100 years on
On May 15, the late and great Eddy Arnold
entered the centenary of his birth, dating
back to Henderson, Tenn. Upon his death,
May 8, 2008, the Tennessee Plowboy
was then 10 years and a week shy of his
100th birthday. Few have come close to his
Billboard record of 145 weeks spent in the
#1 slot, or his 92 Top 10 singles, 28 of which
hit #1.
Arnold began performing in earnest during
the Great Depression, then spent three
years honing his talents with Pee Wee King’s
Golden West Cowboys (1940-’43), before
going solo. He was noted for tearful ballads
like Mommy, Please Stay Home With Me,
Did You See My Daddy Over There, Rockin’
Alone (In That Old Rockin’ Chair), My Daddy
Is Only A Picture, Mama And Daddy Broke
My Heart and Little Angel With The Dirty
Face. But, of course, his third #1 in 1947 was
his co-write I’ll Hold You In My Heart, which
held the #1 spot 21 weeks, while his fifth
#1 Bouquet Of Roses became his longest
charter: 54 weeks (19 of which were in top
spot). Incidentally in 1948, only two singers
scored #1 on the Billboard country charts
all year: Eddy with five entries, Anytime,
Bouquet Of Roses, Texarkana Baby, Just
A Little Lovin’, A Heart Full Of Love, while
Jimmy Wakely had only One Has My Name,
11 weeks. Arnold co-wrote 17 of his hits,
eight of which were #1, among them I’m
Throwing Rice (At the Girl That I Love),
Easy On the Eyes and That Do Make It
Nice.
Oddly enough, Arnold has not been
inducted into the Nashville Songwriters
Hall of Fame, though enshrined in the 1966
Country Music Hall of Fame, and thanks to
an amazing comeback, earned the CMA’s
first Entertainer of the Year trophy (1967).
The Academy of Country Music bestowed
its Pioneer Award on Eddy in 1984. In
2000, he was presented the National Medal
of the Arts & Humanities in Washington,
D.C. by President Bill Clinton, and in 2005
also honored with a Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award.
Eddy charted an impressive 23 singles
that boasted two-sided hits, that is Top
10 or better, many of which crossed into
the pop charts. His highest pop charting,
at #6 was Make The World Go Away
(1965), also #1 country three weeks, and
now a Grammy Hall of Fame Record. In
1956, Eddy did a rare thing for him, a duet
with pop vocalist Jaye P. Morgan, Mutual
Admiration Society, stopping just shy of
Top 40 pop status. It was another 40+
years before his Top 20 duet with youthful
LeAnn Rimes, tackling his Golden Oldie
Cattle Call, charted Billboard in late 1999,
but carried over into 2000, giving Eddy
yet another chart decade conquered.
Following his 2008 death, Eddy’s longtime
label RCA released a single that month, To
Life, which peaked at #49. This gave Eddy
another country record of sorts, the longest
span between solo chartings, nearly 63
years since his first Billboard entry Each
Minutes Seems Like A Million Years, a
Top Five charting June 30, 1945, backed
incidentally with Cattle Call (a later #1 in
1955). At press time, we received a reply to
our query wondering why Arnold was never
inducted into the Nashville Songwriters
Hall of Fame, from spokesperson Jennifer
Bohler, stating: “Thanks very much for
getting in touch. I agree that Eddy is a
deserving candidate and is among several
hundred eligible Nashville songwriters and
songwriter-artists that NaSHOF considers
each year. They will begin the nominating
process soon, and I’m told Eddy will be
discussed again this year. Thanks again for
suggesting Eddy be considered.”
A feature on Eddy Arnold who would
have been 100 this year, and Lefty Frizzell
and Don Gibson who would have been 90
can be found elsewhere in this issue.
JUNE 2018 - cmp 5