Zeke Clements (September 6, 1911 – June 4, 1994) was an American country musician often dressed in a Western outfit. He was known as "The Dixie Yodeler."

Biography

Clements was born near Empire, Alabama. In 1928, his career began when he joined Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboys touring show and was signed to the

National Barn Dance ''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''National Barn Dance'' also set the stage for other ...

at WLS in Chicago.Carlin 2003, p. 68. In 1930, he performed on WSM

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 ...

for the first time.Plantenga 2004, p. 205. In 1933, he became a member of the Bronco Busters, led by

Texas Ruby Ruby Agnes Owens (June 4, 1908 – March 29, 1963), professionally better known as Texas Ruby, was an American pioneering country music female vocalist and musician of the late 1930s through to the early 1960s. Her brother was famous as Te ...

. Zeke Clements And The Bronco Busters became members of the Opry in the 1930s. In the 1930 and 1940s, Clements appeared as a singing cowboy in several of Charles Starrett's B-Westerns.Noles 2002, p. 106. During this time, he also provided the voice of Bashful, the yodeling dwarf, in

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film) ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first ful ...

. Clements formed the Western Swing Gang and returned to the Opry in 1939. He had his first major country hit with ''

Smoke On the Water "Smoke on the Water" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, first released from the band's sixth studio album ''Machine Head'' (1972), which chronicles the 1971 fire at Montreux Casino. In a 2004 publication by ''Rolling Stone'' magaz ...

''. The song was recorded by Red Foley in 1944 and became the No.1 Country Recording of 1945.Carlin 2003, p. 69.Kavanaugh 2000, p. 40. Also in 1945, he started Liberty Records in Southern California. It was later renamed Blazon Records.Haslam, Russell, Chon 2005, p. 96. After a short stint on the

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the ...

in the later 1940s, he appeared on several radio stations in the South. In the 1960s, he moved to Florida and joined a

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...

band as banjo player. He died in

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 ...

in 1994.

Footnotes

References

* Carlin, Richard (2003) ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary'', Taylor & Francis * Haslam, Gerald W., Alexandra Haslam Russell, Richard Chon (2005) ''Workin' Man Blues: Country Music in California'', Heyday Books * Kavanaugh, Barbara (2000) ''Devotions from the World of Music'', David C. Cook * Noles, Randy (2002) ''Orange Blossom Boys: The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise...'', Hal Leonard Corp. * Plantenga, Bart (2004) ''Yodel-ay-ee-oooo: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World'', Routledge {{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Zeke 1911 births 1994 deaths People from Walker County, Alabama Country musicians from Alabama American country singer-songwriters Grand Ole Opry members 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Alabama