Louis Marshall Jones (October 20, 1913 – February 19, 1998), known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player and "old time"

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, whi ...

and

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is co ...

singer. He is a member of 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 ama ...

.McCall, Michael; Rumble, John; Kingsbury, Paul, eds. (1 February 2012). The Encyclopedia of Country Music (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 269–270. .

Biography

Jones was born in the small farming community of Niagara in Henderson County, Kentucky, the youngest of 10 children in a sharecropper's family. His father was an old-time fiddle player, and his mother was a ballad singer and herself adept on the concertina. His first instrument was guitar. Ramona Riggins, one of several women who began to gain some recognition in a musical form long dominated by men was Grandpa's wife and musical partner of over thirty years.Jones, Grandpa (1939). Family Album honographbr>Leon McIntyre Collection, 1970-2011
Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University. Johnson City, TN. Ramona first started playing the mandolin when she was six or seven years old. Jones spent his teenage years in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

, where he began singing country music tunes on a radio show on WJW. In 1931, Jones joined the Pine Ridge String Band, which provided the musical accompaniment for the very popular '' Lum and Abner'' show. By 1935 his pursuit of a musical career took him to WBZ radio in Boston, Massachusetts, where he met musician/songwriter

Bradley Kincaid William Bradley Kincaid (July 13, 1895 – September 23, 1989) was an American folk singer and radio entertainer.Mountain View, Arkansas. In the 1940s he met rising country radio star Cousin Emmy, from whom he learned to play the

Career

Performing as Grandpa Jones, he played the guitar or

, yodeled, and sang mostly old-time

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s. By 1937, Jones had made his way to West Virginia, where Cousin Emmy taught Jones the art of the clawhammer style of

playing, which gave a rough backwoods flavor to his performances. First experience playing music in public came at the age of 11 or thereabouts The music of the WLS Barn Dance in Chicago was a major influence on Louis, as were the Jimmie Rodgers records his sister brought home. In 1942, Jones joined WLW in

Cincinnati, Ohio 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 w ...

. It was there that he met fellow Kentuckian

Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exp ...

. In 1943, they made their recording debuts together for Syd Nathan's upstart King Records. Jones was making records under his own name for King by 1944 and had his first hit with "It's Raining Here This Morning." His recording career was put on hold when he enlisted in the United States Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Discharged in 1946, he recorded again for King. Through 1946-1949, when he and several Opry cast members (Clyde Moody and Chubby Wise among them) were invited to become a part of the burgeoning world of television by Washington D.C. entrepreneur Connie B Gay, he became a cast member at the Old Dominion Barn Dance, broadcast over WRVA in Richmond, Virginia. In March 1946, he moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

and started performing on 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 div ...

. He married Ramona Riggins on October 14, 1946. As an accomplished performer herself, she would take part in his performances. Jones' vaudeville humor was a bridge to television. His more famous songs include "T For Texas," "Are You From Dixie," "Night Train To Memphis," "

Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew, is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. A revised formula was created by Bill Brid ...

," and "Eight More Miles To Louisville." In the fall of 1968, Jones became a charter cast member on the long-running television show '' Hee Haw'', often responding to the show's skits with his trademark phrase "Outrageous." He also played banjo, by himself or with banjo player David "Stringbean" Akeman. A musical segment featured in the early years had Jones and "his lovely wife Ramona" singing while ringing bells held in their hands and strapped to their ankles. A favorite skit had off-camera cast members ask, "Hey Grandpa, what's for supper?" in which he would describe a delicious, country-style meal, often in a rhyming, talking blues style. Sometimes he would describe something not so good; i.e. "Because you were bad, thawed out TV dinners!"

Testimony

A resident of rural

Ridgetop, Tennessee Ridgetop is a city in Davidson and Robertson counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 1,874 at the 2010 census. Geography Ridgetop is located in Robertson County except for two small portions of the city that fall in Davidson ...

, outside Nashville, he was a neighbor and friend of fellow musician David "Stringbean" Akeman. On the morning of November 11, 1973, Jones discovered the bodies of Akeman and his wife, Estelle, who had been murdered during the night by robbers. Jones testified at the trial of the killers, his testimony helping to secure a conviction.

Honors

In 1978, Jones was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His autobiography, ''Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind The Mike'' was published in 1984.Jones, Louis M. with Charles K. Wolfe. (1984). ''Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind The Mike''. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.

Death

In January 1998, Jones suffered two strokes after his second show performance at the Grand Ole Opry. He died at 7:00 p.m. Central Time on February 19, 1998 at the McKendree Village Home Health Center in

Hermitage, Tennessee Hermitage, Tennessee, is a neighborhood, located in eastern Davidson County, adjacent to – and named in honor of – The Hermitage, the historic home of Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States. Although the area is incorporated ...

, at age 84. He was buried in the Luton Memorial Methodist Church cemetery in

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 ...

Discography

Jones recorded for several labels, including

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, King Records and

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

. *''Grandpa Jones Sings His Greatest Hits'' (1954)Colin Larkin The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music Virgin, 1998 * ''Country Music Hall of Fame Series'' (1992) MCA *''Grandpa Jones & The Brown's Ferry Four 16 Sacred Gospel Songs'', King Records *''Grandpa Jones Yodeling Hits'' (1963) Monument *''Grandpa Jones Remembers The Brown's Ferry Four'' (1966) Monument *''Grandpa Jones Live'' (1970) Monument

Singles

References

Other

*Wolfe, Charles K. (1998). "Grandpa Jones". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury (editor), New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 269–70.

External links

Profile
CMT.com * *
Jones profile
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum website
Grandpa Jones with the Delmore Brothers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Grandpa 1913 births 1998 deaths American country singer-songwriters American country banjoists Country Music Hall of Fame inductees People from Henderson County, Kentucky Grand Ole Opry members King Records artists RCA Victor artists Monument Records artists Musicians from Akron, Ohio People from Mountain View, Arkansas 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Kentucky Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Folk musicians from Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Ohio Singer-songwriters from Arkansas American United Methodists People from Ridgetop, Tennessee Country musicians from Tennessee Country musicians from Arkansas Country musicians from Ohio 20th-century Methodists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee