From: philip.davies Date: Wed Nov 6, 2002 8:52 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Stonewall Jackson STONEWALL JACKSON Born Stonewall Jackson, 6th November 1932, Taylor City, N Carolina Named after, and related to, the famous Confederate Civil War General. His father died when he was 2, mother moved to Moultrie Georgia. Worked as a kid on his uncle's farm. Aged 10, he swopped his bike for a guitar and learned to play whilst watching others. Lied about his age to join the army, discharged when the truth was discovered. Joined the navy in 1949 and began singing on board ship. Left the navy in 1954 and returned to farming. In 1956 decided to try his luck in Nashville. Recorded demos for Wesley Rose and auditioned for the Opry, becoming one of the few artists to become a member of the Opry whilst not having a recording contract. Signed for Columbia in 1957 and worked on Ernest Tubb's roadshow. First hit was Life To Go, a prison saga written by George Jones, which reached number 2. Smash hit with John D Loudermilk's Waterloo in 1959, a million seller, topped country chart and reached 4 in pop during the summer. US Top 10 on July 27th read as follows - 1. Lonely Boy -Paul Anka 2. Battle Of New Orleans -Johnny Horton 3. Tiger -Fabian 4. Waterloo -Stonewall 5. A Big Hunk Of Love - GI Joe 6. My Heart Is An Open Book - Carl Dobkins Jnr 7. There Goes My Baby - Drifters 8. Lipstick On Your Collar - Connie Francis 9. 40 Miles Of Bad Road - Duane Eddy 10.Personality -Lloyd Price Some big sellers and legendary names there, Stone (to his friends) in exalted company. Other hits followed during 59-63 like Why I'm Walking, Leona, A Wound Time Can't Erase, Old Showboat. Reached number 1 again with BJ the DJ, written by rockabilly great Benny Joy. Stonewall had smaller hits on into the early 70s inc the great I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water and Don't Be Angry (one of the early Wesley Rose demos). Faded slowly from the charts, even covering pop pup pap like Lobo's Me & You & A Dog Named Boo. A pro Vietnam War song charted briefly. Tried to join Abba but couldn't find satin hot pants in Nudies. Even worse, Daniel O'Donnel covered one of his hits. Like many older established stars Stonewall has cut some contemporary gospel music in recent years. Stonewall was the first artist to record a live album at the Opry, he lives near Nashville and is still performing today. A new Tribute To Stonewall album consisting of duets with many legendary country names (and Garth Brooks) has garnered good reviews. Phil Davies Recommended listening Now here's a guy due the Bear Family Treatment or at least an Essential SJ on Columbia. He's recut his hits many times so check for Columbia recordings first. Classic Country -Scimitar - apparently has all 14 (less than generous playing time) of his US country top 20 hits American Originals -Sony -paltry 10 tracks, they're having a laugh! Reading Stonewall has a self published autobiog called From The Bottom Up but I've never seen it