Billy Grammer
Billy Grammer | |
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Billy Wayne Grammer (August 28, 1925 – August 10, 2011) was an American country music singer and accomplished guitar player. He recorded the million-selling "Gotta Travel On", which made it onto both the country and pop music charts in 1959. Grammer would become a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry, eventually designing, and marketing his namesake guitar after co-founding a guitar company, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Biography
Grammer, the eldest of 13 children (nine boys and four girls), was born in Benton, Illinois.[1] His father was a musician; he played the violin and trumpet.[2]
He served in the US Army during World War II, and upon discharge worked as an apprentice toolmaker at the Washington Naval gun factory at Shop No. 20. Grammer married his high-school girlfriend, Ruth Burzynski, in 1944. Shortly after the war ended, 18,000 of a 24,000-strong workforce were laid off, including Grammer. The couple returned to their home in Franklin County, Illinois.
Music career
When Grammer and his wife were living in Washington D.C., he was hired by Connie B. Gay as a singer in support of Gay's WARL radio program: Town and Country Time. When Gay was preparing to replace the session guitarist, Grammer demonstrated his own guitar prowess, and was re-contracted in a dual-role as both singer and lead guitarist.[3]
After being signed by
Grammer founded RG&G (Reid, Grammer & Gower) Company in 1965 with Clyde Reid and J.W. Gower.
On May 15, 1972, Grammer and the Travel on Boys played at the rally in
Grammer delivered the invocation for the Grand Ole Opry House opening on March 16, 1974.[8] In 1990, he was inducted into the Illinois Country Music Hall of Fame, along with Tex Williams, Lulu Belle and Scotty, and Patsy Montana.
Grammer suffered from the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa[9] and became completely blind.[9] On February 27, 2009, he was honored by the Grand Ole Opry for his 50-year membership.[9]
Death
Grammer died on August 10, 2011, aged 85, at Benton Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for a long-term illness, which included suffering a heart attack seven months earlier.[3]
Singles
Year | Single | Chart Positions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Country |
US | US R&B |
CAN Country | ||
1959 | "Gotta Travel On" | 5 | 4 | 14 | — |
"The Kissing Tree" | — | 60 | — | — | |
" Bonaparte's Retreat "
|
— | 50 | — | — | |
1963 | "I Wanna Go Home" | 18 | — | — | — |
1964 | "I'll Leave the Porch Light A-Burning" | 43 | — | — | — |
1966 | "Bottles" | 35 | — | — | — |
"The Real Thing" | 30 | — | — | — | |
1967 | "Mabel (You Have Been a Friend to Me)" | 48 | — | — | 14 |
1968 | "The Ballad of John Dillinger" | 70 | — | — | — |
1969 | "Jesus Is a Soul Man" | 66 | — | — | 5 |
References
- ^ ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Sandefur, Mona (August 11, 2011). "Gotta travel on: Noted guitarist, singer Billy Grammer dies at age 85". The Benton Evening News. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ a b Stewart, Brent (August 10, 2011). "Grand Ole Opry legend Billy Grammer dead at 85". The Southern Illinoisan.
- ^ Trott, Walt (1998). "Billy Grammer". The Encyclopedia of Country Music. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 207–8.
- ^ Quote from Tommy Allsup, Buddy's guitarist on the tour, who remembers having to learn the song before they headed out.
- ^ "Grammer Guitars". Vintage Guitar. February 9, 2010.
- ^ a b Greider, William (May 16, 1972). "George Wallace Remembered". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Trott. p. 208
- ^ a b c daughter Dianne Grammer