Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991),[1] known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for his rich bass-baritone voice and down-home humor, he is remembered for his hit recordings of "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Sixteen Tons".
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford
February 13, 1919
Fordtown, Tennessee, US
October 17, 1991 (aged 72)
Reston, Virginia, US
- Musician
- actor
1949–1991
Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
Ford was born in Fordtown, Tennessee, United States, to Maud (née Long) and Clarence Thomas Ford.[2] He spent much of his time in his early years listening to country or western musicians, in person or on the radio.[3]
Ford began wandering around Bristol in his high school years, taking an interest in radio and began his radio career as an announcer at WOPI-AM in 1937, being paid 10 dollars a week. In 1938, the young bass-baritone left the station and went to study classical music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in Ohio. He returned for the announcing job in 1939 and did it from 1939 to 1941 in stations from Atlanta to Knoxville. A first lieutenant, he served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II as the bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress, but the war ended before he was to be sent to Japan.[4] He was also a bombing instructor at George Air Force Base, in Victorville, California.[3][5]
After the war, Ford worked at radio stations in San Bernardino and Pasadena, California. At KFXM, in San Bernardino, Ford was hired as a radio announcer. He was assigned to host an early morning country music disc jockey program, Bar Nothin' Ranch Time. To differentiate himself, he created the personality of "Tennessee Ernie", a wild, madcap, exaggerated hillbilly. He became popular in the area and was soon hired away by Pasadena's country radio station KXLA. He also did musical tours. The Mayfield Brothers of West Texas, including Smokey Mayfield, Thomas Edd Mayfield, and Herbert Mayfield, were among Ford's warmup bands, having played for him in concerts in Amarillo and Lubbock, during the late 1940s.[5][6]