ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Bill Anderson

(born Nov. 1, 1937)

Career Highlights

No. 24 Country Music Artist (1944 - 1993)

Barn Dance Affiliate: Louisiana Hayride

Grand Ole Opry Member 1961

Stage Name: Whispering Bill Anderson

Band Name: The Po' Boys 

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV 

• Ernest Tubb’s  Midnight Jamboree, 3
• Family Reunion, 4
• Fandango, 4
• Forty Acre Farm, 1
• Gilley’s Club, 2
• Hee Haw, 4
• Las Vegas Hillbillies, 1
• One Life to Live, 4
• Opry Back Stage, 4
• Nashville Now, 4
• Pop Goes the Country, 4
• Road to Nashville, 1
• The Better Sex, 4
• The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, 4
• The Johnny cash Show, 4
• The Nashville Network, 4
• The Porter Wagoner Show, 4
• The Wilburn Brothers Show, 4

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV

Billboard Chart Data 

• No. 1 Singles: 7
• Top-10 Singles: 36
• Crossover Singles: 1
• Charted Singles: 80
• Years Active: (1958-1981)

Awards

Country Music Association

Song of the Year (2007) Give It Away

Country Music Hall of Fame 2001

Vocal Event (Too Country)

Career Labels

• Decca Records (1958-1972)
• Decca/MCA Records (1972-1981)

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1.  The Tip Of My Fingers -1960
2. Walk Out Backwards
3. Po' Folks -1961
4.  Mama Sang A Song*# -1962
5. Still*@ -1963
6. 8x10
7. Five Little Fingers'
8. Me -1964
9. Three A.M.
10. I Love You Drops -1966
11. I Get the Fever*
12. Get While the Gettin's Good -1967
13. No One's Gonna Hurt You Anymore -1967
14. For Loving You*1
15. Wild Week-End -1968
16. Happy State of Mind
17. My Life (Throw It Away If I Want To)* -1969
18. But You Know I Love You
19. If It's All the Same To You,1
20. Someday We'll Be Together, 1-1970
21. Love Is a Sometimes Thing
22. Where have All Our Hereo's Gone
23. Always Remember -1971
24. Dis-Satisfied, 1
25. Quits
26. All the Lonely Women In the World -1972
27. Don't She Look Good
28. If You Can Live With It (I Can Live..1973
29. The Corner Of My Life
30. World Of Make Believe*
31. Everytime I Turn On the Radio -1974
32. Sometimes*2 -1975
33. That's What Made Me Love You
34. Peanuts and Diamonds
35. Liars One, Believers Zero
36. Head to Toe -1977

*No. 1 Single

#Biggest Chart Single

@Crossover Single

1With Jan Howard

2With Mary Lou Turner

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bill Anderson, is a country music singer, songwriter and television personality. He has released more than 40 studio albums and has reached No. 1 on the country charts seven times. Twenty-nine more of his singles have reached the top-10.

One of the most successful songwriters in country music history, Anderson is also a popular singer, earning the nickname "Whisperin' Bill" for his soft vocal style and occasional spoken narrations. Artists who have recorded his material include Ray Price (City Lights), Connie Smith (Once a Day), Lynn Anderson, Jim Reeves, Kenny Chesney and George Strait.

Although Anderson was born in Columbia, South Carolina, he was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Bill studied journalism at the University of Georgia with an eye toward sports writing and worked his way through school as a radio DJ, when he first tried songwriting and singing.

Anderson earned a degree in journalism from the university's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and landed a job at the Atlanta Constitution. He also became a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

Before signing to Decca, Anderson recorded for the small TNT label between 1957 and 1958, where he released three singles that failed to hit the country charts, including a version of City Lights. After signing with Decca in 1958, he left TNT.

Signed to Decca, Anderson recorded his first session for the label in August 1958 and joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1961. His first chart hit came in 1958 with That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome" and he had his first top-10 entry in 1960 with Tip of My Fingers, followed by Walk Out Backwards and Po' Folks.

Anderson  helped discover Connie Smith and wrote her number one breakthrough, Once a Day (1964). Others scoring substantial hits with Anderson tunes include Ray Price, Jim Reeves, Roger Miller, Hank Locklin, Kitty Wells, Porter Wagoner and Cal Smith.

Bill's songs injected new life into the careers of Lefty Frizzell (Saginaw, Michigan), Charlie Louvin (I Don’t Love You Anymore) and Jean Shepard (Slippin’ Away). His Tip of My Fingers made the top-10 for himself (1960), Roy Clark (1963), Eddy Arnold (1966) and Steve Wariner (1992). Revivals of Anderson songs worked for Mickey Gilley (City Lights, No. 1, 1974) and Conway Twitty (I May Never Get to Heaven, No. 1, 1979).

Toward the end of the '60s, Anderson recorded several duets with fellow Opry member Jan Howard. In the 1970s, he notched 18 more top-10 hits, including two more No. 1 singles. Bill spent the 1980s as a personality on The Nashville Network, as well as the Grand Ole Opry.

Pictured to the left Bill Anderson & Jan Howard

Anderson published his autobiography in 1989 and a book of anecdotes in 1993. In 1995, Vince Gill released a song written with Anderson, Which Bridge to Cross, Which Bridge to Burn.

Anderson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. That same year, he won his first CMA award, for Vocal Event (Too Country), with Brad Paisley, Buck Owens and George Jones. In addition to singing on the record, Anderson also co-wrote the song.

July 15, 2006, marked Anderson's 45th year as a member of the Opry. He also hosts a show on Sirius XM radio entitled Bill Anderson Visits with the Legends where he interviews various country music legends.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, written and compiled by Richard Bell. Roots of Country Music. Oct., 27, 2011.