Difference between revisions of "Grandpa Jones" - New World Encyclopedia

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Grandpa Jones

For other persons named Louis Jones, see Louis Jones (disambiguation).

Grandpa Jones (born Louis Marshall Jones October 20, 1913 in Niagara, Kentucky – February 19, 1998) was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer.

Background

Born in Niagra, Kentucky, Jones and grew up in the factory towns of Ohio and Kentucky. He inherited a love for old-time country music from his father, who was a fiddle player, and his mother who was a ballad singer. He spent his teenage years in Akron, Ohio where he began singing country music tunes on a local radio show, where he billed himself as the "Young Singer of Old Songs." By 1935 his pursuit of a musical career took him to WBZ (AM) radio in Boston, Massachusetts where he met musician/songwriter Bradley Kincaid, who gave him the nickname "Grandpa" due to his off-stage grumpiness at early-morning radio shows. Jones liked the name and decided to create a stage persona based around it. Still a young man in his 20s, it would not be until much later in his career that "Grandpa Jones" finally grew into his old man's stage make-up.

In the 1930s he went solo and learned the banjo at a time when few performers still used the instrument. He is crediting as a major reason for the instrument's survival and continued popularity. He also yodeled, and sang old-time ballads and novelty songs, and acted the clown. His boisterous, foot-stomping style was reminiscent of banjo great Uncle Dave Macon, and his warm, whimsical stage presence was a tremendous crowd-pleaser. his self-effacing "Grandpa" persona belied the fact that he was also an top exponent of the frailing style of banjo playing and a more than competent singer as well.

During World War II, he played with Alton and Rabon Delmore and Merle Travis, as the Brown's Ferry Four. By the 1940s he began receiving national attention with such songs as "Rattler," and "Mountain Dew." Signing with the King record label, King label he scored a string of hits and gained national attention with "It's Raining Here This Morning," "Eight More Miles to Louisville," "Rattler," and "Mountain Dew." He also married, Ramona Riggins, who also accompanied him on fiddle and mandolin.

In 1946, Jones moved to Nashville, Tennessee and became part of the Grand Ole Opry. He also toured with such acts as Lonzo & Oscar and Cowboy Copas. After serveral years with RCA records, he swtiched to Decca in 1956, scoring a moderst hit with the talking-blues number, "The All-American Boy" in 1959. He moved to Monument records in 1962 and had a top-ten country hit with "T for Texas," his cover of the classic Jimmie Rodgers "blue yodel" song.

In his later career, beginning in 1968, Jones was one of the most popular cast members of the long-running Hee Haw television show, starring Buck Owens and Roy Clark. He gained wise national exposure through the show, contenting himself for the most part to play the comedian and occasionally play one of his trademark banjo songs. A running gag on the show was that the window he was pretending to polish had no glass, and Jones would slip his fingers through the empty panes. Jones also joined castmates Owens, Clark, and Kenny Price with a gospel segment at the end of each show.

A resident of rural Ridgetop, Tennessee outside of Nashville, he was a neighbor and friend of fellow banjo player David "Stringbean" Akeman. On the morning of November 11, 1973, Jones discovered the bodies of Akeman and his wife, who had been murdered during the night by robbers.

In 1978 Grandpa Jones was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His autobiography (with Charles K. Wolfe), Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind The Mike was published in 1984.

In January of 1998, he suffered a stroke after his second-show performance at the Grand Ole Opry and died a few weeks later. He is interred in the Luton Memorial Methodist Church cemetery in Nashville.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Jones, Louis M. "Grandpa" with Charles K. Wolfe. (1984). Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Year Behind The Mike. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
Wolfe, Charles K. (1998). "Grandpa Jones". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 269-270.

External links

CMT.com profile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu0Lt5AxSdA - (Are You From Dixie?)

Credits

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History of "Grandpa Jones"

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@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Born in Niagra, Kentucky, Jones and grew up in the factory towns of Ohio and Kentucky. He inherited a love for old-time country music from his father, who was a fiddle player, and his mother who was a ballad singer. He spent his teenage years in [[Akron]], Ohio where he began singing country music tunes on a local [[radio]] show, where he billed himself as the "Young Singer of Old Songs." By 1935 his pursuit of a musical career took him to WBZ (AM) radio in [[Boston]], Massachusetts where he met musician/songwriter [[Bradley Kincaid]], who gave him the nickname "Grandpa" due to his off-stage grumpiness at early-morning radio shows. Jones liked the name and decided to create a stage [[persona]] based around it. Still a young man in his 20s, it would not be until much later in his career that "Grandpa Jones" finally grew into his old man's stage make-up.
-In the 1930s he went solo and learned the banjo at a time when few performers still used the instrument. He is crediting as a major reason for the instrument's survival and continued popularity. He also [[yodeling|yodeled]], and sang old-time [[ballad]]s and novelty songs, and acted the clown. His boisterous, foot-stomping style was reminiscent of banjo great [[Uncle Dave Macon]], and his warm, whimsical stage presence was a tremendous crowd-pleaser. By the 1940s he began receiving national attention with such songs as "Rattler," and "Mountain Dew." In 1946, he moved to [[Nashville]], Tennessee and became part of the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]''. There, he contented himself with providing comic relief and light-hearted entertainment to delighted crowds. His self-effacing "Grandpa" persona belied the fact that he was also an top exponent of the [[frailing]] style of banjo playing and a more than competent singer as well.
+In the 1930s he went solo and learned the banjo at a time when few performers still used the instrument. He is crediting as a major reason for the instrument's survival and continued popularity. He also [[yodeling|yodeled]], and sang old-time [[ballad]]s and novelty songs, and acted the clown. His boisterous, foot-stomping style was reminiscent of banjo great [[Uncle Dave Macon]], and his warm, whimsical stage presence was a tremendous crowd-pleaser. his self-effacing "Grandpa" persona belied the fact that he was also an top exponent of the [[frailing]] style of banjo playing and a more than competent singer as well.
-In his later career, Jones was one of the most popular cast members of the long-running ''Hee Haw'' television show. A favorite skit had off-camera cast members asking "Hey Grandpa, what's for supper?" to which he'd describe either a delicious, country-style meal ("[[Buttermilk]] biscuits smothered in chicken gravy, home-fried potatoes, collard greens and Grandmother's fresh-baked blueberry pie à la mode!" and the cast would reply, "Yum, yum!") or, more often than not, something terrible ("Because you were bad, thawed out [[TV dinner]]s!" at which the cast would scoff, "Yuck!"). A running gag was that the window he was pretending to polish in this skit had no glass, and that Jones would slip his fingers through the empty panes. Jones also joined castmates [[Buck Owens]], [[Roy Clark]] and [[Kenny Price]] with a gospel segment at the end of each show.
+During World War II, he played with Alton and Rabon Delmore and Merle Travis, as the Brown's Ferry Four. By the 1940s he began receiving national attention with such songs as "Rattler," and "Mountain Dew." Signing with the King record label, King label he scored a string of hits and gained national attention with "It's Raining Here This Morning," "Eight More Miles to Louisville," "Rattler," and "Mountain Dew." He also married, Ramona Riggins, who also accompanied him on [[fiddle]] and [[mandolin]].
-A resident of rural [[Ridgetop, Tennessee]] outside of Nashville, he was a neighbor and friend of fellow musician [[David "Stringbean" Akeman]]. On the morning of November 11, 1973, Jones discovered the bodies of Akeman and his wife who had been murdered during the night by robbers.
+In 1946, Jones moved to [[Nashville]], Tennessee and became part of the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]''.  He  also toured with such acts as Lonzo & Oscar and Cowboy Copas. After serveral years with RCA records, he swtiched to Decca in 1956, scoring a moderst hit with the talking-blues number, "The All-American Boy" in 1959. He moved to Monument records in 1962 and had a top-ten country hit with "T for Texas," his cover of the classic Jimmie Rodgers "blue yodel" song.
-In 1978 Grandpa Jones was inducted into the [[Country Music Hall of Fame]]. An autobiography of him, ''Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind The Mike'' was published in 1984 (with assistance from Charles K. Wolfe).
+In his later career, beginning in 1968, Jones was one of the most popular cast members of the long-running ''Hee Haw'' television show, starring [[Buck Owens]] and [[Roy Clark]]. He gained wise national exposure through the show, contenting himself for the most part to play the comedian and occasionally play one of his trademark banjo songs.  A running gag on the show was that the window he was pretending to polish had no glass, and Jones would slip his fingers through the empty panes. Jones also joined castmates Owens, Clark, and [[Kenny Price]] with a gospel segment at the end of each show.
-In January of 1998, he suffered a stroke after his second show performance at the [[Grand Ole Opry]] and died a few weeks later. He is interred in the Luton Memorial Methodist Church cemetery in Nashville.
+A resident of rural [[Ridgetop, Tennessee]] outside of Nashville, he was a neighbor and friend of fellow banjo player [[David "Stringbean" Akeman]]. On the morning of November 11, 1973, Jones discovered the bodies of Akeman and his wife, who had been murdered during the night by robbers.
---------
+In 1978 Grandpa Jones was inducted into the [[Country Music Hall of Fame]]. His autobiography (with Charles K. Wolfe), ''Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind The Mike'' was published in 1984.
-As a solo act later in the 1930s, Jones had radio shows on numerous stations from West Virginia and Connecticut to Cincinnati, where he sang folk ballads and more old-time country ballads as well as gospel songs. He also learned to play the banjo and made it an integral part of his act at a time when the instrument had all but vanished from country music; it was the combination of Jones' old-time repertory and humor that helped to keep the banjo alive as a viable, popular country instrument. Jones later hooked up with Alton and Rabon Delmore and Merle Travis, and played with them throughout World War II as Brown's Ferry Four. He and Travis also became the first artists to record for the newly founded King label, under the name of the Shepherd Brothers. Jones' own earliest solo records were also done for King during this period, among them "It's Raining Here This Morning," "Eight More Miles to Louisville," "Rattler," and "Mountain Dew."
-Those singles brought Grandpa Jones to national attention, and he was poised for the next step in his career, a move to Nashville. Before that, however, he married Ramona Riggins, who became not only his wife but his accompanist on fiddle and mandolin. In 1946, he began playing on the Grand Ole Opry and touring with acts such as Lonzo & Oscar and Cowboy Copas. He didn't stay in Nashville too long at first, moving to Lorton, VA, and a radio show in Arlington, and later on the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond. Finally, he returned to Nashville as a regular member of the Opry. Jones recorded with King Records from 1945 until 1952, when he moved to RCA Victor, where he remained for four years, recording both traditional-sounding country and topical songs ("I'm No Communist").
-In 1956, he began a six-year stint on Decca Records, recording a total of 16 songs including the talking-blues country hit "The All-American Boy" in 1959. Jones moved to Fred Foster's Monument Records in 1962 and had a Top Five country hit the following year with "T for Texas." His career during the 1960s continued uninterrupted, and in 1969 he joined the cast of the new country music/comedy showcase Hee Haw, which gave him unprecedented national exposure for the next two decades. By 1978, he'd been elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and, by that time, was taking on the real-life role of elder statesman within the community. He continued recording into the 1980s, although his music is somewhat under-represented today on compact disc, apart from the Monument and Decca sides. In 1984, Jones published his autobiography, Everybody's Grandpa. He died February 19, 1998. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
+In January of 1998, he suffered a stroke after his second-show performance at the [[Grand Ole Opry]] and died a few weeks later. He is interred in the Luton Memorial Methodist Church cemetery in Nashville.
 ==References==
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 * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu0Lt5AxSdA - (Are You From Dixie?)
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 [[category:art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]