Leon Payne
   HOME
*





Leon Payne
Leon Roger Payne (June 15, 1917 – September 11, 1969), "the Blind Balladeer", was an American country music singer and songwriter. Life He was born in Alba, Texas, United States. He was blind in one eye at birth, and lost the sight in the other eye in early childhood. He attended the Texas School for the Blind from 1924 to 1935. He married Myrtie and they had two children together, as well as two children from Myrtie's previous marriage. Payne died at age 52 from a heart attack in 1969 in San Antonio, Texas. Myrtie died in San Antonio in 2008, and Leon's composition " I Love You Because" was played at her funeral service by pedal steel guitarist Emmett Roch, accompanied by musicians who were members of her church. Career Leon wrote hundreds of country songs in a prolific career that lasted from 1941 until his death. He is perhaps best known for his hits " I Love You Because", " You've Still Got a Place in My Heart" and the 1948 song " Lost Highway", a song made famous by Hank ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Encyclopedia Of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Knowledge'', Christmas edition, 22 December 2007- 4 January 2008. It was described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". History of the encyclopedia Larkin believed that rock music and popular music were at least as significant historically as classical music, and as such, should be given definitive treatment and properly documented. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is the result. In 1989, Larkin sold his half of the publishing company Scorpion Books to finance his ambition to publish an encyclopedia of popular music. Aided by a team of initially 70 contributors, he set about compiling the data in a pre-internet age, "relying instead on information gleaned from music magazines, individual experti ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Colin Escott
Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner notes for more than 500 albums and compilations, and major contributions to stage and television productions. Honors include multiple Grammy Awards and a Tony Award nomination. Career His early career included stints in operations for Island Records and Polygram Records in the 1970s, followed by independent work for Universal, Sony/Columbia, Warner Bros.- Rhino, Time Life, Capitol-EMI, RCA, and many independent companies, including Bear Family, Sundazed, Omnivore, and others. He also wrote music history pieces for various music industry publications including ''Record Mirror'', '' Goldmine'', ''Record Hunter'', and others. Described as "the foremost authority on Sun Records", in 1992 he and co-writer Martin Hawkins published ''Good R ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Johnny Horton
John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Initially performing traditional country, Horton later performed rockabilly songs. He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrative country saga songs that became international hits. His 1959 single " The Battle of New Orleans" was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's " Songs of the Century". His first No. 1 country song was in 1959, "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)". He had two successes in 1960 with both "Sink the Bismarck" and " North to Alaska," the latter used over the opening credits to the John Wayne film of the same name. Horton died in November 1960 at the peak of his fame in a traffic collision, less than two years after his breakthrough. Horton is a member of the Rockabilly ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Al Martino
Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in ''The Godfather''. Early life Jasper Cini was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The name Jasper was an anglicisation of his father's name, Gasparino. His parents were immigrants from the region of Abruzzo, in the town of Nereto, Italy, who ran a construction business. While growing up, he worked alongside his brothers, Pasquale and Francis as a bricklayer. He aspired to become a singer, emulating artists such as Al Jolson and Perry Como, and by the success of a family friend, Alfredo Cocozza, who had changed his name to Mario Lanza. Career After serving with the United States Navy in World War II, during which he took part in the Iwo Jima i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark all-black stage wardrobe which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black". Born to poor cotton farmers in Kingsland, Arkansas, Cash rose to fame during the mid-1950s in the burgeoning rockabilly scene in Memphis, Tennessee, after four years in the Air Force. He traditionally began his concerts by simply introducing himself, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash", followed by " Folsom Prison Blues", one of his signature songs. His other signature songs include "I Walk ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana. Born during the Great Depression and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten. During high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from high school in 1950, he joined the U.S. Air Force but was later discharge ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sun Records
Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. Prior to that, Sun had concentrated mainly on African-American musicians because Phillips loved rhythm and blues and wanted to bring it to a white audience. On January 28, 2021, Sun Records was acquired by Primary Wave for $30 million. History Sam Phillips opened his Memphis Recording Service studio on January 3, 1950 at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis. It was founded with the financial aid of Jim Bulliet, one of many record executives for whom Phillips had scouted artists before 1952. In March 1951, Phillips produced " Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, who were actually Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Because of Turner's Delta blues connections, he was contracted by Phillips as a talent scout and he was effect ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a civil rights movement, transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and Cultural impact of Elvis Presley#Danger to American culture, initial controversy. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Eddie Fisher Sings
''Eddie Fisher Sings'' is a 1952 album by Eddie Fisher. It was issued as a 10-inch long-playing record by RCA Victor Records. Track listing In 2002, the album, with ''I'm in the Mood for Love'' and ''Christmas With Eddie Fisher'', was issued on a compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O .... References 1952 albums RCA Victor albums Eddie Fisher (singer) albums {{1950s-pop-album-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, '' The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Elizabeth Taylor was best friends with Fisher's first wife, actress Debbie Reynolds. After Taylor's third husband, Mike Todd, was killed in a plane crash, Fisher divorced Reynolds and he and Taylor married that same year. The scandalous affair that Fisher and Taylor had been having while each were already married was widely reported and brought unfavorable publicity to both Fisher and Taylor. Approximately five years later, he and Taylor divorced and he later married Connie Stevens. Fisher is the father of Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher, whose mother is Reynolds, and the father of Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher, whose mother is Stevens. Early life Fisher was born in Philadelphia on August 10, 1928, the fourth of seven children born t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a division of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.), it is the longest-running radio broadcast in US history. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and gospel music as well as comedic performances and skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and internet listeners. In the 1930s, the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours. Broadcasting by then at 50,000 watts, WSM made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio. The Opry moved to a permanent home, the Ryman Audi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties (the other being Alaska and its boroughs). The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans, with a population of roughly 383,000 people. Some Louisiana urban environments have a multicultural, multilingual heritage, being so strongly influenced by a mixture of 18th century Louisiana French, Dominican Creole, Spanish, French Canadian ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]