Happy Wilson

Eugene Burnett "Happy" Wilson (born June 29, 1919 in Haleyville , Alabama , † August 24, 1977 in Nashville , Tennessee ) was an American country musician and radio host. Wilson was best known in Alabama and directed the Golden River Boys . He was also the author of several country hits.

Life

Childhood and youth

Wilson was born in Winston County and grew up in a poor family. His parents were Asa Eugene and Ollie Lear Wilson. As a child, he learned to play guitar and drums from traveling music teachers . Country was Wilson's dominant musical influence.

Beginnings

Wilson began appearing on the radio at the age of 15, which grew in popularity in the 1930s. Soon he was known as "Happy" Wilson and performed on the radio with various bands before forming his own band. He could be heard with the Happy Valley Gang on WBRC ( Birmingham ), with Tex Dunn and his Virginia Hillbillies on WBRC and WAPI, with the Bar-X Cowhands on WSGN and with Red & Raymond and the Boys from Old Kentuck on WSB ( Atlanta , Georgia ). In the late 1930s he was also seen in a Hollywood film.

The Golden River Boys

In 1939 Wilson co-organized shows in Atlanta with young hard rock Gunter and Jack Baggett and rented theaters in Alabama and Georgia where they performed on weekends. In September 1939, Wilson was given his own radio show on WAPI in Birmingham and founded Gunter (guitar), Tuttie Smith ( bass ), Slim Lay (guitar) and Hal Smith ( fiddle ), the Golden River Boys after Stuart Hamblens piece Golden River named were. Wilson himself sang and played guitar on radio, and drums on live performances. Musically they played western swing .

In 1941 Wilson was drafted into the US Army and fought until 1945 in World War II, during which he received the Purple Heart , among other things . The Golden River Boys broke up during this time. After the war, Wilson returned to Birmingham and reorganized the Golden River Boys with hard rock Gunter, who was also discharged from the army. This time the cast consisted of Wilson and Gunter of Charlie Best ( accordion ), Bob Strickland (double bass) and Billy Tucker (fiddle). Wilson and his group could now be heard regularly via WAPI and WALA ( Mobile ) and they played in clubs, bars and auditoriums almost every evening of the week. During this time, Wilson and the Golden River Boys were also permanent members of the Alabama Hayloft Jamborees on WAPI, a live country show that had been on the air for several years when Wilson and his band joined the show.

In 1948 Wilson and the Golden River Boys made their first recordings for the small Vulcan label in Birmingham. Her first single was I Know My Buddy's Sleeping There / Fancy Rhythm . Although the records sold well in Birmingham, no major success could be achieved due to the small record label and shortly after the recordings, hard rock Gunter left the band to pursue a solo career. Wilson was also successful as a songwriter. Little Jimmy Dickens recorded his Sleepin 'at the Foot of the Bed , Webb Pierce recorded I Haven't Got the Heart and Hank Thompson released The Mark of a Heel . With Slim Lay, founding member of the Golden River Boys, Wilson founded the music publishing company Golden River Publishing Company .

On February 7, 1949, Wilson and the Golden River Boys were in Nashville, where they recorded two singles for Decca Records , including Jimmy Selph's song How Long . These records did not reach the national country charts either. Another session was held on September 19, 1950 at Castle Studio in Nashville for MGM Records .

Leaving Birmingham

Wilson left Birmingham with his wife Marion Worth in the 1950s and moved to Huntsville , Alabama, where he found work at WBHP. Slim Lay also worked there and together with Lay he got his wife a contract with Columbia Records . She also had a hit with Are You Willing Willie on Lay's Cherokee Records label . Wilson moved with her to Nashville, where Marion became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and Wilson worked in the country department of the Capitol Records label .

Happy Wilson died in Nashville in 1977.

Discography

year	title	Label #
1948	I Know My Buddy's Sleeping There / Fancy Rythm [!]	Vulcan 5000
1948	This Heart of Mine / I Butted In (B-side with Joe Rumore)	Vulcan 5001
1949	Go Down to the Graveyard / Forty Miles at Sea	Decca 46153
1949	How Long / Comes a Time	Decca 46171
1950	The Haunted House Boogie / Mister Big	MGM 10877
1956	Asiatic Flu / Trouble Along the Cable (with Slim Lay )	Dash 100
Unpublished titles
	Hands Off My Heart	Demo acetate

Web links

• Page about Happy Wilson
• Happy Wilson on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)