Eddy Arnold
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Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) 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 who performed for six decades. He was a
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 ...
(country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs 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 music charts, second only to
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", ...
. He sold more than 85 million records. 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 ...
(beginning 1943) and 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 ...
(beginning 1966), Arnold ranked 22nd on
Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...
's 2003 list of "The 40 Greatest Men of Country Music."


Early years

Arnold was born on May 15, 1918, on a farm near
Henderson, Tennessee Henderson is a city in and the county seat of Chester County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,309 at the 2010 census, up from 5,670 at the 2000 census. History Henderson was platted in 1857, when the railroad was extended to th ...
. His father, a sharecropper, played the
fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
, while his mother played guitar. Arnold's father died when he was just 11, forcing him to leave school and begin helping on the family farm. This led to him later gaining his nickname, the Tennessee Plowboy. Arnold attended
Pinson High School Pinson High School was a public high school in Pinson, Tennessee. Founded in 1873 by J. C. Wright, it had nearly 150 students within two years of its establishment. It was disestablished in 1956 with the formation of South Side High School from se ...
in
Pinson, Tennessee Pinson is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Tennessee. It lies along U.S. Route 45 between Jackson and Henderson, just north of the Chester County line, and State Route 197 also passes through the community. It is included in the ...
, where he played guitar for school functions and events. He quit before graduation to help with the farm work, but continued performing, often arriving on a mule with his guitar hung on his back. Arnold also worked part-time as an assistant at a
mortuary A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...
. In 1934, at age 16, Arnold made his debut on WTJS-AM in
Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...
. He began performing at local nightclubs and was hired permanently by WTJS in 1937. In 1938, he was hired by WMPS-AM in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, where he was one of its most popular performers. He soon left WMPS for KWK-AM in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, followed briefly by a spot at WHAS-AM in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. He performed for
WSM (AM) WSM (650 kHz) is a 50,000-watt clear channel AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a full-time country music format (with classic country and Americana leanings, the latter of which is branded as "Route 650") at 650& ...
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 divis ...
during 1943 as a solo artist. In 1944, Arnold signed a contract with
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 ...
, and with manager
Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),
who would later manage
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
. Arnold's first single was little noticed, but the next, " Each Minute Seems a Million Years", scored number five on the country charts in 1945. Its success began a decade of unprecedented chart performance; Arnold's next 57 singles all ranked in the top 10 in the US country charts, including 19 number-one successes. In 1946, Arnold scored his first major success with " That's How Much I Love You". In 1948, he had five successful songs on the charts simultaneously. That year, he had nine songs in the top 10; five of these were number one and scored there for 40 of the year's 52 weeks. With Parker's management, Arnold continued to dominate, with 13 of the 20 best-scoring country music songs of 1947–1948. He became the host of Mutual Radio's Purina-sponsored segment of the ''Opry'' and of Mutual's ''Checkerboard Jamboree'', a midday program shared 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), ...
that was broadcast from a Nashville theater. Recorded radio programs increased Arnold's popularity, as did the
CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
series ''Hometown Reunion'' with the Duke of Paducah. Arnold quit the Opry during 1948, and his ''Hometown Reunion'' briefly broadcast in competition with the Opry on Saturday nights. In 1949 and 1950, he performed in the Columbia movies ''
Feudin' Rhythm ''Feudin' Rhythm'' is a 1949 American Western (genre), Western film directed by Edward Bernds and written by Barry Shipman. The film stars Eddy Arnold, Gloria Henry, Kirby Grant, Isabel Randolph, Tommy Ivo, Fuzzy Knight and Carolina Cotton. The ...
'' and ''
Hoedown A hoedown is a type of American folk dance or square dance in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it. Overview The most popular sense of the term is associated with Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, par ...
.'' Arnold began working for television in the early 1950s, hosting '' The Eddy Arnold Show''. The summer program was broadcast successively by all three television networks, replacing the
Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...
and
Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...
programs. He also performed as a guest and a
guest host {{Unreferenced, date=January 2009 A guest host (or guest presenter in the United Kingdom) is a host, usually of a talk show, that hosts the program in lieu of the regular host if they fall ill, have another project or commitment, or are unable to h ...
on the ABC-TV show ''
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 ' ...
'' from 1955 to 1960. Arnold featured in the syndicated '' Eddy Arnold Time'' from 1955 to 1957. From 1960 to 1961, he hosted
NBC-TV The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Today on the Farm ''Today on the Farm'' was an American television program broadcast on NBC-TV from October 1, 1960–December 26, 1961. Hosted by country musician Eddy Arnold, the weekly series included a variety of features such as agricultural and farm news w ...
''.


