Lefty Frizzell
William Orvill "Lefty" Frizzell (born March 31, 1928 in Corsicana , Texas , † July 19, 1975 in Nashville , Tennessee ) was an American country singer.
biography
Beginnings
"Lefty" Frizzell was born in 1928 to Naamon and AD Frizzell in Corsicana, Texas; the family moved to El Dorado, Arkansas, soon after he was born . Of his eight siblings, his brothers David and Allan also worked in the music business. At the age of ten he tried to sing the songs of one of his idols, Jimmie Rodgers, and a year later he made his first public appearance at a school event.
In 1940, at the age of twelve, he won a talent competition on the KELD radio station in El Dorado , and in the meantime he had also learned to play the guitar. After his father was drafted into the army, Lefty Frizzell began doing odd jobs to supplement the family's income. This also included appearances in dance halls in Greenville, Texas. After moving to Paris , Texas again, he got a 15-minute show on the radio station KPET. At this time he began to write his own songs, with which he was successful again in a talent competition in 1944.
On March 12, 1945, at the age of 16, he married Alice Harper and moved with her to Authers, Oklahoma , where he fathered a daughter eleven months later. After his father returned from the war, both families moved to Roswell , New Mexico , where he received a half-hour broadcast on KFGL. The show was quite successful, so that he was allowed to broadcast a full hour soon afterwards. In April 1948 he introduced himself to the broadcaster KWKH to start on the successful show Louisiana Hayride , but was turned down in favor of Hank Williams . This made him realize that he needed a band.
Career
At the beginning of the 1950s, he was a local player with his band Westerneers . His fans persuaded him to make a record, so he went to Dallas with a test recording . There he met Jim Beck. The recordings took place between July 25, 1950 and January 11, 1951. Then it went on tour. In January 1952, seven of his recordings were on the Billboard charts. In the next few years until his death, numerous recordings and live performances followed.
Honors and death
In 1972, Frizzell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame , and received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for the song If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time . The success worsened his alcohol addiction, on July 19, 1975 he suffered a stroke and died at the age of 47. He was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee .
Remarks
- ↑ For the singles placed in the charts, see Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Hits. 7th revised and expanded edition, New York City, New York: Billboard Books, 2005, p. 129
literature
- Erlewine, Michael u. a .: All Music Guide to Country. San Francisco, CAL: Miller Freeman Books, 1997, pp. 165f
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Frizzell, Lefty |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Frizzell, William Orvill (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 31, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Corsicana , Texas , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 19, 1975 |
| Place of death | Nashville , Tennessee |