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Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
. His signature playing style was a cornerstone of the pop-oriented "Nashville sound" of the 1950s and 1960s. Cramer's "slip-note" or "bent-note" style, in which a
passing note A nonchord tone (NCT), nonharmonic tone, or embellishing tone is a note in a piece of music or song that is not part of the implied or expressed chord set out by the harmonic framework. In contrast, a chord tone is a note that is a part of the ...
slides almost instantly into or away from a chordal note, influenced a generation of pianists. His sound became popular to the degree that he stepped out of his role as a
sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...
and began touring as a solo act. In 1960, his piano instrumental solo, " Last Date" went to number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop music chart and sold over one million copies. Its follow-up, "
On the Rebound "On the Rebound" is a 1961 instrumental by pianist Floyd Cramer. In contrast to most of Cramer's work, which consisted mostly of countrypolitan ballads, "On the Rebound" was an uptempo rock and roll instrumental. It made No. 4 in the US and No. 1 ...
", topped the UK Singles Chart in 1961. As a studio musician, he became one of a cadre of elite players dubbed the
Nashville A-Team The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. They backed dozens of popular singers, including Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Patsy ...
and he performed on scores of hit records.


Biography

Cramer was born in
Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...
, and grew up in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas. He taught himself to play the piano. After finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the
radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...
'' Louisiana Hayride''. After Elvis Presley performed on ''Louisiana Hayride'' in 1955, he hired his own band which included Cramer,
Jimmy Day Jimmy Day (born James Clayton Day; 1934–1999) was an American steel guitarist active in the 1950s and 1960s whose career in country music blossomed about the time the pedal steel guitar was invented after pedals were added to the lap steel gui ...
, Scotty Moore,
Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo. Ear ...
, and
D.J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationsh ...
. This group remained his supporting band for much of that year; however, when Presley asked them to relocate to Hollywood, Cramer and Day declined to follow him there, preferring to remain in Nashville to pursue independent careers as studio musicians. In
Nashville 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 the ...
, Cramer found that piano accompaniment in country music was growing in popularity. By the next year he was, in his words, "in day and night doing session". Before long, he was one of the busiest
studio musicians Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
in the industry, playing piano for stars such as Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, the Browns, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold,
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 ...
, Don Gibson, and the Everly Brothers, among others. It was Cramer's piano playing, for instance, on Presley's first
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 Aris ...
single, " Heartbreak Hotel". While Cramer was well-established as a session player, he had a long career as a solo performer with dozens of his own albums and singles, including some Top 40 instrumental hits. Cramer had released records under his own name since the early 1950s and became well known following the release of " Last Date", a
45-rpm In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...
single, released by RCA Victor in 1960."Last Date" is the closing theme of Ray Hadley's radio show on Sydney's radio station
2GB 2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE. 2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM. In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total rad ...
.
The instrumental piece exhibited a relatively new concept in piano playing known as the "slip note" style. The record went to number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop music chart, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song was kept out of the number 1 position by Elvis Presley's "
Are You Lonesome Tonight "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (sometimes stylized as Are You Lonesome To-night?) is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927—first by Charles Hart, with successful versions by Vaughn De Leath, He ...
". The session pianist for Elvis's recording of that #1 song, in a very early morning session (about 4:00 AM) at RCA Studio B in Nashville, was none other than Floyd Cramer himself. In 1961, Cramer had a hit with "
On the Rebound "On the Rebound" is a 1961 instrumental by pianist Floyd Cramer. In contrast to most of Cramer's work, which consisted mostly of countrypolitan ballads, "On the Rebound" was an uptempo rock and roll instrumental. It made No. 4 in the US and No. 1 ...
", which went to number 4, and number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. ("On the Rebound" was featured during the opening credits of the 2009 Oscar-nominated film '' An Education'', which was set in England in 1961.) Also in 1961, Cramer had a hit with "
San Antonio Rose "San Antonio Rose" is a swing instrumental introduced in late 1938 by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Quickly becoming the band's most popular number, Wills and band members devised lyrics, which were recorded on April 16, 1940, and release ...
" (number 8). By the mid-1960s, Cramer had become a respected performer, making numerous albums and touring with guitar maestro Chet Atkins and saxophonist Boots Randolph, sometimes headlining and sometimes as the opening act for Eddy Arnold. Cramer also performed with them as a member of the Million Dollar Band. Cramer died of lung cancer on New Year's Eve, 1997 at the age of 64. He was interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in the Nashville suburb of
Madison, Tennessee Madison (originally Madison Station) is a former settlement, now a suburban neighborhood of northeast Nashville, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is incorporated as part of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. The p ...
.


Legacy

Cramer’s grandson, Jason Coleman, followed in his footsteps taking up the piano, performing with him on television and in concert at a young age. At age 17, he played "
Please Help Me, I'm Falling "Please Help Me, I'm Falling" is a 1960 song written by Don Robertson and Hal Blair and first recorded by Hank Locklin. The single was Locklin's most successful recording and was his second number one on the country charts. "Please Help Me, I'm F ...
", the first song to feature Cramer's signature slip notes, with Hank Locklin at 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 ...
, and two years later played piano for the Medallion Ceremony at Cramer's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He carries on his grandfather's legacy with recordings and a touring tribute concert, The Piano Magic of Floyd Cramer, sharing the piano arrangements and story of Cramer's contributions to American music.


Awards

In 2003, Cramer was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
. In 2004, his recording of "Last Date" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, established to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. In 2008 Cramer was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, Tennessee, offers the Floyd Cramer Competitive Scholarship.


Discography


Albums


Singles

*A"Dallas", a cover version of the theme to the popular
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
, peaked at No. 8 on the ''
RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
'' Country Tracks chart in Canada.


See also

* The Nashville A-Team


References


Other sources

* Escott, Colin (1998), "Floyd Cramer". In Paul Kingsbury (ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music'', New York: Oxford University Press., pp. 117–18.


External links


Rockhall.com


*
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
*
Floyd Cramer recordings
at the
Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
.
Jason Coleman, grandson of Floyd Cramer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cramer, Floyd 1933 births 1997 deaths American country pianists American male pianists American country singer-songwriters Abbott Records artists RCA Victor artists Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana People from Union County, Arkansas Deaths from lung cancer Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Country Music Association Deaths from cancer in Arkansas Million Dollar Band (country music group) members Burials in Tennessee 20th-century American singers 20th-century American pianists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Arkansas Country musicians from Louisiana Country musicians from Arkansas Easy listening musicians 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters