Cowboy Copas
Cowboy Copas | |
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Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins.[1] Copas was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.[2]
Biography
Copas was born in 1913 in
In 1943, Copas achieved national fame when he replaced
While continuing to appear on the Opry, Copas recorded several other hits during the late 1940s and early 1950s, including "
Although Copas did not maintain his popularity of the late 1940s through the next decade, he continued to perform regularly at the Grand Ole Opry, and appeared on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee. After a lackluster partnership with Dot Records, Copas surged to the top of the charts again in 1960 with the biggest hit of his career, "Alabam", which remained number one for three months.[1] Other major hits during his successful period with Starday Records in the early 1960s, including "Flat Top" and a remake of "Signed, Sealed And Delivered", held promising implications for the future of his career.[1]
Aircraft accident
On March 3, 1963, Copas, Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and others performed at a benefit concert at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of disc jockey Cactus Jack Call, who had died the previous December in an automobile accident.
On March 5, they left for Nashville in a
Copas was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, in "Music Row" with Hawkins and other country music stars.
Discography
King Records
- Sings His All-Time Hits (1957)
- Hymns and Sacred Songs (1959)
- Tragic Tales of Love and Life (1960)
- Broken Hearted Melodies (1960)
- The Country Gentleman of Song (1963)
- As You Remember (1963)
- The Legend of Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins No. 2 (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins
- In Memory (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins
- Tragic Romance (1969)
Starday Records
- All Time Country Music Great (1960)
- Inspirational Songs by Cowboy Copas (1961)
- Songs That Made Him Famous (1961)
- Mister Country Music (1962)
- Opry Star Spotlight on Cowboy Copas (1962)
- Country Music Entertainer No. 1 (1962)
- Beyond the Sunset (1963)
- The Unforgettable Cowboy Copas (1963)
- Star of the Grand Ole Opry (1963)
- The Late and Great (1964)
- Cowboy Copas and His Friends (1964)
- The Legend Lives On (1965)
- The Cowboy Copas Story (1965)
- Shake a Hand (1966)
- Signed Sealed and Delivered (1967)
- Filipino Baby (1970)
- 16 Greatest Hits Of Cowboy Copas (1970)
Imperial Records
- Songs of the Old West 1 (1961)
Hilltop Records
- Gone But Not Forgotten (1965) with Patsy Cline & Johnny Horton
- A Satisfied Mind (1966)
Singles
Year | Single | Chart Positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Country | US | ||
1946 | "Filipino Baby" | 4 | |
1948 | "Signed Sealed and Delivered" | 2 | |
"Tennessee Waltz" | 3 | ||
"Tennessee Moon" | 7 | ||
"Breeze" | 12 | ||
1949 | "I'm Waltzing with Tears in My Eyes" | 12 | |
"Candy Kisses" | 5 | ||
"Hangman's Boogie" | 14 | ||
1951 | "The Strange Little Girl" | 5 | |
1952 | "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered" | 8 | |
1960 | " Alabam "
|
1 | 63 |
1961 | "Flat Top" | 9 | |
"Sunny Tennessee" | 12 | ||
"Signed Sealed and Delivered" (re-recording) | 10 | ||
1963 | "Goodbye Kisses" | 12 |
Notes
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
- ^ "Opry Timeline - 1940s". Opry.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
- ^ "Cowboy Copas", in Country Music: The Rough Guide, Kurt Wolff and Orla Duane, editors (Rough Guides, 2000) pp. 107-108
- ^ Larry Jordan (March 5, 2013). "What really happened in the Patsy Cline plane crash". Boardhost.com. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
References
- Bush, John (2003). Edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, & Stephen Erlewine. "Cowboy Copas (Lloyd Estel Copas)." All Music Guide to Country, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2003. ISBN 0-87930-760-9
- Smith, Jonathan Guyot (1998). "Cowboy Copas." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 111.
- Simon, John Roger (2008) Cowboy Copas and the Golden Age of Country Music. Jesse Stuart Foundation, publisher. 416 pages w/ illustrations.
External links
- Cowboy Copas tribute page at patsycline.com
- Cowboy Copas biography at hillbilly-music.com
- "Cowboy Copas". Find a Grave. Retrieved August 28, 2010.