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Red Sovine

Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine (July 7, 1917 – April 4, 1980) was an American country music singer and songwriter associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music.[1] His most noted examples are "Giddyup Go" (1965) and "Teddy Bear" (1976), both of which topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Red Sovine

Woodrow Wilson Sovine

(1917-07-07)July 7, 1917
Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.

April 4, 1980(1980-04-04) (aged 62)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.

Country

Musician, songwriter

Guitar, vocals

1935–1980

Decca, Starday

Biography[edit]

Sovine was born in 1917 in Charleston, West Virginia,[1] earning the nickname "Red" because of his reddish-brown hair. He had two brothers and two sisters. Sovine was taught to play guitar by his mother. His first venture into music was with his childhood friend Johnnie Bailes, with whom he performed as "Smiley and Red, the Singing Sailors" in the country music revue Jim Pike's Carolina Tar Heels on WWVA-AM in Wheeling, West Virginia.[2] Faced with limited success, Bailes left to perform as part of The Bailes Brothers. Sovine got married, and continued to sing on Charleston radio, while holding down a job as a supervisor of a hosiery factory.[2] With the encouragement of Bailes, Sovine formed The Echo Valley Boys.[3]

"", a tale of a hitchhiker who hops a ride from a trucker who turns out to be the ghost of a man who died years ago giving his life to save a school bus full of children from a horrible collision with his rig. This story was later adapted by singer-songwriter Tom Waits, who performed "Big Joe And Phantom 309" during his Nighthawks At The Diner recordings. Waits' version of this song was covered by Archers of Loaf on the 1995 tribute album, Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits. Musician Steve Flett named a recording project after the song. The song was originally written and recorded by Tommy Faile.

Phantom 309

"", the tale of a disabled boy who lost his truck driver father in a highway accident and keeps his CB radio base as his only companion.

Teddy Bear

"Little Joe", a tale of a trucker and his devoted canine friend which became his last hit. This last story features the Teddy Bear character, who can now walk.

[2]

Personal life and death[edit]

Sovine was married to Norma Searls, who died on June 4, 1976, at the age of 57.[5]


On April 4, 1980, Sovine suffered a heart attack while driving in southern Nashville, causing him to run a red light and strike an oncoming vehicle. He and the other driver, 25-year-old Edgar Primm, were transported to St. Thomas Hospital. While Primm was treated and released for minor facial injuries, Sovine died shortly after arrival. According to a preliminary autopsy, Sovine sustained massive abdominal bleeding caused by a lacerated spleen and liver, and fractured ribs and sternum.[6]

A"Teddy Bear" also peaked at No. 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart and No. 49 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada.[9] It also hit No. 4 on the UK charts in 1981, the only song of his to chart in that country.

[8]

Trott, Walt (1998). "Red Sovine". In Kingsbury, Paul (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 499.

Moore, Bobby (July 25, 2018). . Wide Open Country.

"Remembering Truck Driving Song Legend Red Sovine"