| Lefty Frizzell |
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LIFE Frizzell was born in Corsicana but moved with his family shortly after his birth to El Dorado, Arkansas , where they remained until the early 1940s . Frizzell began playing the Guitar as a very young boy and by age 12 he was appearing regularly on a children's show at a local Radio station. The family moved back to Texas when Frizzell was still a teenager, and his music career got a boost when he won a Dallas talent contest. He acquired the Nickname "Lefty" after a schoolyard scrap with another student. In his late teens, he was performing at fairgrounds and other venues, developing a unique, soulful voice. Like his father, he got work in the oilfields, but his growing popularity as a singer soon gave him regular work on the Honky Tonk nightclub circuit. At age 19 he had a half-hour show on a small Texas radio station, getting a big break when a Record Producer heard him sing. Signed to Columbia Records , he immediately had a string of hits that broke into country music's top ten; several of them reached # 1. In 1950 he was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry ; the following year he appeared on the Louisiana Hayride and then began touring with country music's biggest star of the era, Hank Williams . A prolific songwriter, Frizzell had four songs in the country top ten at the same time in 1951 — a feat that would not be repeated on any chart until The Beatles accomplished it on the popular chart with five songs in 1964 . In the mid- 1950s , Frizzell changed record labels and moved to California , where he recorded several more country music hits and became the first country singer to perform at the Hollywood Bowl . By then, however, his problems with Alcohol were already taking their toll. Mood shifts and outbreaks of irrational anger became a trademark, and his constant failure to meet recording commitments strained his relationship with his recording company. By the end of the 1950s, Rock And Roll was dominating the North America n music scene, but although no one would ever mistake Frizzell's music for anything but country, his 1959 hit titled '' Long Black Veil '' gained wide acceptance with a variety of music fans, and was the first recording of this 'standard'. A few years later, Frizzell recorded "''Saginaw, Michigan,''" which took the #1 spot on the country music charts and broke into the pop charts as well. The song earned him a Grammy Award nomination. In 1972 Lefty Frizzell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame and his song "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" earned him a Grammy Hall Of Fame Award . Unfortunately, success and money only added to Frizzell's alcohol addiction, and on July 19, 1975, he suffered a massive Stroke and passed away at age 47. He was buried on "Music Row" at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee . LEGACY AND INFLUENCE Frizzell's style of singing influenced a great many singers, particularly Merle Haggard , Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam . In addition, he was widely recognized for his songwriting talents. Willie Nelson's 1977 album ''To Lefty From Willie'' was a tribute to Frizzell and consisted entirely of cover versions of Frizzell songs. Frizzell was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1982 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame . His pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame . Fellow Texan and son of an oilfield worker Roy Orbison (1936-1988) was a devout fan of Frizzell's sound, and in 1988 , when Orbison briefly became a part of the Supergroup the Traveling Wilburys , he chose the name "Lefty Wilbury" to honor his musical Hero . Frizzell's younger brother, David Frizzell was also a country singer; his biggest hit was "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma", a 1981 duet with Shelly West . EXTERNAL LINKS |
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