Buddy Wayne Knox (July 20, 1933 – February 14, 1999) was an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, best known for his 1957

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

hit song, "

Party Doll "Party Doll" is a 1957 rock 'n' roll song written by Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen. Bronson, Fred (2003). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Hits'', 5th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 19. It was performed by Buddy Knox with the Rhythm Orchids, rec ...

Biography

Knox was born in the tiny farming community of

Happy, Texas Happy is a town in Randall and Swisher Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 678 at the 2010 census. The Randall County portion of Happy is part of the Amarillo, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. Toponymy Happy derives i ...

, United States, and learned to play the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

in his youth. In his teens, he and some high-school friends formed a band called the "Rhythm Orchids". After they performed on the same 1956 radio show as fellow Texan

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

and his "Teen Kings" band, Orbison suggested that Knox go to

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. Biography Petty was born in the small town of Clo ...

, who had a recording studio in

Clovis, New Mexico Clovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico. The city had a population of 37,775 as of the 2010 census, and a 2019 estimated population of 38,319. Clovis is located in the New Mexico portion of the Llano Estacado, in the ...

, the same studio where

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

recorded several of his early hits, including "

That'll Be the Day "That'll Be the Day" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison. It was first recorded by Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 and was re-recorded in 1957 by Holly and his new band, the Crickets. The 1957 recording achieved widespr ...

". Knox's song "Party Doll" was released on the

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, and went to number one on the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...

in 1957 (after being picked from the tiny Triple-D label). It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. This success was followed by "Rock Your Little Baby To Sleep", a number-17 hit, and "

Hula Love "My Hula Hula Love" is a song with words by Edward Madden and music by Percy Wenrich published in 1911. It was adapted and retitled "Hula Love" by Buddy Knox in 1957 and performed by Knox with The Rhythm Orchids. The song was featured on his 195 ...

", a number-9 hit. While he never achieved the same level of artistic success as Holly or Orbison, Knox outlived both and enjoyed a long career in music. For his pioneering contribution, Knox was elected to the

Rockabilly Hall of Fame The Rockabilly Hall of Fame is an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennesse ...

. "Party Doll" was voted one of

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

. In the early 1960s, Knox signed with

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

and released several more mainstream pop records, featuring string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

s and

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

s. "Lovey Dovey" and "Ling-Ting-Tong" were the most notable recordings from this era. The sound captured on these recordings was a distinct departure from his earlier rockabilly work for Roulette. Liberty and principal

Snuff Garrett Thomas Lesslie Garrett (July 5, 1938 – December 16, 2015) known as Snuff Garrett or Tommy Garrett, was an American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. Early years Garrett was born in Dallas, Texas, United ...

successfully employed the same production techniques for their other mainstream pop artists of the time, which included

Johnny Burnette John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison formed the band that became ...

and

Bobby Vee Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to '' Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-e ...

. In 1968, Knox, who had been living in semiretirement in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

, while running his publishing company, moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, and signed a new recording contract with

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

. Working with producer

Bob Montgomery (songwriter) Bob Montgomery (May 12, 1937 – December 4, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer and publisher. Biography Montgomery was born in Lampasas, Texas, United States. He was a songwriting partner and best friend of Buddy Holly, pe ...

, Knox honed his traditional rockabilly style more toward the modern

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

sound of the day. His first album on United Artists earned him the nickname by which he would be known for the remainder of his life. The title song of the album, ''Gypsy Man'', written by

Sonny Curtis Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for his collaborations with Buddy Holly, he was a member of the Crickets and continued with the band after Holly's death. Curtis's best known compositions include "Walk ...

and featuring Curtis' acoustic guitar work, received

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s. Several singles recorded by Knox between 1968 and 1974 were notable for his experimenting with a variety of sounds and styles, and from a creative and critical standpoint, may have been his most productive era. His version of Delaney Bramlett's "God Knows I Love You", along with his self-penned "Salt Lake City", placed Knox firmly in the midst of the new pop-music genre, being populated by artists such as

Delaney & Bonnie Delaney & Bonnie were an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett. In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

, and others who were on the leading edge of the developing

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

style such as

Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970charting ten albums according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Their style is punctuated ...

and the

Allman Brothers Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboa ...

Band. His cover version of James Hendricks' "Glory Train" was another stylistic stretch and featured a gospel-like chorus of backing vocalists. His cover of

the Fleetwoods The Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington whose members were Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939), Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940), and Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940). Early history The band mem ...

