ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Eddy Arnold

(May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008)

Career Highlights

No. 1 Country Music Artist (1944 - 1993)

Grand Ole Opry Member 1940

Banmd Name: Tennessee Plowboys

Barn Dance Affiliate

• Louisiana Hayride
• Ozark Jubilee (1955-1960)

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

• The Eddy Arnold Show, 4
• WTJS (Jackson, Tennessee), 3
• KWK (St Louis, Missouri), 3
• WMPS (Memphis, Tennessee), 3
• WHAS (Louisville, Kentucky), 3
• WSM (Nashville, Tennessee) 
• Ernest Tubb’s  Midnight Jamboree, 3
• The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, 4
• The Johnny cash Show, 4
• The Porter Wagoner Show, 4
• The Wilburn Brothers Show, 4
• Pop Goes the Country, 4
• Nashville Now, 4
• Hee Haw, 4 

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV 

Billboard Chart Data

• No. 1 Singles: 28
• Top-10 Singles: 92
• Crossover Singles: 37
• Charted Singles: 145
• Chart Years Active (1945-1983)

Awards

Country Music Association

• Entertainer of the Year (1967)
• Country Music Hall of Fame (1966)

Academy of Country Music

• Pioneer Award (1983) 

Career Labels

• RCA Records (1945-1972)
• MGM Records (1973-1975
• RCA Records (1976-1983) 

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1. Each Minute Seems a Million Years -1945
2. All Alone In This World Without You -1946
3. That's How Much I Love You
4. Chained to a Memory
5. What Is Life Without Love* -1947
6. It's A Sin*
7. I Couldn't Believe It Was True
8. I'll Hold You In My Heart*#
9. To My Sorrow
10. Molly Darling -1948
11. Anytime*
12. What a Fool I Was
13. Bouquet of Roses*@
14. Texarkana Baby*
15. Just a Little Lovin'*
16. My daddy Is Only a Picture
17. A Heart Full of Love*
18. Then I Turned and Walked Slowly Away
19. Many Years Ago -1949
20. There's Not a Thing I Wouldn't Do For Tou
21. Don't Rob Another Man's Castle*
22. One Kiss Too many*
23. The Echo of Your Footsteps
24. I'm Throwing Rice*
25. Show Me the Way Back to Your Heart
26. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
27. Will Santa Come to Shanty Town
28. There's No Wings On My Angel
29. Take Me In Your Arms and Hold Me*
30. Mommy and Daddy Broke My Heart -1950
31. Little Angel With the Dirty Face
32. Why Should I Cry
33. Cuddle Buggin' Baby
34. Enclosed, One Broken Heart
35. The Love Bug Itch
36. A Prison Without Walls
37. There's Been a Change in Me* -1951
38. May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You
39. Kentucky Waltz*
40. I Wanna Play House With You*
41. Something Old, Something New
42. Somebody's Been Beating My Time
43. Heart Strings
44. Bundle of Southern Sunshine -1952
45. Call Her Your Sweetheart
46. Easy On the Eyes*
47. A Full Time Job*
48. Older and Bolder
49. I'd Trade All of My Tommorrows
50. Eddy's Song* -1953
51. Free Home Demonstration
52. How's the World Treating You
53. Mama, Come Get Your Baby Boy
54. I Really Don't Want To Know* -1954
55. My Everything
56. Hep Cat Babby
57. This Is the Thanks I Get (For Loving You)
58. I've Been Thinking -1955
59. In Time
60. Two Kinds of Love
61. The cattle Call*
62. The Kentucian Song
63. That Do Make It Nice*
64. Just call Me Lonesome
65. The Richest Man (In the World)
66. I Walked Alone Last Night
67. Trouble In Mind -1956
68. You Don't Know Me
69. Tennessee Stud -1959
70. Tears Broke Out On Me -1962
71. A Little Heartache
72. After Loving You
73. Does He Mean That Much to You
74. Molly -1964
75. I Thank My Lucky Stars
76. What's He Doing In My World*
77. Make the World Go Away*
78. I Want to Go With You* -1966
79. The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me
80. Tip of My Fingers
81. Somebody Like Me*
82. Lonely Again* -1967
83. Misty Blue
84. Turn the World Around*
85. Here Comes Heaven
86. Here Comes the Rain, Baby -1968
87. It's Over
88. Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye*
89. They Don't Make Love Like They Used to
90. Please Don't Go -1969
91. Let's Get It While the Gitting's Good -1980
92. That's What I Get For Loving You 

*No. 1 Single

#2nd Biggest Chart Song (1944-1993)

@6th Biggest Chart Song (1944-1993)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bouquet of Roses: The Eddy Arnold Story

Eddy Arnold, the gentleman crooner, took country music uptown and sold more than 85 million recordings over seven decades. From his debonair attire to the savvy with which he adapted his sound to popular trends, Arnold personified the evolution of country music in the years after World War II from a rural vernacular to an idiom with broad mainstream appeal. Eddy Arnold was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Eddy Arnold was born in Henderson, Tennessee (TN). During his childhood, he suffered through the death of his father and the loss of the family farm. When he turned eighteen, he left home to try to make his mark in the music world. In 1934, Arnold debuted musically on WTJS-AM in Jackson, Tennessee and obtained a job there during 1937.

Eddy performed at local nightclubs and was a permanent performer for the station. During 1938, he was hired by WMPS-AM in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was one of its most popular performers. Arnold soon quit for KWK-AM (St. Louis, Missouri), followed by a brief stint at WHAS-AM in Louisville, Kentucky.

Arnold was signed by RCA. In 1944 and he cut his first record that fall. Although most of his early records sold well, his initial big hit did not come until 1946 with the release of That's How Much I Love You (No. 2, 1946). Managed by Colonel Tom Parker, who later went on to spearhead the career of Elvis, Eddy began to dominate country music. In 1947-48 he had thirteen top-20 Billboard songs. Arnold’s early peak of popularity was from 1945 to 1954, during which he had 57 consecutive singles in the Billboard country top-10. Nineteen of those hits reached No. 1.

Arnold made his early recordings, on which he not only sang but also played guitar, in New York and Chicago under the supervision of Steve Sholes, who led the country and R&B divisions of RCA. He later recorded in Nashville, working with, among others, the guitarist Chet Atkins as his producer.

Arnold began working for television during the early 1950s, hosting The Eddy Arnold Show. The summer program was broadcasted successively by all three television networks. Eddy also performed as a guest and a guest host on the ABC-TV show Ozark Jubilee from 1955 ~ 60.

In 1955 Eddy Arnold traveled to New York to record with the Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra. The pop oriented arrangements of Cattle Call and The Richest Man (In the World) helped to expand Eddy Arnold's appeal. With the advent of rock and roll, Arnold's record sales dipped in the late 1950's.

Eddy continued to try to court a wider audience by using pop-sounding, string-laced arrangements. After Jerry Purcell became his manager in 1964, Arnold embarked on a second career that equaled the success of the first one. In the process Arnold focused on presenting his music to a more diverse audience. Make The World Go Away was just another song until it received the Arnold touch.

Under the direction of producer Chet Atkins, showcased by Bill Walker's arrangement, the backing of the Anita Kerr Singers and pianist Floyd Cramer, Arnold's soaring rendition of the song became an international hit.

Bill Walker's precise, intricate arrangements of the Nashville sound musicians provided the lush background for 16 straight Arnold hits that aired through the late 1960's. Eddy started performing with symphony orchestras in virtually every major city. New Yorkers jammed prestigious Carnegie Hall. Arnold captivated the Hollywood crowd at the Coconut Grove. Eddy also often sold-out engagements in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.

Arnold was fortunate to be associated with some of the industry’s finest musicians. The distinctive steel guitar of the late Roy Wiggins highlighted his early recordings. Charles Grean, once employed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, played bass and wrote early arrangements, adding violins for the first time in 1956. Chet Atkins played on many Eddy Arnold records, even after he started serving as producer. Arnold benefited from the management of Colonel Parker, who guided his first career and Jerry Purcell, who masterminded the second.

Steve Sholes, who produced all of Eddy Arnold's early hits, called Arnold a natural singer, comparing him to the likes of Bing Crosby.  Having been with RCA Records since his debut during 1944, Arnold left the label during the mid-1970s for MGM Records, for which he recorded several albums. Arnold returned to RCA Records during 1976.

Eddy Arnold was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966 and won the Country Music Association’s first Entertainer of the Year award the next year. Eddy is also a recipient of the Pioneer Award.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, written and compiled by: Richard Bell, Country Music Historian, Roots of Country Music, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. May, 2011