Redd Stewart
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Redd Stewart | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Henry Ellis Stewart |
Born | Ashland City, Tennessee, United States | May 27, 1923
Died | August 4, 2003 Louisville, Kentucky, United States | (aged 80)
Genres | Country |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Henry Ellis Stewart (May 27, 1923 – August 4, 2003), better known as Redd Stewart, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist who co-wrote "Tennessee Waltz" with Pee Wee King in 1948.[1]
Biography
He was born in Ashland City, Tennessee, United States.[2] While still a child, his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky.[2] At an early age, he learned to play several musical instruments such as the banjo, piano, fiddle and guitar.[2] He changed his first name to Redd because of his red hair and complexion. His talent was not only as a musician but also as a songwriter, beginning by writing a little jingle for a Louisville car dealer's commercial.
In 1937, he joined the Golden West Cowboys band headed by
Stewart also wrote songs that would be made famous by other artists. He provided Jim Reeves with "That's a Sad Affair",[2] (Reeves also recorded "You Belong to Me") and Moon Mullican with "Downstream" and "When Love Dies Where Does it Go" in the mid-1950s. "Tennessee Waltz" went on to be a hit for Patti Page and was also covered by Roy Acuff, the Louvin Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and many others. "You Belong to Me" also went on to become a major standard. The lesser known "Slow Poke", originally recorded by King, was covered by Hawkshaw Hawkins.[2]
In 1972, he was inducted as a charter member into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
On August 2, 2003, Stewart died at 80 at Baptist Hospital East in Louisville, from complications of injuries due to a fall in the early 1990s.[1]
Legacy
In 2004, "Tennessee Waltz" was awarded
References
- ^ a b "Henry Redd Stewart, Country Songwriter, Dies at 82". The New York Times. August 7, 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-726-6.
External links
- Redd Stewart discography at Discogs