From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Feb 9, 2002  2:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Ernest Tubb
 
ERNEST TUBB (By Shaun Mather)

Born 9 February 1914, Crisp, Texas
Died 6 September 1984, Nashville, Tennessee

Born in Ellis County, Texas, but moving from town to town thereafter, Ernest
Tubb grew up obsessed with the music of the Jimmie Rodgers. So much so that
when he started playing music himself, he tracked down Rodgers' wife, who
loaned him one of Jimmie Rodger's guitars and helped get him signed to RCA.
His work was all done in the style of his hero until Tubb had his tonsils
removed in 1939, and could no longer yodel. The following year he moved to
Decca and scored a minor hit with Blue Eyed Elaine. In 1941 he cut his
million selling career song, Walkin' The Floor Over You. He moved to
Nashville, joined the Grand Ole Opry and before the decade had finished,
he'd had 30 top Ten hits, 5 making the top spot, including Soldier's Last
Letter and Slippin' Around. In '47 he launched his Ernest Tubb Record Shop
and became the first hillbilly artist to play New York's Carnegie Hall. The
50's continued much the same (28 top Ten hits) but by the 60's the hits had
became significantly smaller. He was inducted to the Country Music Hall Of
Fame in 1965 and the Nashville Songwriters International Hall Of Fame, five
years later. Ill health forced him into retirement in 1982 and two years
later he died from emphysema. Although never blessed with the world's best
voice (perhaps its worst!) as a honky tonk singer he had few equals and is
one of the cornerstones of the country music industry.

Recommended listening:
The Very Best of Ernest Tubb - Half Moon.
Biography: Ronnie Pugh, Ernest Tubb : The Texas Troubadour (1998)