Tennesee Ernie Ford: Amazing Grace DVD/CD
Posted on 06/13/2015 3:18:48 PM PDT by Yosemitest
My 13 yo loves Gaither music and sings in a quartet. We do a lot of the music in our church. I’m taking him to see them on tour soon.
If some young children got together and sung these songs in this style, they’d go far.
Absolutely. Keep the tradition alive.
What kid didn’t know the Ballad of Davy Crockett back then. Get my coonskin and let’s go out yonder!!
You’ve got mail.
I love ole time gospel music like I grew up listening to. Tennessee Ernie was great and the Gaithers are too. One of my favorite songs from long ago was “Sixteen Tons.”
This is one of my Gaither faves we do. Our adult quartet just slams it home every time.
http://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=5m—ptwd_iI
I grew up on Tennessee Ernie Ford!
Out with the old, in with the new! Why can’t we have a bit of both?
No.
I’ll have to find it on the main computer. The tablet doesn’t copy links accurately sometimes.
If it’s posted on you tube, copy the name of the video, put that in a comment, and I can find it.
OK.
He earned the nickname “The Ol’ Pea-Picker” due to his catch-phrase, “Bless your pea-pickin’ heart!”
Dougherty and Ford met in crew training and he was impressed with Ford's ability. When they arrived in the Pacific, Dougherty arranged for Ford to be his bombardier, and asked Ernie to look for other crew members in a group of recently-arrived airmen (Dougherty believed he could assemble a better crew than simply letting the operations staff assign personnel to his plane. However, the future CINCSAC was a bit surprised when Ford shouted “everyone from Tennessee over here,” as his first step in screening prospective members of the crew.
Ford and Dougherty remained life-long friends. One of my former colleagues was a friend of one of General Dougherty’s sons and was invited to his wedding. Ernie Ford was there as well and regaled guests with stories about show business and his stint as Russell Dougherty’s bombardier.
Sadly, Ford's war experiences probably contributed to his drinking, a problem that plagued him for the rest of his life. Most casual students of World War II don't realize that early daylight precision raids against Japan were a failure, due in part to the jet stream, which blew aircraft and bombs off target. After Maj Gen Heywood Hansell was relieved of command of 20th Air Force, he was replaced by none other than Curtis LeMay.
Predictably, it took LeMay little time to fix the problem. He sent the B-29s in a night, a low level (less than 10,000 feet), and stripped the bombers of most of their guns and armor, so they could carry more incendiary bombs. Flying those types of missions was not for the feint of heart, and many crew members sought refuge in alcohol. As an entertainer, Ford was a consummate pro; there is no report of him missing a show or recording session because of drinking. His wife was also an alcoholic, which made it more difficult for him to kick the habit. Ford went into liver failure after attending a formal event at the White House in October 1991. He died a few days later. The Ole Pea Picker was a superb performer, an American original and a brave airman. Quite a legacy.
A few years ago, Mark Steyn wrote a great article on Ernie Ford's signature song, 16 Tons.
http://www.steynonline.com/4434/sixteen-tons
Like many pop hits, it was a series of happy accidents. The songwriter, Merle Travis, had been signed by Capitol Records, hoping to capitalize on the 1940s folk music craze launched by Burl Ives. When Travis told his label that Ives had "sung every folk song" they told him to write his own. One of those efforts was "16 Tons."
Travis (and others) recorded the song, with middling success. Ford didn't enter the picture until a decade later. Busy with his NBC TV show, he received a letter from his recording company, notifying Ford that he had to produce something soon, or risk losing his contract. "16 Tons" was filler--a throwaway for the B side. It went on to become the song that sold a million copies faster than any other in history--a record that still stood when Steyn wrote his piece in 2011.
You know that phrase is a Southern way of identifying someone who is “lacking in mental capacity”.
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