Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an early
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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 who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and
rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...
pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hits in the ''
Billboard'' country charts between 1953 and 1975; his versatility and matinee-idol looks propelled a seven-decade entertainment career.
[McArdle, Terence "County music showman had comic alter ego" (March 18, 2011) ''The Washington Post'', p. B7]
In the 1950s and 1960s, Husky's hits included "
Gone" and "
Wings of a Dove", each reaching number one on the country charts. He also created a comic outspoken hayseed character, Simon Crum; and recorded under the
stage name Terry Preston from 1948 to 1953.
In 2010, Husky was inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amas ...
.
Biography
Husky was born in
Gumbo, Missouri, an unincorporated community in northwestern
St. Francois County, Missouri. His mother named him Furland, but his name was misspelled on his birth certificate. Husky grew up on a farm near
Flat River and attended school in
Irondale. He learned guitar from an uncle. After dropping out of high school, Husky moved to
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, where he worked as a truck driver and steel mill worker while performing in
honky tonk
A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) ...
s at night.
During World War II, Husky served in the
United States Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...
for five years, entertaining troops on transport ships. His Crum character evolved from stories he told at the time about a Missouri neighbor named Simon Crump.
His website states that his ship participated in the
D-Day invasion of
Cherbourg.
After the war, Husky continued to develop the Crum character while working as a
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 DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
in Missouri and then
Bakersfield, California, in the late 1940s.
He began using the moniker Terry Preston at the suggestion of
Smiley Burnette
Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, a ...
, who claimed Ferlin Husky would never work on a marquee.
As a honky-tonk singer, Husky signed with
Capitol Records in 1953 under the guidance of
Cliffie Stone
Clifford Gilpin Snyder (March 1, 1917 – January 17, 1998), professionally Cliffie Stone, was an American country singer, musician, record producer, music publisher, and radio and TV personality who was pivotal in the development of Californi ...
, also the manager for
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for h ...
.
With Capitol Records, he returned to using his given name.
A few singles failed, before "
A Dear John Letter
"A Dear John Letter", or "Dear John" is the name of a popular country music song, written by Billy Barton, Fuzzy Owen and Lewis Talley. It was popularized by Ferlin Husky and Jean Shepard, and was a crossover country-pop hit in 1953.
The song p ...
" with
Jean Shepard
Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016) was an American honky-tonk singer-songwriter who pioneered for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which ...
became a number-one hit.
The follow-up was called "Forgive Me John".
In 1955, Husky had a solo hit with "I Feel Better All Over (More Than Anywheres Else)" / "Little Tom". As Simon Crum, he signed a separate contract with Capitol Records and began releasing records, the biggest of which was 1959's "Country Music is Here to Stay" (number two for three weeks).
In the late 1950s, Husky had a long string of hits, including the number-one "Gone" in 1957 (he first recorded "Gone" as Terry Preston in 1952, but the earlier version lacked the strings and backup singers of the newly emerging
Nashville sound
The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruses", "sophist ...
).
"Gone" was a
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
success, also reaching number four on the
pop music chart. 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 ...
.
The song's popularity led to a stint as a summer replacement host in 1957 on CBS-TV's ''
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts
''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' (also known as ''Talent Scouts'') was an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958. Sponsored by Lipton Tea, it starred Arthur Godfrey, who was also hosting ''Arthur Godf ...
''.
He began acting, appearing on ''
Kraft Television Theatre'', and portraying himself in the 1957 film ''
Mister Rock and Roll''
(his website states he had bit parts in 18 films, including with
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor (, ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor.
Gabor competed in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant, where she ...
and
Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957).
Early life
Van D ...
). He received sole top billing in a 1971 low-budget
backcountry
In the United States, a backcountry or backwater is a geographical area that is remote, undeveloped, isolated, or difficult to access.
Terminology Backcountry and wilderness within United States national parks
The National Park Service (NPS) ...
film (the film's opening credits state, "Ferlin Husky in ''
Swamp Girl''"). Bob Ferguson's "Wings of a Dove" became his biggest hit in 1960, topping the country charts for 10 weeks and attaining number 12 on the pop chart.
Husky was also known for his ability to mimic other popular country singers, including Tennessee Ernie Ford and
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording " It Wasn't God ...
.
Although he did not have more chart-toppers, he charted three dozen hits between 1961 and 1972, with the biggest being "Once" (1967) and "Just for You" (1968). In late 1972, after over 20 years with Capitol, Husky signed with
ABC Records, where he scored several top-40 hits into 1975,
with the biggest being the top-20 "Rosie Cries a Lot" (1973). Husky briefly retired in 1977 following heart surgery, but resumed touring.
He remained a popular concert draw, performing at the
Grand Ole Opry and elsewhere. He was married four times and for the last six years of his life lived with his long-time love,
Leona Williams
Leona Belle Helton (born January 7, 1943, in Vienna, Missouri, United States) is an American country music singer known professionally as Leona Williams. Active since 1958, Williams has been a backing musician for Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard ...
(former wife of
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...
).
Husky suffered from
cardiopathy
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
for many years and was hospitalized several times beginning in the late 1970s, including for heart surgery in 2005 and for blood clots in his legs in 2007. He was admitted to St. John's Hospital in
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
, on April 19, 2009, with
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...
and
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
. On July 15, 2009, his spokesman said he was recuperating at home after being released from a Nashville hospital. As recently as 2009, he lived in Vienna, Missouri.
On February 23, 2010, the
Country Music Association announced his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was heralded for his vocal and comic prowess—and "all around showmanship"—that left a legacy as "one of the best entertainers country music has ever produced".
On January 16, 2011, Husky was honored at West St. Francois County High School in
Leadwood, Missouri
Leadwood is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,282 at the 2010 census.
History
Leadwood was founded in January 1906 as a company town by St. Joe Lead which originally called it Owl Creek. It was situat ...
, where local singers and the high-school choir sang some of his hits. Husky also donated several items of memorabilia, including his Country Music Hall of Fame award, to the city of Leadwood. They will be permanently stored at the high school.
On March 8, 2011, Husky was hospitalized again after several days of not feeling well. By the weekend, he had improved and was preparing to move out of the
coronary care unit, but on March 17, Husky died at his daughter's home in
Westmoreland, Tennessee
Westmoreland is a town in Sumner County, Tennessee, and is bordering southern Kentucky. The population was 2,093 at the 2000 census and 2,206 at the 2010 census. The town name was inspired by a wealthy lumberman from North Carolina, sharing the sa ...
, of congestive heart failure.
He was interred next to his son, Danny Louis Husky, in
Hendersonville Memory Gardens
Hendersonville Memory Gardens is a cemetery located at 353 East Main Street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, United States, a few miles northeast of Nashville. Formerly known as Woodlawn Memorial Park East, it is the burial site of Johnny Cash as w ...
in
Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville is the largest city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 61,753 at the 2020 census.
Hendersonville is the fourth-largest city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nashville, Murfreesboro, ...
.
Honors
Husky was one of the first country singers to get a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
(for recording) at 6675 Hollywood Blvd.
The street that runs through the city park in Leadwood, Missouri, is named for him.
Discography
Albums
Singles
Notes
References
*Roy, Don. (1998). "Ferlin Husky". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 252. (Birth year listed as 1927).
External links
*
*
Simon Crum website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Husky, Ferlin
1925 births
2011 deaths
People from St. Francois County, Missouri
American country singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
American sailors
United States Merchant Mariners of World War II
Grand Ole Opry members
Four Star Records artists
Capitol Records artists
Apex Records artists
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Bakersfield sound
Members of the Country Music Association
Singer-songwriters from Missouri
Country musicians from Missouri