Ernest Tubb

小簡介
大樂隊時代藝人排名第132位的是鄉(xiāng)村歌手Ernest Tubb，自1944年至1950年工有上榜曲8首。塔勃出生于靠近德州Crisp的一個棉花莊園內（如今為德州Ellis的一座廢都）。 他父親是一名佃農，故此他年青時代一直在全國各地農場工作。 受了Jimmy Rodgers的影響，他業(yè)余學習演唱，yodel，彈奏吉他。 十九歲時，他在圣安東尼奧的一家廣播電臺任職歌手。 工酬很低，所以他還為工程進度管理署挖溝、為一家藥房出納。 1939年他移居德州圣安吉洛，被KGKL廣播電臺雇用，出演15分鐘的下午現場秀，同時還駕駛啤酒送貨卡車維持生計。第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，他寫作并錄制了一首名為《Beautiful San Angelo》的歌曲。他和著名鄉(xiāng)村歌手Dan Seals的父親是好朋友。
　　1936年他聯系Jimmie Rodgesr的未亡人（Rodgers 1933年逝世）索取簽名照片，就此展開了友誼，她從中接線，令Tubb獲得和RCA唱片公司的一紙錄音合同。 他的頭兩張唱片并不成功，1939年切除了扁桃體，令他的演唱產生了變化，于是他改攻作曲。1940年，他轉投Decca唱片公司再次試圖演唱，Decca為他出的第六張唱片《Walking the Floor Over You》終于令他一曲成名。
　　Tubb1943年2月加入了the Grand Ole Opry，組成了自己的樂隊‘The Texas Troubadours’。40年來他們一直是廣播節(jié)目的?？?，之后還主持了Midnight Jamboree節(jié)目。1947年Tubb在紐約卡內基音樂廳首演了Grand Ole Opry的節(jié)目引起轟動，1965年被列入鄉(xiāng)村音樂名人堂，1970年被列入納什維爾作曲家名人堂。
　　在Tubb周圍，總圍繞了一批納什維爾最棒的音樂人。 他the Troubadours樂隊的第一任吉他手Jimmy Short的單弦彈撥成為Tubb樂隊的聲線特點。大約自1943年到1948年，Short在所有Tubb的歌曲中，不斷演出干凈利落的即興重復段。其他隨團巡演或進行錄音成員中的知名音樂人，還有出色的金屬弦吉他手Jerry Byrd，1947年頂替Short吉他領奏的Tommy “Butterball” Paige，1949年，Tubb的那位超強吉他手Billy Byrd加入了the Troubadours陣營，他在器樂中穿插著爵士式的即興重復段，特別在他獨奏結束前的4個音符，幾乎成了Tubb歌曲的特點。這位名副其實的爵士樂手，和Tubb一直合作到1949年。
　　值得一提的，還有Tubb的制作人Owen Bradley，他在錄音棚的建樹，值得在納什維爾為之豎立雕像。自1950年代開始，他在許多Tubb的曲目中彈奏鋼琴，不過Tubb想讓他彈成那個時代偉大的小酒館鋼琴手Moon Mullican的風格，經過專業(yè)訓練的Bradley嘗試后，發(fā)現不能完全符合那種聲音。惹得Tubb稱Bradley只能算是半個‘Moon’。 所以在某些鋼琴間奏Tubb嚷出Bradley的名字時，歌手總會調侃他為‘半-Moon的Bradley’。
　　在1960年代，Tubb以有史以來鄉(xiāng)村音樂最佳樂隊之一而負盛名。樂隊成員‘閃電手指Leon Rhodes’后來成為電視節(jié)目‘Hee Haw’樂隊中的吉他手。另一名金屬弦吉他巨人Buddy Emmons，約在1958年開始和Tubb合作，一直到1960年代初。 Emmons后來以自己的姓名為品牌，創(chuàng)建了一家金屬弦吉他制造公司。
　　Ernest Tubb從來未曾擁有過良好的聲音。實際上在某些錄音中，還糟糕的跑調。Tubb1949年錄制《You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry》時，曾想表現一聲低音。當時他的二重唱搭檔Red Foley就坐在棚子里。有人問他說“你唱那聲低音不會有問題吧？” Foley答道：“Ernest 才想不把那聲低音唱出問題呢?！?br />　　其實Tubb也嘲弄自己的歌聲。 在一次訪談中他說，在酒吧里，有百分之九十五的男子在聽到點唱機里他唱歌時，會對女友說：“我都唱得比他好，”Tubb接著說，他們說得沒錯。
　　但Tubb仍是鄉(xiāng)村藝人中粉絲最多的藝人之一，他的粉絲一生都追隨他直至1970年代，雖說Tubb那時只能用破嗓門唱歌，樂隊也是Troubadours最為低潮的時刻，但每次他演唱《Waltz Across Texas》或其他拿手曲目時，仍能引起全場轟動。
　　Tubb患肺氣腫，逝于田納西州納什維爾浸信會醫(yī)院，葬于納什維爾歸隱紀念園。 現代粉絲可從1947年在納什維爾開設的Ernest Tubb唱片店里了解到他的一切。田納西的Pigeon Forge也有一家Ernest Tubb唱片店，這兩處數十年來一直都是鄉(xiāng)村音樂明星和粉絲聚會之處。
　　他的一個兒子，已故的Justin Tubb于1950年代也曾在鄉(xiāng)村音樂界激起微波，1950年代后期，曾和一位后來成名的年輕歌曲作者Roger Miller同居一室。
　　2003年，Tubb在CMT40鄉(xiāng)村巨匠中名列21位。
The incomparable Ernest Tubb (E.T. to all who knew him) became a legend as much for what he was personally as for the half-century career that stretched from his first radio date in 1932 to his death in 1984. Though other singers with better voices and more raw musical talent have come and gone, none has inspired greater love from fans over six decades. Along with such performers as Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and George Jones, Tubb is country music personified. He was among the first of the honky tonk singers and the first to achieve national recognition. His first recording was The Passing of Jimmie Rodgers, a tribute to his hero. His long association with Decca began with Blue Eyed Elaine in 1940. Three years later his self-penned Walkin the Floor Over You, a country classic, was a hit, leading to the Opry, movie roles, and stardom. In 1947 he opened his Nashville record store and began the Midnight Jamboree, which followed the Opry on WSM and advertised the shop while showcasing stars and those on the rise. By that time, he had become one of the most recognizable musical stars in the world, bringing country music to the widest audience it had ever seen. Over the years, Tubb toured widely with his Texas Troubadors, pressing the flesh with fans after shows that featured his many hits, including Slippin Around, Two Glasses Joe, Tomorrow Never Comes, Drivin Nails in My Coffin, Rainbow at Midnight, Lets Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello, and Driftwood on the River. In 1975, after 35 years with Decca/MCA, he was let go, the allegiance of company executives not matching that of his multitude of fans. Because of a lung disease Tubb had to rest in pain on a cot between takes, ending his career just as his hero, Rodgers, had 50 years earlier. Quoting one of his album titles, Tubb left a legend and a legacy.
The youngest of five children, Tubb was born in Ellis County, TX, but his farming parents moved across the state to Benjamin when he was six years old. By the time he was in his pre-adolescence, his parents had divorced, and he spent his teens traveling between his two parents, working odd jobs. Early in his adolescence, Tubb was attracted to the music of Rodgers. By his late teens, Tubb had picked up the guitar on the advice of a friend and fellow guitarist named Merwyn Buffington. Following Rodgers death in May of 1933, Tubb decided that he wanted to pursue a musical career and emulate his idol. He moved to San Antonio, where he again hooked up with Buffington, who was currently playing with the Castleman Brothers on a local radio station. The guitarist convinced his employers to let Tubb sing as a guest vocalist, and soon Ernest had his own regular early-morning show.
At this point in his career, Tubb sounded very similar to Rodgers and was still obsessed with his idol. Eventually, he tracked down and met Rodgers widow, Carrie, and she was quite taken with Tubb, loaning him one of Jimmies guitars and convincing RCA to sign the young singer. The first singles he recorded were quite similar to Rodgers (including two tributes to the Singing Brakeman), but the records failed to sell and he was quickly dropped from the label. Ernest continued to plow ahead, playing a variety of small clubs and radio stations, without gaining much attention. A major point in Tubbs musical development was the removal of his tonsils in 1939. With his tonsils gone, he could no longer yodel, which meant he developed his own distinctively twangy, nasal singing style. Decca Records agreed to record him in April of 1940, and one of the resulting singles, Blue Eyed Elaine, became a minor hit. Decca agreed to sign him to a longer contract by the end of the year, by which time he had also had a regular radio show on a Fort Worth station, KGKO, sponsored by the flour company Gold Chain.
Early in 1941, he cut several new songs, this time backed by Fay Smitty Smith, a staff electric guitarist for KGKO. The first single released from these sessions was Walking the Floor Over You. Over the next few months, the single became a massive hit, eventually selling over a million copies. Walking the Floor Over You was the first honky tonk song, launching not only Tubbs career but also the musical genre itself. Tubb sang the song in the Charles Starrett movie Fighting Buckeroos (1941), which led to another film appearance in Starretts Ridin West (1942). By the end of 1942, he was popular enough to gain a release from his Gold Chain contract, and he headed to Nashville. Upon his arrival in January of 1943, he joined the Grand Ole Opry and became the first musician to use an electric guitar in the Opry.
Between 1942 and 1944, Tubb made no recordings because of a strike within the recorders union, yet he continued to tour, often with Pee Wee King and Roy Acuff. Ernest returned to recording in 1944, releasing the number two Try Me One More Time early in the year, following by his first number one single, Soldiers Last Letter, that summer. The two singles kicked off a nearly 15-year streak of virtually uninterrupted Top Ten singles (only four of his 54 singles of that era failed to crack the Top Ten, and even then they made the Top 15). In 1946, he began recording solely with his band, the Texas Troubadors, and he became one of the first country artists to record in Nashville. Between the end of 1945 and the conclusion of 1946, he had a number of huge hits, including Its Been So Long Darling, Rainbow at Midnight, Filipino Baby, and Drivin Nails in My Coffin. The singles cemented his reputation in the U.S. and won him new fans around the world.
Early in 1947, he opened the Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville, which he promoted through the Midnight Jamboree, a radio program he designed to fill the post-Opry slot on the radio. That year, he became the first country star to play Carnegie Hall in New York, signalling how much he had done to increase country musics popularity across the United States; a few years before, it would have been unthinkable to have such rural music play in such an urban venue. During 1949, he hit the height of his popularity, charting an astonishing 13 hit singles during the course of the year — which is even more remarkable considering that the chart only had 15 positions each week. Most of those songs were classics, including Have You Ever Been Lonely? (Have You Ever Been Blue), Lets Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello, Im Biting My Fingernails and Thinking of You (a collaboration with the Andrews Sisters), Slipping Around, and Blue Christmas. The following year, he had 11 hit singles, including I Love You Because and Throw Your Love My Way, plus several hit duets with Red Foley, including Tennessee Border No. 2 and the number one Goodnight Irene. Tubb also demonstrated his influence by helping Hank Snow appear on the Grand Ole Opry and supporting Hank Williams.
Throughout the 50s, Tubb recorded and toured relentlessly, racking up well over 30 hit singles, the majority of which — including the classics Driftwood on the River (1951) and The Yellow Rose of Texas (1955) — reached the Top Ten. By the end of the decade, his sales dipped slightly, which only meant he wasnt reaching the Top Ten, only the Top 20, with regularity. Nevertheless, he stopped having big hits in the early 60s, as rock & roll and newer, harder honky tonk singers cut into his audience. Even with the decline of his sales, Tubb was able to pack concert halls, and his television show was equally popular. While the quality of his recordings was rather uneven during this time, he still cut a number of classics, including Thanks a Lot, Pass the Booze, and Waltz Across Texas. Beginning in 1964, Decca had him record a series of duets with Loretta Lynn, and over the next five years he made three albums and had four hit singles: Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be, Our Hearts Are Holding Hands, Sweet Thang, and Whos Gonna Take the Garbage Out.
In 1966, Tubb was diagnosed with emphysema and in spite of the doctors warnings, he continued to tour and record actively into the early 70s. During that time, he continued to rack up a number of minor hits, as well as lifetime achievement awards. In 1965, he became the sixth member to be inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1970, he was one of the first artists inducted to the Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame. Shortly after receiving the last reward, his hits slowed down drastically — over the next five years, he only had one minor hit, 1973s Ive Got All the Heartaches I Can Handle. Decca and Tubb parted ways in 1975, and he signed with Pete Drakes First Generation label, where he had one minor hit, Sometimes I Do, in early 1978. The following year, Drake developed an all-star tribute to Tubb, The Legend and the Legacy, which featured stars like Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Chet Atkins, and Charlie Daniels overdubbing their own work on original recordings Ernest had made. Released on Cachet Records, the album produced two minor hits with Waltz Across Texas and Walkin the Floor Over You before being pulled from the market due to contractual reasons.
The Legend and the Legacy would be the last time Tubb reached the charts. In the three years following its release, he continued to tour, but in late 1982 he was forced to retire due to his health. During the last days of his final tours, he had to take oxygen and rest on a cot between shows, eerily resembling the circumstances of Rodgers last recording sessions. Tubb succumbed to emphysema on September 6, 1984, leaving behind an enormous legacy that helped shape the face of contemporary country music.