Thursday, May 30, 2002 7:37:05 AM
Rock 'n' Roll Artists A-Z...Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer was born on October 27th 1933 in Shreveport, Los Angeles. The self-taught Cramer helped develop the "Nashville Sound" that carried country music to a wider audience and had the nation's most popular singers demanding his presence in the recording studio and on the bandstand. There were a lot of artists who would not record unless he was the pianist. Besides recording with Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline, Cramer played for Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves, The Everly Brothers and many other artists.
They wanted Cramer because of his distinctive fingering style that featured "bent" or "slip notes" where one note blended with the next, making the melody shine in a different way than when played by more percussive pianists. He had a flow to his piano playing. He was very interested in the rythym of the song, and he wanted the melody to be heard distinctly. Not surprisingly, (the slip note style) spread very quickly because it made listening, especially on romantic ballads, very palatable. Cramer recorded some 50 albums, many with his own songs that included such hits as "Lovin' Season", "Last Date," and "The Young and the Restless."
He won a Grammy Award in 1979 for best country instrumental for the song, "My Blue Eyes." Cramer taught himself to play piano while growing up in Huttig, Ark., which he left after graduating from high school to join the "Louisiana Hay Ride" radio program in Shreveport, La. There he played with the young Presley, Hank Williams Sr., and others. In 1955, he moved to the country music capital of Nashville and funded college music scholarships for around 200 students at East Tennesee State University. He never felt that the piano should be the outstanding instrument in the band. He didn't bang the piano. He had that style that blended.
Cramer, who had been diagnosed with cancer, died at the age of 64 and died at his home in Nashville on January 19th '98. Cramer leaves his longtime wife Mary and two daughters.
The hits in the Billboard Hot 100 :
record---------------------position--weeks----year
Flip flop and bop..............87...2 weeks...1958
Last date.......................2...20 weeks..1960
On the rebound..................4...13 weeks..1961
San Antonio Rose................8...12 weeks..1961
Your last goodbye..............63...7 weeks...1961
Hang on........................95...2 weeks...1961
Chattanooga choo choo..........36...8 weeks...1962
Let's go.......................90...2 weeks...1962
Lovesick blues.................87...3 weeks...1962
Hot pepper.....................63...4 weeks...1962
Java...........................49...11 weeks..1962
All hits of Floyd Cramer were produced by Chet Atkins
]
Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
Floyd Cramer was born on October 27th 1933 in Shreveport, Los Angeles. The self-taught Cramer helped develop the "Nashville Sound" that carried country music to a wider audience and had the nation's most popular singers demanding his presence in the recording studio and on the bandstand. There were a lot of artists who would not record unless he was the pianist. Besides recording with Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline, Cramer played for Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves, The Everly Brothers and many other artists.
They wanted Cramer because of his distinctive fingering style that featured "bent" or "slip notes" where one note blended with the next, making the melody shine in a different way than when played by more percussive pianists. He had a flow to his piano playing. He was very interested in the rythym of the song, and he wanted the melody to be heard distinctly. Not surprisingly, (the slip note style) spread very quickly because it made listening, especially on romantic ballads, very palatable. Cramer recorded some 50 albums, many with his own songs that included such hits as "Lovin' Season", "Last Date," and "The Young and the Restless."
He won a Grammy Award in 1979 for best country instrumental for the song, "My Blue Eyes." Cramer taught himself to play piano while growing up in Huttig, Ark., which he left after graduating from high school to join the "Louisiana Hay Ride" radio program in Shreveport, La. There he played with the young Presley, Hank Williams Sr., and others. In 1955, he moved to the country music capital of Nashville and funded college music scholarships for around 200 students at East Tennesee State University. He never felt that the piano should be the outstanding instrument in the band. He didn't bang the piano. He had that style that blended.
Cramer, who had been diagnosed with cancer, died at the age of 64 and died at his home in Nashville on January 19th '98. Cramer leaves his longtime wife Mary and two daughters.
The hits in the Billboard Hot 100 :
record---------------------position--weeks----year
Flip flop and bop..............87...2 weeks...1958
Last date.......................2...20 weeks..1960
On the rebound..................4...13 weeks..1961
San Antonio Rose................8...12 weeks..1961
Your last goodbye..............63...7 weeks...1961
Hang on........................95...2 weeks...1961
Chattanooga choo choo..........36...8 weeks...1962
Let's go.......................90...2 weeks...1962
Lovesick blues.................87...3 weeks...1962
Hot pepper.....................63...4 weeks...1962
Java...........................49...11 weeks..1962
All hits of Floyd Cramer were produced by Chet Atkins
] Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
