foster. It was a hit on the pop, country and rhythm & blues charts.
Grammer also designed guitars, and a brand of flat-top came from a company he started in the 1960s. He donated his first model to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969.
His other hits included "Bonaparte's Retreat" and he had his own syndicated television series in 1965.
A much sought-after session man, he played guitar in recording sessions for Patti Page, Louis Armstrong, Eddy Arnold and many others.
"I've got a little more of a broad sense of music than the average guy coming up playing country music," Grammer said once, according to his profile on the Grand Ole Opry website. "Musicians I have talked to through the years have told me that I have a little extra punch, a little extra push."
Grammer delivered the invocation for the opening of a new Grand Ole Opry House in 1974 with then President Richard Nixon in attendance.
The eldest of 13 children in a coal-mining family in Benton, Ill., Grammer spent his childhood on a farm, fishing the Wabash River and dreaming of becoming a mechanical engineer.
After high school he served in the Army and took on an apprenticeship as a toolmaker. He made his way to Washington, D.C., where he was hired in the bands of Hawkshaw Hawkins and Grandpa Jones. He also appeared as a guitarist on Jimmy Dean's television show.
He then formed his own band and began performing as a solo artist.