Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American

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, ...

singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

and

Hawkshaw Hawkins Harold Franklin "Hawkshaw" Hawkins (December 22, 1921 – March 5, 1963) was an American country music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 1960s. He was known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from blues, boogie and honky ...

. Copas was a member of the

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 divis ...

Biography

Copas was born in 1913 in

Blue Creek, Ohio Blue Creek is an unincorporated community in western Jefferson Township, Adams County, Ohio, United States. It is located along State Route 125. It has a post office with the ZIP code 45616. History A post office was established at Blue Cre ...

, United States."Cowboy Copas", in ''Country Music: The Rough Guide'', Kurt Wolff and Orla Duane, editors (Rough Guides, 2000) pp. 107-108 He began performing locally at age 14, and appeared on

WLW-AM WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as The Big One. WLW operates with around the clock. Its daytime signal provide ...

and WKRC-AM in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

during the 1930s. In 1940, he moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

, where he performed on

WNOX-AM WNOX (93.1 FM, "Awesome 93.1") is a commercial radio station licensed to the suburb of Karns, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. The station is owned by SummitMedia and airs a classic hits format. WNOX's studios and of ...

with his band, the Gold Star Rangers. In 1943, Copas achieved national fame when he replaced

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...

as a vocalist in the

Pee Wee King Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000), known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz". Pee Wee King is credited with ...

band, and began performing on the

. His first solo single, "Filipino Baby", released by King Records in 1946, hit number four on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country chart, and sparked the most successful period of his career. While continuing to appear on the Opry, Copas recorded several other hits during the late 1940s and early 1950s, including "

Signed Sealed and Delivered "Signed Sealed and Delivered" is a song by Cowboy Copas (co-credited to Lois Mann). Copas recorded a hit version for King Records, which reached number two on the Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart in 1948. Copas re-recorded the song in 1 ...

", "

The Tennessee Waltz "Tennessee Waltz" is a popular country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in January 1948. The song became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording – as "The Tennessee Waltz" � ...

", "Tennessee Moon", "Breeze", "I'm Waltzing with Tears in My Eyes", " Candy Kisses", "Hangman's Boogie", and "The Strange Little Girl". Copas' 1952 single, "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered", reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' country chart, but it was his final top-40 hit for eight years. Although Copas did not maintain his popularity of the late 1940s through the next decade, he continued to perform regularly at the Grand Ole Opry, and appeared on ABC-TV's ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ' ...

''. After a lackluster partnership with

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

, Copas surged to the top of the charts again in 1960 with the biggest hit of his career, " Alabam", which remained number one for three months. Other major hits during his successful period with

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

in the early 1960s, including "Flat Top" and a remake of "Signed, Sealed And Delivered", held promising implications for the future of his career.

Aircraft accident

On March 3, 1963, Copas,

, and others performed at a benefit concert at the

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum (or often simply Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall) is a National Register of Historic Places landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest memorial in the United States de ...

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, for the family of

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

Cactus Jack Call, who had died the previous December in an automobile accident. On March 5, they left for Nashville in a

Piper Comanche The Piper PA-24 Comanche is an American four-seat or six-seat, low-wing, all-metal, light aircraft of semimonocoque construction with tricycle retractable landing gear. Piper Aircraft designed and developed the Comanche, which first flew on Ma ...

piloted by Copas' son-in-law (and Cline's manager), Randy Hughes. After stopping to refuel in

Dyersburg, Tennessee Dyersburg is a city and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 16,164 at the 2020 census, down 5.72% from the 2010 census. ...

, the craft took off at 6:07 pm CT. The plane flew into severe weather and crashed at 6:29 pm in a forest near

Camden, Tennessee Camden is a city in Benton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,674 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Benton County. History Native Americans were living in the Camden area as early as the Archaic period (8000-1000 B ...

, 90 miles from their destination, with no survivors. A stone marker, dedicated on July 6, 1996, marks the location of the crash. Copas was buried at

Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens is a cemetery noted for the number of musicians' graves located within it. It was established in 1960, and is located at 1150 Dickerson Pike in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville. One area of the ceme ...

Goodlettsville, Tennessee Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson and Sumner counties, Tennessee. Goodlettsville was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; at the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 15,921 and in 2020 the po ...

, in "Music Row" with Hawkins and other country music stars. AdamsCountyOHCourthouse2

Discography

King Records

*''Sings His All-Time Hits'' (1957) *''Hymns and Sacred Songs'' (1959) *'' Tragic Tales of Love and Life'' (1960) *''Broken Hearted Melodies'' (1960) *''The Country Gentleman of Song'' (1963) *''As You Remember'' (1963) *''The Legend of Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins No. 2'' (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins *''In Memory'' (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins *''Tragic Romance'' (1969)

Starday Records

*All Time Country Music Great (1960) *Inspirational Songs by Cowboy Copas (1961) *Songs That Made Him Famous (1961) *Mister Country Music (1962) *Opry Star Spotlight on Cowboy Copas (1962) *Country Music Entertainer No. 1 (1962) *Beyond the Sunset (1963) *The Unforgettable Cowboy Copas (1963) *Star of the Grand Ole Opry (1963) *The Late and Great (1964) *Cowboy Copas and His Friends (1964) *The Legend Lives On (1965) *The Cowboy Copas Story (1965) *Shake a Hand (1966) *Signed Sealed and Delivered (1967) *Filipino Baby (1970) *16 Greatest Hits Of Cowboy Copas (1970)

Imperial Records

*Songs of the Old West 1 (1961)

Hilltop Records

*Gone But Not Forgotten (1965) with Patsy Cline & Johnny Horton *A Satisfied Mind (1966)

Singles

Notes

References

*Bush, John (2003). Edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, & Stephen Erlewine. "Cowboy Copas (Lloyd Estel Copas)." ''All Music Guide to Country'', 2nd ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2003. *Smith, Jonathan Guyot (1998). "Cowboy Copas." In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 111. *Simon, John Roger (2008) ''Cowboy Copas and the Golden Age of Country Music''. Jesse Stuart Foundation, publisher. 416 pages w/ illustrations.

External links

Cowboy Copas tribute page at patsycline.comCowboy Copas biography at hillbilly-music.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Copas, Cowboy 1913 births 1963 deaths American country singer-songwriters Grand Ole Opry members American male singer-songwriters King Records artists Dot Records artists Starday Records artists People from Adams County, Ohio Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Tennessee 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Ohio Country musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male singers Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents