Red Sovine

Red Sovine (born July 17, 1918 as Woodrow Wilson Sovine in Charleston , West Virginia , † April 4, 1980 in Nashville , Tennessee ) was an American country musician and singer. Sovine was best known for his songs, which were spoken as recitative and in which he mostly told melancholy stories from the world of truckers. The most successful of these songs was his 1976 number one hit Teddy Bear .

Life

Beginnings

Red Sovine learned to play the western guitar from his mother at a young age. In the local music scene, Sovine quickly made a name for himself after performing on the radio with a friend as a teenager. Musically he was influenced by Buddy Starcher and Frank Welling , who could be heard on the nearby Charleston station WCHS during Sovine's childhood. With friend Johnny Bailes, Sovine joined Jim Pike's Carolina Tar Heels and performed with Bailes as Smiley & Red, the Singing Sailors . After a brief stint in Wheeling , West Virginia at the WWVA Jamboree , Sovine worked as a shift supervisor in a stocking factory before founding a band, the Echo Valley Boys . In the 1940s, Sovine gained his first experience in show business with regular appearances on the Old Farm Hour , a live show on WCHS.

Career as a musician

In his mid-20s, Sovine moved to Shreveport , where he played on KWKH's program. There he met Hank Williams , who in 1949 helped him get a new radio show in Alabama and a recording deal with MGM Records . Through his acquaintance with Williams, Sovine became his successor in the Louisiana Hayride when he moved to the Grand Ole Opry . Sovine then recorded 28 singles in the style of Hank Williams, but they were not very successful.

A little later, the impetus for Sovine's career came from Webb Pierce , a colleague at Hayride. Sovine became Pierce's band leader and received a contract with Decca Records through him in 1954 . The first success there was the duet single Are You Mine? with Goldie Hill , later wife of Carl Smith . Sovine also had success with Pierce when he played and sang on his successful single Why Baby Why in 1956 . The song reached number one on the Billboard Country Charts . When Sovine had released 25 singles on Decca, he moved to Starday Records in Nashville in 1959 and began touring as a solo artist.

Sovine recommended Charley Pride to move to Nashville and opened the doors to the Webb Pierce label for the African American singer. Sovine himself could not achieve great success between 1959 and 1965.

Career climax and death

In 1965, Sovine and songwriter Tommy Hill came up with the idea for Giddy Up Go , his first spoken song. There he put himself in the role of a long-established truck driver who, after many years, finds his prodigal son, who is now also rolling along the highways as a trucker and talking to him over CB radio . His new-found style accompanied Sovine into the late 1970s, and other songs from this genre included Phantom 309 , Little Joe and Rubber Duck .

His biggest hit was Teddy Bear from 1976, which was made known as Ruf Teddybear one-four in Germany by pop singer Jonny Hill . The title was awarded gold in the US and silver in the UK. Sovine also recorded a version of the Convoy, which was made a hit song by CW McCall . McCall's hit Roses For Mama was also recorded by Sovine, along with a number of sentimental Christmas songs that became very popular. On April 4, 1980, Red Sovine was driving through Nashville when he had a heart attack that resulted in a traffic accident. Sovine died as a result of the accident at the age of 61.

effect

Along with Dave Dudley , CW McCall or Red Simpson, Sovine is one of the most important trucker singers and was not only successful as a musician himself, but also advocated other talents when he gave Charley Pride the decisive tip for his career. The popularity of Sovine's songs is expressed in the fact that cover versions of them were made in Germany and Australia in addition to those by American artists such as Ferlin Husky and Boxcar Willie . Sovine is still very popular with fans of classic country music today.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		Country
1966	Giddyup Go	Country4 (17 weeks) Country	Starday / Nashville
1968	Phantom 309	Country18 (7 weeks) Country	Starday
1974	It'll come back	Country48 (2 weeks) Country	Chart
1976	Teddy bear	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	Starday
1977	Woodrow Wilson Sovine	Country50 (2 weeks) Country	Starday

More studio albums

• 1956: Red Sovine (MGM)
• 1961: The One and Only (Starday)
• 1962: Golden Country Ballads of the 60’s (Starday)
• 1963: Red Sovine (Decca)
• 1965: The Heart Rending Little Rosa (Starday)
• 1966: Country Music Time (Decca)
• 1966: The Sensational Red (Nashville)
• 1966: The Nashville Sound of Red Sovine (Starday)
• 1967: I Didn't Jump the Fence (Starday)
• 1967: Dear John Letter
• 1968: The Country Way (Vocalion)
• 1968: Tell Maude I Slipped (Starday)
• 1968: Sunday with Sovine (Starday)
• 1968: Anytime (Nashville)
• 1969: Classic Narrations
• 1969: Closing Time Till Dawn
• 1969: Who I Am (Starday)
• 1969: Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town
• 1970: I Know You're Married But I Still Love You (Starday)
• 1973: Greatest Grand Ole Opry
• 1978: Christmas with Red Sovine
• 1978: 16 new gospel songs

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		Country
1977	16 greatest hits	Country47 (2 weeks) Country

More compilations

• 1975: The Best
• 1975: Little Rosa
• 1977: 16 all-time favorites
• 1980: Teddy Bear
• 1980: Phantom 309
• 1980: Giddy Up Go
• 1980: Gone But Not Forgotten
• 1986: Sings Hank Williams
• 1989: Crying in the Chapel
• 1989: Famous Duets
• 1991: Best of the Best
• 2001: Phantom 309
• 2002: Pledge of Allegiance
• 2002: 20 all-time greatest hits

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		UK	US	Country
1955	Why Baby Why	-	-	Country1 (... week) Country	with Webb Pierce
	Are you mine	-	-	Country14 (... weeks) Country	with Goldie Hill
1956	Little Rosa	-	-	Country5 (... weeks) Country	with Webb Pierce
	If Jesus Came to Your House	-	-	Country15 (... weeks) Country
	Hold Everything (Till I Get Home)	-	-	Country5 (... weeks) Country
1959	Yankee, go home	-	-	Country17 (... weeks) Country	with Goldie Hill
1964	Dream House for Sale	-	-	Country22 (12 weeks) Country
1965	Giddyup Go	-	US82 (3 weeks) US	Country1 (22 weeks) Country
1966	Long night	-	-	Country47 (2 weeks) Country
	Class of 49	-	-	Country44 (8 weeks) Country
1967	I didn't jump the fence	-	-	Country17 (12 weeks) Country
	In your heart	-	-	Country33 (10 weeks) Country
	Phantom 309	-	-	Country9 (16 weeks) Country
1968	Tell Maude I Slipped	-	-	Country33 (13 weeks) Country
	Loser Making Good	-	-	Country63 (2 weeks) Country
	Normally, Norma Loves Me	-	-	Country61 (6 weeks) Country
1969	Wer bin ich	-	-	Country62 (7 weeks) Country
1970	I Know You're Married But I Love You Still	-	-	Country52 (10 weeks) Country
	Freightliner Fever	-	-	Country54 (7 weeks) Country
1974	It'll come back	-	-	Country16 (16 weeks) Country
	Can I Keep Him Daddy	-	-	Country58 (9 weeks) Country
1975	Daddy's girl	-	-	Country91 (4 weeks) Country
	Phantom 309	-	-	Country9 (26 weeks) Country
1976	Teddy bear	UK4th silver (8 weeks)UK	US40 gold (9 weeks)US	Country1 (13 weeks) Country	Chart entry in UK only in 1981
	Little Joe	-	-	Country45 (5 weeks) Country
	Last goodbye	-	-	Country96 (2 weeks) Country
1977	Just gettin 'by	-	-	Country98 (2 weeks) Country
	Woman Behind the Man Behind the Wheel	-	-	Country92 (5 weeks) Country
1978	Lay Down Sally	-	-	Country70 (5 weeks) Country
	The Days of Me and You	-	-	Country77 (5 weeks) Country
1980	The Little Family Soldier	-	-	Country74 (5 weeks) Country
	It'll come back	-	-	Country16 (19 weeks) Country

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: UK US
2. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK US

Web links

• Internet presence with pictures, music and biography
• Red Sovine on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)