Louis Marshall Jones (October 20, 1913 – February 19, 1998), known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Performing as Grandpa Jones, he played the guitar or banjo, yodelled, and sang mostly old-time ballads. By 1937, Jones had made his way to West Virginia, where Cousin Emmy taught Jones the art of the claw-hammer style of banjo playing, which gave a rough backwoods flavour to his performances. First experience playing music in public came at the age of 11 or thereabouts The music of the WLS Barn Dance in Chicago was a major influence on Louis, as were the Jimmie Rodgers records his sister brought home. In 1942, Jones joined WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was there that he met fellow Kentuckian Merle Travis. In 1943, they made their recording debuts together for Syd Nathan's upstart King Records. Jones was making records under his own name for King by 1944 and had his first hit with "It's Raining Here This Morning."
His recording career was put on hold when he enlisted in the United States Army during World War II. Discharged in 1946, he recorded again for King. Through 1946-1949, when he and several Opry cast members (Clyde Moody and Chubby Wise among them) were invited to become a part of the burgeoning world of television by Washington D.C. entrepreneur Connie B Gay, he became a cast member at the Old Dominion Barn Dance, broadcast over WRVA in Richmond, Virginia. In March 1946, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee and started performing on the Grand Ole Opry. He married Ramona Riggins on October 14, 1946. As an accomplished performer herself, she would take part in his performances. Jones' vaudeville humour was a bridge to television. His more famous songs include "T For Texas,""Are You From Dixie,""Night Train To Memphis,""Mountain Dew," and "Eight More Miles To Louisville."
In the fall of 1968, Jones became a charter cast member on the long-running television show Hee Haw, often responding to the show's skits with his trademark phrase "Outrageous." He also played banjo, by himself or with banjo player David "Stringbean" Akeman. A musical segment featured in the early years had Jones and "his lovely wife Ramona" singing while ringing bells held in their hands and strapped to their ankles. A favorite skit had off-camera cast members ask, "Hey Grandpa, what's for supper?" in which he would describe a delicious, country-style meal, often in a rhyming, talking blues style. Sometimes he would describe something not so good; i.e. "Because you were bad, thawed out TV dinners!"
A resident of rural Ridgetop, Tennessee, outside Nashville, he was a neighbour and friend of fellow musician David "Stringbean" Akeman. On the morning of November 11, 1973, Jones discovered the bodies of Akeman and his wife, Estelle, who had been murdered during the night by robbers. Jones testified at the trial of the killers, his testimony helping to secure a conviction.
In 1978, Jones was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His autobiography, Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind The Mike was published in 1984. In January 1998, Jones suffered two strokes after his second show performance at the Grand Ole Opry. He died at 7:00 p.m. Central Time on February 19, 1998 at the McKendree Village Home Health Center in Hermitage, Tennessee, at age 84. He was buried in the Luton Memorial Methodist Church cemetery in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
(Edited from Wikipedia)