Jack Cardwell born 9 November 1925

Jack was a native of the farm from Chapman, Alabama. He was a self-taught musician as he came from a family of non-musicians. From there he went to Mobile where he sold newspapers and then took advantage of every chance he could to perform professionally. Before Jack finished school at the Barton Academy in Mobile, he took a job as an electrician's helper, wanting to earn some money. He became rather proficient at it and would sail out of the Port of Mobile as chief electrician on many ships, but a back injury forced him into work that was less strenuous.

Because of that, he began to turn to music as a career. During World War II, he served with the Navy. After discharge from the Navy, he became a DJ for WCAB radio. The manager wanted rural humour, and Jack succeed, so much that his early morning show “Tunes & Times” was very popular. 

This picture (dated Sept. 1, 1955) shows a crowd of mostly country singers who performed in a show put together by Red Smith, a local DJ for radio station WBOK. From left: Scotty Moore, Jack Cardwell, Roy Parker, Jimmy Swan, Ernie Chaffin, Mrs. Jimmie Rogers, Al Terry, Jim Reeves, Jeff Bidderson, Lawton Williams, Luke McDaniel, Joe Clay, Elvis Presley. In front: Ann Raye with Red Smith.

Cardwell became a radio personality on Mobile-based radio station WKAB in the early 1950s, where he hosted the Tom 'n Jack Show. Around 1952 he also debuted on local television, hosting the Friendly Variety Show until 1967. His activities with this show ran the gamut from presenting superstars such as Elvis Presley in 1958, to encouraging new talent such as Curly Brooks, who got his start through Cardwell's status as host. Cardwell was also the founder of the Mobile Country Music Association, one of the goals of which is to bring more attention to the country music legacy of this busy port, whose musical inhabitants also include the fine country guitar picker Jody Payne. 

Jack met his wife while he and his band were playing a dance date in Mobile and soon had a family of two boys, Jackie Carrol and James Robert. Jackie played the piano back then and James wanted to be a singer 'just like dad'. Interestingly, in about the only time we've ever seen it, the February 1955 Cowboy Songs article actually listed the street address where Jack lived in his 8-room house. And more so, they said the house was completely furnished by a furniture store that had been his sponsor on the radio for seven years. 

Shortly after Hank Williams died, Cardwell wrote and recorded a tribute titled "The Death of Hank Williams" and released it on King Records. The song reached #3 on the Billboard charts in 1953. He also had a top-ten hit that year with "Dear Joan". His best King sides are in the Hillbilly bop style of “You’re Looking For Something” and the raunchy “Whiskey, Women and Loaded Dice. Unfortunately most of his King s effort amounted to little in terms of success and Jack had to wait for two years before an isolated, but superb, record on Starday, “Hey, hey Baby.” Again, any Starday success eluded him so he quit recording in 1958. 

Jack had two more records in the ’60s, it seems, both political and dedicated to Alabama Governoship candidate Big Jim Folsom. It wasn’t until 1969, when Cardwell had co-wrote "Jesus Was a Soul Man", which Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice later identified as one of the influences on the creation of Jesus Christ Superstar. He also hosted a country music show on UHF Channel 48, one of the first TV stations in Mobile, according to his son, Jackie C. Cardwell. His last radio job was with WMML before he left the broadcasting business in 1981. 

Cardwell served as interim pastor at Crichton Baptist Church from 1968 to 1969, as pastor at Shady Pines Baptist Church from 1969 to 1979, and at Arden Road Baptist Church until retiring in 1989. His father the Rev. O.D. Cardwell was also a former pastor at Crichton. 

Jack Cardwell died October 22, 1993at his residence in Mobile. He was 67. 

(Edited from Hillbilly Music, Bopping & findagrave)