Second career: The Nashville sound

With the rise of
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
in the mid 1950s, Arnold's record sales began to decline, though fellow RCA Victor country recording artist
Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman ...
found a greater audience with popular-sounding string-laced arrangements. Arnold annoyed many in the country music establishment by recording with
Hugo Winterhalter Hugo Winterhalter (August 15, 1909 – September 17, 1973) was an American easy listening arranger and composer, best known for his arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor. Biography Hugo Ferdinand Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsy ...
and his Orchestra at the RCA Victor studios in New York. Winterhalter's pop-oriented arrangements of "
The Cattle Call "The Cattle Call" is a song written and recorded in 1934 by American songwriter and musician Tex Owens. The melody was adapted from Bruno Rudzinksi's 1928 recording "Pawel Walc". It became a signature song for Eddy Arnold. Members of the Western W ...
" and "The Richest Man (in the World)", however, helped to expand Arnold's appeal beyond its country music base. This style, pioneered by Reeves and Arnold, became known as the "
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 ...
". During 1953, Arnold and Tom Parker had a dispute, and Arnold fired him. From 1954 to 1963, Arnold's performances were managed by Joe Csida; in 1964, Csida was replaced by Jerry Purcell. Arnold embarked on a second career that brought his music to a more diverse audience. In the summer of 1965, he had his first number-one country song in 10 years, " What's He Doing in My World" and struck gold again six months later with the song that became his most well-known, "
Make the World Go Away "Make the World Go Away'" is a country pop song composed by Hank Cochran. It has become a Top 40 popular success three times: for Timi Yuro (1963), Eddy Arnold (1965), and the brother-sister duo Donny and Marie Osmond (1975). The original ver ...
", accompanied by pianist
Floyd Cramer 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. His signatu ...
on piano and featuring the Anita Kerr Singers. As a result, Arnold's rendition became an international success. "Make The World Go Away" became his only top ten pop hit. Bill Walker's orchestra arrangements provided the lush background for 16 continuous successes sung by Arnold in the late 1960s. Arnold performed with symphony orchestras in New York City, Las Vegas, and Hollywood. He performed in
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
for two concerts, and in the Coconut Grove in Las Vegas. In 1966, Arnold 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 ...
, the youngest performer to receive the honor. The following year, Arnold was voted the first-ever awarded Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year. Two years later, he released an autobiography named ''It's A Long Way From Chester County''. Having been with RCA Victor since 1944, Arnold left the label in 1973 for MGM Records, where he recorded four albums, which included several top-40 successes. He returned to RCA in 1976 and recorded for the company for the remainder of his career.


Later years and death

During the 1980s, Arnold declared himself semi-retired, but he continued recording. In 1984, the
Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music ...
awarded Arnold its Pioneer Award. His next album, ''You Don't Miss A Thing'', was not released until 1991. Arnold performed road tours for several more years. By 1992, he had sold nearly 85 million records, and had a total of 145 weeks of number-one songs, more than any other singer. In 1996, RCA issued an album of Arnold's main successes since 1944 as part of its 'Essential' series. Arnold, then 78 years old, retired from active singing, though he still performed occasionally. On May 16, 1998, the day after his 80th birthday, he announced his final retirement during a concert at the Hotel Orleans in Las Vegas. That same year, the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous f ...
inducted the recording of "Make The World Go Away" into the
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
. In 2000, he was awarded the
National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
.Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts
In 2005, Arnold received a
Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...
from the
Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...
, and later that year, released a final album for RCA titled ''After All These Years''. Arnold died from natural causes on May 8, 2008, in a care facility in Nashville, one week before his 90th birthday. His wife of 66 years, Sally Gayhart Arnold, had preceded him in death by two months. They were survived by two children (Richard E. Arnold, Jr., and JoAnn Arnold Pollard), two grandchildren (K. Michelle Pollard and R. Shannon Pollard, Jr.), and four great-grandchildren (Katie E. Pollard, Jack Pollard, Rowan Pollard, and Ben Johns). On May 31, 2008, RCA released "To Life" as a single from the album ''After All These Years''. It debuted at number 49 on the Hot Country Songs charts, Arnold's first entry in 25 years and the recording by the oldest person to chart in ''Billboard'' magazine. It set the record for the longest span between a first chart single and a last: 62 years and 11 months ("Each Minute Seems Like a Million Years" debuted on June 30, 1945), and extended Arnold's career chart history to seven decades.


Discography


References


External links

*
''The Times of London'' obituary

Eddy Arnold at the Country Music Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Eddy 1918 births 2008 deaths American country singer-songwriters American radio personalities American television personalities Male television personalities Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Grand Ole Opry members RCA Records Nashville artists United States National Medal of Arts recipients People from Henderson, Tennessee RCA Victor artists 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Country musicians from Tennessee