ROOTS of Country Music

 The Professional Work of Don Gibson 

(Apr. 3, 1928 – Nov. 17, 2003)

Career Highlights 

Grand Ole Opry Member -1958 

Barn Dance Affiliate

• Louisiana Hayride,
• WWVA Wheeling Jamboree

Radio, Film & TV

• WNOX Tennessee Barn Dance
• WWVA Wheeling Jamboree
• WGNC  Gastonia, North Carolina
• WOHS Shelby, North Carolina

Billboard Chart Data

• No. 1 Singles: 3
• Top-10 Singles: 23
• Crossover Singles: 4
• Charted Singles: 82
• Years Active: 1956 - 1980 

Awards

 Country Music Association

• Country Music Hall of Fame (2001)

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1973) 

Career Labels

• RCA Records (1956-1969)
• Hickory Records (1969-1976)
• ABC/Hickory (1976-1978_
• MCA Records -1979
• Warner/Curb -1980 

Billboard Top-10 Singles 

1. Sweet Dreams -1956
2. Oh Lonesome Me*1# -1958
3. 4. I Can't Stop Loving You
4. Blue, Blue Day*
5. Give Myself A Party
6. Look Who's Blue
7. Who Cares -1959
8. Don't Tell Me Your Troubles
9. Just One Time -1960
10. Sweet Dreams
11. Sea of Heartbreak
12. Lonesome Number One
13. I Can Mend a Broken Heart -1962
14. Watch Where You Are Going -1965
15. (Yes) I'm Hurting -1966
16. Funny, Familiar, Forgotten, Feelings
17. Rings of Gold -1969, 2
18. There's aq Story (Going Round)
19. Country Green -1971
20. Woman, (Sensuous Woman)* -1972
21. Touch the Morning -1973
22. One Day At a Time -1974
23. Bring Back Your Love to Me

*No. 1 Single

#3rd Biggest Single in Country Music -1958

1Biggest Single

2With Dottie West

Duet With Sue Thompson

• The Two of Us Together -1971 

 The Professional Work of Don Gibson  

Don Gibson wasn't a household name outside of country music circles, but three of his songs, are instantly recognized by fans and musicians all across the globe. Throughout his career, Don composed nearly one-hundred-fifty songs. His best known compositions, Sweet Dreams and I Can't Stop Loving You, are two of the most recorded songs.

Don was a prolific songwriter and singer, who gave country music a boost when it was being threatened by the onslaught of rockabilly and rock ‘n roll during the late-50s and early-60s.

Don Gibson was born on April 3, 1928 in Shelby, North Carolina (NC). He dropped out of school in the second grade and took up musical instruments as a youngster. During his mid-teens, Gibson's playing, advanced to the point where he was approached by Ned Costner, a fiddle player, who teamed up with him at Costner's home. The informal duo soon became a trio with the addition of Curly Sisk also on guitar.

They called the trio the Sons of the Soil, with Gibson playing a washtub bass. In 1948, they were hired to perform on WOHS, the local radio station. Soon thereafter, Gibson as singer became the focal point of a new band put together by the station's program director, Milton Scarborough. They were christened the Hi-Lighters, with Billy Roberts (trumpet), Gibson and Sisk, Scarborough and Doc Whitmire (accordions), and Jim Barber (fiddle).

In 1949, a radio salesman visited the station and heard the Hi-Lighters. He was impressed with the group and he convinced Mercury Records producer Murray Nash to audition them. The initial session generated, Automatic Mama, I Love My Love, Cloudy Skies and Why Am I Lonely. All four sides were issued by Mercury, credited to the Sons of the Soil. The group didn’t progress much beyond that and later in 1949, Sisk and Barber left the lineup for a spot in the live stage show of cowboy actor Lash LaRue.

Gibson was idle for a while, until a chance at a contract with RCA Victor opened up in 1950. He put together a new group called the King Cotton Kinfolks. They recorded a demo for RCA executive, Steve Sholes at a Charlotte, NC, radio station in October that year. None of the releases from Gibson's first stay on RCA sold well enough to justify further investment.

In 1952, Gibson got a new recording contract, this time with Columbia Records through producer Don Law. The dozen songs that he recorded over the two years he was with the label showed impressive potential for Don, as a singer. The turning point for Gibson came after the end of his Columbia contract.

Don was without a record label, but still performing regularly and he started to concentrate on writing. In 1955, he began to compose songs in earnest and one of his originals, Sweet Dreams, especially impressed a friend of Gibson's named Mel Foree, who worked for Acuff-Rose publishers. Mel arranged for Wesley Rose, a partner in the company, to listen to Gibson perform the song.

Wesley offered Gibson a writing contract, which he accepted, but with the stipulation that included an opportunity to record. Rose agreed, and Acuff-Rose secured him a contract with MGM Records.

During the recording session, Don chose his own song, Sweet Dreams, which became his debut chart single that year (No 9, 8/1956). The debut single for the label was covered by Faron Young a few months earlier (No. 3, 6/1956).

Following the success of Sweet Dreams, Gibson was signed to RCA Victor again (1957) by Chet Atkins, who would become his producer for the next few years. Released early in 1958, Gibson's first RCA single, Oh Lonesome Me (No. 1, 1958), was a blockbuster. That same year, he realized a long-held dream when he made his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry.

Gibson and Atkins developed a pop-friendly style featuring rock & roll flourishes that brought him to a larger audience. His singing, which was unique in range and expressiveness, was closely matched by his guitar playing, which stood out even on recordings featuring the likes of Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland.

After this, Don’s hits started charting at a steady pace. In the period from 1958-1961, Gibson had a total of 11 top-ten singles, including I Can't Stop Lovin' You, Blue Blue Day, Who Cares, Don't Tell Me Your Troubles, Just One Time, Sea of Heartbreak, and Lonesome Number One and I Can't Stop Lovin' You. Successful as Gibson was as a recording artist, he was even more influential as a composer. 

Gibson also wrote such songs, Blue, Blue Day, I'll Be A Legend In My Time, Too Soon To Know, Country Green, Who Cares For Me, Sea Of Heartbreak, One Day at a Time, Don't Tell Me Your Troubles, Give Myself a Party, Just One Time, Lonesome Number One and Wasted Words.

Although his career wasn't as successful in the latter half of the '60s, Don continued to chart top-twenty singles, including "(Yes) I'm Hurting" (1966), "Funny, Familiar, Forgotten, Feelings" (1966), "Rings of Gold" (1969), and "There's a Story (Goin' Round)" (1969).

During the late '60s, he suffered from chemical addiction, but he cleaned up in the early '70s, launched a comeback in 1971. Switching record labels from RCA to Hickory Gibson returned to the top-ten with Country Green (No. , 1972). Don had his last number one single, Woman (Sensuous Woman) (No. 1, 1972).

Gibson rejoined the Grand Ole Opry in 1975 and continued to tour and perform at the Opry. After two top-ten hits in 1974, One Day at a Time" and "Bring Back Your Love to Me, he settled into a string of minor hits that ran until 1980's.

Gibson recorded a series of successful duets with Dottie West in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the most successful of which were the Number two country hit "Rings of Gold" (1969) and the top 10 hit "There's a Story Goin' Round" (1970). He also recorded several duets with Sue Thompson among these being the Top 40 hits, "I Think They Call It Love" (1972), "Good Old Fashioned Country Love" (1974) and "Oh, How Love Changes" (1975).

Don Gibson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973, an honor he shares with the likes of Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffet and Johnny Cash. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Though Don passed away in 2003, he left behind a truly exceptional body of work, work that without the slightest exaggeration has touched the hearts of millions.

Following his death in 2003, he was buried in the Sunset Cemetery in his hometown of Shelby, North Carolina.

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Researched, written and compiled by Richard Bell, Country Music Historian, Roots of Country Music, Aug. 3, 2009.

Don Gibson

Maria Elena

Woman, (Sensuous Woman)