Stonewall Jackson (musician)
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Stonewall Jackson (November 6, 1932 – December 4, 2021) 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 and musician who achieved his greatest fame during country's "golden"
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) ...
era in the 1950s and early 1960s.


Biography


Early years

Born in
Tabor City, North Carolina Tabor City, known as the "Yam Capital of the World", is a town in Columbus County, North Carolina, United States. It is the southernmost town in Columbus County, one of North Carolina's largest counties by land area. It is located just north of ...
on November 6, 1932, Jackson was the youngest of three children. Stonewall is not a nickname; he was named after Confederate General
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in near ...
. (Some publicity claimed he was a descendant of the general, but that is unlikely.) When Stonewall was two, his father died after which his mother moved the family to Worth County in South
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, where he grew up working on his uncle's farm. Jackson enlisted in the
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
in 1950 and was discharged in 1954. He 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 ...
in 1956.


Recording career

After hearing Jackson's
demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
,
Wesley Rose Wesley Rose (born February 11, 1918 – April 26, 1990) was an American music industry executive and record producer. Biography The son of songwriter Fred Rose, he was born in Chicago and studied to become a chartered accountant. He eventu ...
, president of
Acuff-Rose Music Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms ...
, arranged for Jackson to
audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...
for 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 ...
. Jackson became the first artist to join the Grand Ole Opry before obtaining a
recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
. He toured with
Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), m ...
, who became his mentor. Jackson signed with
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in 1958. His breakthrough came in the country
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
in late 1958, with a song written by a young
George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
, "Life to Go". It peaked at No.2 in early 1959 and his follow-up record, " Waterloo", was No.1 for five weeks, and crossed over into the Top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
, where it reached No. 4. The track also reached No. 24 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in July 1959. 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 was a haunting and catchy tune that states "Everybody has to meet his Waterloo", meaning their
fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
. The song cites
Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
,
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and Tom Dooley as examples. His next No. 1 hits came in 1964 with "Don't Be Angry" and "
B.J. the D.J. "B.J. the D.J." is a song written by Hugh X. Lewis, and made famous by country music star Stonewall Jackson. Released in November 1963, "B.J. the D.J." was Jackson's second and final No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart in Feb ...
" (Jackson's foray into the
teenage tragedy song A teenage tragedy song is a style of ballad in popular music that peaked in popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Examples of the style are also known as "tear jerkers", "death discs" or "splatter platters", among other colorful sobriquet ...
trope, about an over-worked country music radio station disc jockey, who crashes his car in a rainstorm). In 1971, Jackson was the first artist to record a live album from the Grand Ole Opry with ''Recorded Live At The Grand Ole Opry''. His other hit songs include "The Carpet on the Floor", "Why I'm Walkin'", "A Wound Time Can't Erase", and " I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water". Jackson also recorded a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of Lobo's 1971
hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
, "
Me and You and a Dog Named Boo "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" is the 1971 debut single by Lobo. Written by Lobo under his real name Kent LaVoie, it appears on the '' Introducing Lobo'' album. Composition Lobo recalls: "I was working on several songs, including a tune abou ...
", which became Jackson's final top 10 hit. From 1958 to 1971, Jackson had 35 Top 40 country hits.


Later years

In 2006, Jackson sued the Grand Ole Opry for $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages, claiming
age discrimination Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler def ...
. As a member of the Opry for over fifty years, Jackson believed management was sidelining him in favor of younger artists. In his court filing, Jackson claimed that Opry general manager Pete Fisher stated that he did not "want any gray hairs on that stage or in the audience, and before I'm done there won't be any." Fisher is also alleged to have told Jackson that he was "too old and too country". The lawsuit was settled on October 3, 2008 for an undisclosed amount and Jackson returned to performing on the show. He was a member of the Opry from 1956 until his death. He largely retired from performing by 2012, with his last public performance being at the funeral of his longtime friend
George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
. Jackson lived on a farm in
Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census. He has a son, Stonewall Jackson Jr. He was inducted into the
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization and museum in Kannapolis, North Carolina that was created to honor musicians, composers and artists with ties to North Carolina that have made significant impact in the music indus ...
on October 11, 2012. Jackson died in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 4, 2021, at the age of 89, from complications of
vascular dementia Vascular dementia (VaD) is dementia caused by problems in the supply of blood to the brain, typically a series of minor strokes, leading to worsening cognitive abilities, the decline occurring piecemeal. The term refers to a syndrome consisti ...
.


Discography


Albums


Singles


References

;Notes ;Bibliography Trott, Walt (1998). "Stonewall Jackson". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 259.


External links

* Allmusic overview * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Stonewall 1932 births 2021 deaths People from Tabor City, North Carolina American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Grand Ole Opry members Country musicians from North Carolina Singer-songwriters from North Carolina American country guitarists American acoustic guitarists Guitarists from North Carolina 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Deaths from vascular dementia Deaths from dementia in Tennessee Columbia Records artists