' "Come Softly to Me" demonstrated a vocal range not heard on his older recordings. He also reached out to the new generation of songwriters who would become prominent during Nashville's " Outlaw era" of the 1970s, as he was one of the first artists to record

Mickey Newbury Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. (May 19, 1940 – September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter, recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early life and career Newbury was born in Houston, Texas, on May 19, ...

's "I'm Only Rockin'". Several other major country music artists later recorded this song, but under the alternate title of "T. Total Tommy". Knox also recorded songs by Alex Harvey,

John D. Loudermilk John Dee Loudermilk Jr. (March 31, 1934 – September 21, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter. Although he had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter. His best-known songs include "I ...

, and

Gary Paxton Gary Sanford Paxton (born Larry Wayne Stevens; May 18, 1939 – July 17, 2016) was an American record producer, recording artist, and Grammy and Dove Award winning songwriter. Paxton was a member of Skip & Flip and the Hollywood Argyles and was ...

. On several of these recordings, Knox experimented with multitracking, something few artists had done up to that time. For many decades from the 1970s to the 1990s, Knox was based in the small town of

Dominion City Dominion City is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of Emerson – Franklin, Manitoba Canada. It is located in southeastern part of the province, approximately north of the Canada–United States border. Dominion City is served b ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada, and toured primarily in Western Canada and upper Midwest U.S. with occasional European appearances. In 1981, he starred in an independent Canadian movie ''Sweet Country Road''. He said the fame took a toll on his family life. Traveling 250 days a year for 35 years, he was voted "the most traveling entertainer in the world" by ''Billboard'' magazine, but he said it cost three marriages for him. In 1992, he divorced and moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, where he was involved in several business ventures including a partnership in a local British Columbia nightclub. His son, Michael Knox, is a record producer.

Death

Moving to

Port Orchard, Washington Port Orchard is a city in and the county seat of Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located due west of West Seattle and is connected to Seattle and Vashon Island via the Washington State Ferries run to Southworth. It is named ...

, in 1997 to be with his fiancée, he experienced a fall and injured his hip. The doctor informed him at that time that he had terminal

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

. Knox scheduled a farewell show, but died just a few weeks later on February 14, 1999, in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

. He is interred in Dreamland Cemetery, in

Canyon, Texas Canyon is a city in, and the county seat of, Randall County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,836 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Amarillo, Texas, metropolitan statistical area. Canyon is the home of West Texas A&M University and ...

Discography

Compilation albums

''Buddy Knox — Greatest Hits'' — all the Roulette and Liberty recordings # "

" (1957, US no. 1, UK no. 29) # "Storm Clouds" (1957) # "That's Why I Cry" (1959, US no. 88) # "

" (1957, US no. 12) # "C'mon Baby" (1959) # "All For You" (1959) # "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself" (1959, US no. 55) # "Lovey Dovey" (1961, US no. 25) # "Ling-Ting-Tong" (1961, US no. 65) # "Somebody Touched Me" (1958, US no. 22) # "Rock Your Little Baby to Sleep" (1957) # "Cause I'm In Love" (1957) # "Swinging Daddy" (1958, US no. 80) # "The Girl with the Golden Hair" (1959) # "Devil Woman" (1957) # "Mary Lou" (1957) # "Rock House" (1957) # "Maybellinne" (1957) # "Rock Around the Clock" (1957) # "She's Gone" (1962, UK no. 45) # "Slippin' and Slidin'" (1962) # "Chi-Hua-Hua" (1962) # "OPEN YOUR LOVIN' ARMS" (1962) # "Dear Abby" (1962) # "Three Eyed Man" (1962) # "Tomorrow is a Comin'" (1963) # "Hitch Hike Back To Georgia" (1963) # "I Got You" (1960) # "I Ain't Sharin' Sharon" (1959) # "I'm in Love With You" (1957) # "Long Lonely Nights" (1960) # "Good Time Girl" (1965) # "Livin' in a House Full of Love" (1965) # "Love Has Many Ways" (1965) # "Teasable, Pleasable You" (1959, US no. 85)

Singles

* ^A"Gypsy Man" peaked at #64 on Billboard Country charts

References

External links

Rockabilly Hall page
*

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Buddy 1933 births 1999 deaths Musicians from Amarillo, Texas Musicians from Manitoba Songwriters from Texas American rockabilly musicians Apex Records artists Charly Records artists Liberty Records artists Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) Roulette Records artists 20th-century American singers People from Happy, Texas Country musicians from Texas 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters