Ernie Ashworth

Ernest Bert "Ernie" Ashworth (born December 15, 1928 in Huntsville , Alabama , † March 2, 2009 in Hartsville , Tennessee ) was an American country musician , songwriter and guitarist . His most famous track is Talk Back Trembling Lips .

Life

Childhood and youth

Ernie Ashworth has been listening to the Grand Ole Opry since he was a child . Before he learned to play the guitar , he wrote his first pieces. In 1948 he was a member of the band The Tunetwisters and appeared on the local radio station WBHP. A year later, Ashworth moved to Nashville , Tennessee .

Career

In Nashville, Ashworth earned his living as a composer and performing on WLAC and WSIX. He was signed to Acuff-Rose as a songwriter and composed songs for Little Jimmy Dickens and Carl Smith . He also wrote a song for Paul Anka , I Wish . In 1955, Ashworth received a recording contract from MGM Records through Wesley Rose . He made a few records as Billy Worth , but all six singles were unsuccessful. Ashworth returned to Huntsville, where he worked on a missile base.

But Wesley Rose was a firm believer in Ashworth's talent and brought him to Decca Records in 1960 . His first single, Each Moment (Spent With You) , reached the top five on the Billboard charts . His next single, You Can't Pick A Rose In December , also hit the charts. In 1962 Ashworth moved to Hickory, where he was able to build on his success with Everybody But You . With the John D. Loudermilk song Talk Back Trembling Lips , he recorded his first and only number one hit in 1963. The title was made for Ashworth's tenor voice. Billboard named him Most Promising Male Artist and he joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. With titles like I Love To Dance With Annie and The DJ Cried , Ashworth was able to place himself in the country charts until the late 1960s.

After a few failures on the smaller, independent O'Brien label, Ashworth retired to his farm in Lewisburg . He remained a member of the Opry and in 1989 bought the WSLV radio station. His later publications were particularly popular in the European country scene. Ashworth was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

Ernie Ashworth died in March 2009 at the age of 80. Until his death he could be heard regularly in the Grand Ole Opry.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		Country
1964	Hits of Today and Tomorrow	Country18 (... weeks) Country

more publishments

• 1969: The Best of Ernie Ashworth
• 1976: Ernest Ashworth Sings His Greatest Hits

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		Country
1960	Each Moment (Spent With You)	Country4 (... weeks) Country
	You Can't Pick a Rose in December	Country8 (... weeks) Country
1961	Forever Gone	Country15 (... weeks) Country
1962	Everybody But Me Hits of Today and Tomorrow	Country3 (... weeks) Country
	I Take the Chance Hits of Today and Tomorrow	Country7 (... weeks) Country
1963	Talk Back Trembling Lips Hits of Today and Tomorrow	Country1 (... week) Country
1964	A Week in the Country Hits of Today and Tomorrow	Country10 (... wk.) Country
	I love to dance with Annie	Country4 (... weeks) Country
	Pushed in a corner	Country11 (... weeks) Country
1965	Because I Cared	Country18 (... weeks) Country
	The DJ Cried	Country8 (... weeks) Country
1966	I wish	Country28 (11 weeks) Country
	At Ease Heart	Country13 (17 weeks) Country
	Sad face	Country31 (9 weeks) Country
1967	Just an Empty Place	Country63 (4 weeks) Country
	My Love for You (Is Like a Mountain Range)	Country48 (10 weeks) Country
	Tender and True	Country48 (7 weeks) Country
1968	A new heart	Country39 (8 weeks) Country
1969	Where Do You Go (When You Don't Go with Me)	Country69 (3 weeks) Country
	Love, I Finally Found It	Country72 (3 weeks) Country
1970	That look of good-bye	Country72 (3 weeks) Country

Web links

• Ernie Ashworth in the All Music Guide
• Ernie Ashworth on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
• Ernie Ashworth in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Paul Wadey: Ernie Ashworth: Country singer and member of the 'Grand Ole Opry'. In: The Independent . March 11, 2009, accessed January 16, 2013 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: US