ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Red Foley

(Jun. 17, 1910 ~ Sep. 19, 1968)

Career Highlights

No. 26 Country Music Artist (1944 - 1993)

Barn Dance Affiliate:

• WLS National Barn Dance (1930-1937)
• Renfro Valley Show (1937-1939)
• Ozark Jubilee (1954-1960)

Grand Ole Opry Member (1946-1954)

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

• Ed Sullivan Show, 4
• Ernest Tubb’s  Midnight Jamboree, 3
• Mr. Smith Goes to washington, 4
• The Wilburn Brothers Show, 4

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV 

Billboard Chart Data 

• No. 1 Singles: 10
• Top-10 Singles: 56
• Crossover Singles: 11
• Charted Singles: 65
• Years Active: (1944-1969)

Awards

Country Music Association

• Country Music Hall of fame -1967

Career Label:

• Decca Records -1944-1969

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1. Smoke on the Water -1944*AC
2. There's a Blue Star Shining Bright (In a Window Tonight)
3. Hang Your Head in Shame -1945
4. I'll Never Let You Worry My Mind
5. Shame on You*C
6. At Mail Call Today
7. Harriet, 1-1946
8. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, 1
9. That's How Much I Love You, 2 -1947
10. New Jolie Blonde (New Pretty Blonde)*2
11. Freight Train Boogie, 2
12. Never Trust a Woman, 2
13. Tennessee saturday Night*2-1848
14. Candy Kisses -1949
15. Tennessee Border
16. Tennessee Polka
17. Two Cents, Three Eggs and a Postcard
18. Sunday Down In Tennessee
19. Tennessee Border No. 2, 3
20. Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age, 3
21. I Gotta Have My Baby Back -1950
22. Careless Kisses
23. Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy*#BC
24. Sugarfoot Rag, C
25. Steal Away
26. Birmingham Bounce*C
27. Choc'late Ice Cream Cone, 4 -1
28. Mississippi*4C
29. Just a Closer Walk with Thee, 5
30. Goodnight Irene*3C
31. Hillbilly Fever No. 2, 3
32. Cincinnati Dancing Pig, C
33. Our Lady of Fatima, C
34. My Heart Cries for You, 5C -1951
35. Hot Rod Race
36. Hobo Boogie
37. The Strange Little Girl, 3
38. There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me), 6
39. Alabama Jubilee, C
40. Too Old to Cut the Mustard, 3 -1952
41. Milk Bucket Boogie
42. Salty Dog Rag
43. Midnight*
44. Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes -1953
45. Hot Toddy
46. No Help Wanted #2, 3
47. Slaves of a Hopeless Love Affair
48. Shake a Hand
49. As Far as I'm Concerned, 7 -1954
50. Jilted
51. One by One* 8
52. Hearts of Stone -1955
53. As Long as I Live, 8
54. Make Believe ('Til We Can Make It Come True) 8
55. A satisfied Mind, 7
56. You and Me, 8 -1956

A-2nd Biggest Chart Single in 1944

B-2nd Biggest Chart Single in 1950

C-Crossover Chart Single 

*-No. 1 Chart Single

#-Biggest Chart Single 

1-With Roy Ross & His Ramblers

2-With the Cumberland ValleyBoys 

3-With Ernest Tubb

4-With the Dixie Dons 

5-With the Evelyn Knight

6-With the Sunshine Boys Quartet

7-With Betty Foley

8-With Kitty Wells 

Listen to Sugarfoot Rag

Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy: The Red Foley Story 

The son of a fiddle player, Red Foley learned guitar as a child and was given parental encouragement to sing. After high school, he attended Georgetown College, Kentucky, where he was discovered by a scout for the noted WLS 'National Barn Dance' in Chicago, Illinois (IL).

In 1930, he joined John Lair's Cumberland Ridge Runners and returned to Kentucky (KY) with Lair in 1937, to help him establish the now famous Renfro Valley Barn Dance. Red Foley returned to Chicago, IL  in 1941, co-starred with Red Skelton in the network country radio show 'Avalon Time' and signed with Decca.

The first number he recorded was Old Shep, a song he had written in 1933, about a dog he had owned as a child. (Actually the dog, sadly poisoned by a neighbour, had been a German Shepherd named Hoover.) The song, later recorded by many artists including Hank Snow and Elvis Presley, has become a country classic.

Foley's first chart success came in 1944, when the patriotic wartime song Smoke On The Water was occupant of the number 1 chart position on the country charts. On 17 January 1945, Foley had the distinction to make the first modern country records recorded in Nashville.

In April 1946, Foley became a regular member of the Grand Ole Opry, replacing Roy Acuff as the star of NBC's prestigious Prince Albert Show. When Red Foley left Chicago, IL for Nashville, TN he took with him a young guitar player called Chet Atkins, one of the many artists he helped. 

During the next eight years Foley established himself as one of the most respected and versatile performers in country music. He acted as master of ceremonies, the straight man for Opry comedians Rod Brasfield and Minnie Pearl, and proved himself a vocalist who could handle all types of material.

In 1954, Foley moved to KWTO Springfield, Missouri (MO) as the host of the 'Ozark Jubilee', which, in 1956, became one of the first successful network television shows.

Between 1944-59, Foley charted 41 solo country entries of which 38 were top-10 hits. There were six more country number 1 hits, including his 1950, million-selling Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy, which also topped the pop charts. Several others achieved cross-over pop chart success.

During this time he also had many major hit duets with various artists including Evelyn Knight, his daughter Betty Foley, Ernest Tubb  and six with Kitty Wells, including country number 1, One By One, which remained charted for 41 weeks.

Foley and Tubb recorded several collaborative albums which spawned the singles; Tennessee Border No. 2 (No. 2, 1949), Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age (No. 7, 1950), Goodnight Irene (No. 1, 1950), Hillbilly Fever No. 2 (No. 9, 1950), The Strange Little Girl (No. 9, 1951), Too Old to Cut the Mustard (No. 5, 1952) and No Help Wanted #2 (No. 7, 1953).

His performances of gospel numbers were so popular that recordings of Steal Away (1950) (recorded by Hank Williams as The Funeral), Just A Closer Walk With Thee (1950) and Peace In The Valley (1951) all became million-sellers. Foley also recorded with the Andrews Sisters and in the late '50s, even cut some rock 'n' roll recordings such as Crazy Little Guitar Man.

Although Foley continued to tour and appear on network television shows, he also moved into acting in the early '60s and co-starred with Fess Parker in the ABC-TV series Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. His daughter, Shirley, married one-time pop and later gospel singer Pat Boone and some ten years after Foley's death his granddaughter, Debby Boone, had both country and pop success.

Foley never lost his love for country music and, unlike Eddy Arnold, never sought success as a pop artist, even though many of his recordings did attain pop chart status. His voice was mellow and had none of the raw or nasal style associated with many of his contemporaries, some have even likened it to Bing Crosby.

Foley's importance to the country music scene is often overlooked and little has been written about him but he was rightfully elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967.

A great friend of Hank Williams Sr., he was ironically headlining a touring Opry show that included the young Hank Williams, Jr., when, after playing the matinee and evening shows, Foley suffered a heart attack and died in his sleep at Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA on 19 September 1968. This prompted Hank Jr., seemingly the last person to speak to him, to write and record, as Luke The Drifter, Jr., the tribute narration I Was With Red Foley (The Night He Passed Away), which charted for him in November 1968.

In the song, Hank Jr. relates, that after reminiscing about the problems faced by a country singer, such as himself and Hank Sr., Red's final words were 'I'm awful tired now, Hank, I've got to go to bed'.

Researched, written and compiled by Richard Bell. Roots of Country Music. Nov. 15, 2011.