Red Sovine Bio

Red Sovine is "The King Of The Narrations." Woodrow Wilson Sovine was born on July 17, 1918, in Charleston, West Virginia. Red's mother taught him how to play the guitar. By the time he was 17 years old, Red was working professionally as an entertainer. In 1948 he formed his own band, "The Echo Valley Boys." By 1949, Red replaced Hank Williams, Sr. on the Louisiana Hayride after Williams joined the Grand Ole Opry. Red Sovine's first hit song was a duet that he recorded with Goldie Hill titled "Are You Mine?" The song, recorded on the Decca label, climbed to #15 on the record charts in 1955. In 1956, Red recorded his first #1-hit song. It, too, was a duet which he recorded with Webb Pierce titled "Why Baby Why." Sovine and Pierce recorded another hit together titled "Little Rosa." The touching song climbed to #5 on the record charts. By then Red Sovine had joined, and was a well-known regular on, the Grand Ole Opry. In the early 1960's, Red Sovine signed with the Starday Records company. In 1965, Red recorded his first big superhit with Starday. "Giddy-Up Go" was a #1-hit on the charts, and became the first of several big "truckdrivin'" theme songs that Red recorded. In 1967 Red recorded his second truckdrivin' hit, "Phantom 309." Time passed and Starday Records changed hands several times.By the early 1970's Starday was basically out of business. In 1974 the owner of Gusto Records, Moe Lytle, purchased the Starday masters and recording studio located on Dickerson Road, in Nashville. Prior to that purchase, Lytle had signed Red to a recording contract with Gusto. In 1976 Red Sovine recorded "Teddy Bear" for Gusto Records. The song was released on Lytle's newly acquired Starday label. "Teddy Bear" sold over a million copies in six weeks and climbed to #1 on the record charts faster than any other single in history. A truckdriver named Dale Royal from South Carolina is the man who first conceived the song "Teddy Bear." It was the only hit song that Royal ever wrote. There were others involved in the final drafting of "Teddy Bear." Gusto co-producer Tommy Hill, B.J. Burnette and Red Sovine also share the writers' credits. The real magic of "Teddy Bear," however, is Red Sovine's delivery of the song. After hearing this moving rendition of "Teddy Bear," there is no doubt that Red Sovine is, indeed, the "King Of The Narrations." Sovine continued to record on the Starday and Gusto labels in the five year span that followed the release of "Teddy Bear." During that time, Red made many fine recordings that showcase his exceptional vocals, and highlight his skills as one of the world's greatest story-tellers. Sadly, on April 4, 1980, Red Sovine died when he had a heart attack while driving. Red Sovine's legacy is the long list of premium songs that he recorded during his lengthy career. Red also imparted a wholesome quality to many of the songs that he recorded. That fact may say more about the "King Of The Narrations," than anything else. -CHUCK YOUNG, GUSTO KING RECORDS

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Though he had a long, distinguished career in country music, singer/songwriter and guitarist Red Sovine is best remembered for his earnest, funny, and at times highly sentimental recitations that took the cab of an over-the-road truck for their settings. Born Woodrow Wilson Sovine into an impoverished family in Charleston, WV, he was inspired as a child by WCHS radio musicians Buddy Starcher and Frank Welling. Sovine and his childhood friend Johnnie Bailes joined Jim Pike's Carolina Tar Heels and performed as "Smiley and Red, the Singing Sailors." They appeared briefly on the powerhouse WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, but Sovine returned to Charleston to get married and took a factory job. He continued to sing on Charleston radio, but his friend Johnnie went on to greater renown as one half of the Bailes Brothers.

Bailes continued to encourage Sovine's efforts, however, and in 1947 he assembled a band called the Echo Valley Boys. After a year of performing in West Virginia Sovine moved to Shreveport, LA, where the Bailes Brothers were performing on KWKH. Sovine's own early morning show snared few listeners, but among his stagemates on the station's Louisiana Hayride show was Hank Williams, who steered Sovine toward a better time slot at WFSA in Montgomery, AL, and toward a contract with MGM Records in 1949. Over the next four years he recorded 28 singles, mostly following in Williams' honky tonk footsteps, that didn't make much of a dent on the charts but did establish him as a solid performer.

Sovine continued to perform on the Hayride and made another valuable friend in fellow performer Webb Pierce, who in the early '50s was just at the beginning of a long string of Top Ten country hits. Pierce convinced Sovine to lead his Wondering Boys band and helped him along toward a contract with Decca in 1954. The following year Sovine cut a duet with Goldie Hill, "Are You Mine?," which peaked in the Top 15, and in 1956 he had his first number one hit when he duetted with Pierce on a cover of George Jones' "Why Baby Why." Sovine had two other Top Five singles that year and joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry. After recording close to 50 sides with Decca by 1959, Sovine signed to Starday and began touring the club circuit as a solo act. In Montana in 1963 Sovine passed on the helping hand given him by older performers when he heard the singing of African-American minor-league baseball player Charley Pride and suggested that he move to Nashville. Sovine opened doors for Pride at Pierce's Cedarwood publishing house, but his own career hit a lull. "Dream House for Sale," which reached number 22 in 1964, came nearly eight years after his last hit.

The genre of the spoken word truck driving song dated back to the late '40s, and Starday featured several specialists on its own roster, but it took several albums before Sovine's emotive baritone voice was paired with trucker material. In 1965, Sovine at last found his niche when he recorded "Giddy-Up Go," which, like most of his other trucker hits, was co-written (with Tommy Hill) by Sovine himself. That story of a father-son truck-stop reunion spent six weeks atop the country charts and even crossed over to become a minor pop hit. Subsequent truck driving hits included the ghost story "Phantom 309" and a tearjerker tale of a disabled child's CB-radio relationship with caring truckers, "Teddy Bear." The last-named song became Sovine's biggest hit since "Giddy-Up Go," spending three weeks at the top of the country charts in 1976 and reaching number 40 on the pop charts. Sovine followed up "Teddy Bear" with "Little Joe," a tale of a blinded trucker and his devoted canine friend which became his last big hit. Sovine died in 1980 after suffering a heart attack while driving his van. - JAMES MANHEIM, ALL MUSIC GUIDE.

Red Sovine Bio