Eddie McDuff (June 20, 1935 - May 3, 1968) was a country and western guitarist, fiddler and singer who was quite a popular entertainer throughout the area of Fort Worth, Texas.
There's a very good reason why you haven't heard of this country singer, and that's because he tragically died young. Edward Calvin ("Eddie") McDuff was born in Cresson, Hood County, Texas, USA. I cannot find any information of his early life except that he had a civil service day job as quality controller for the General Services Administration, but was also director of the staff band on the Big D Jamboree and serves as emcee of the Dallas show in 1964 and 1965.He also composed prolifically with fellow locals George Kent and Orville Couch. Eddie’s band The Country Gentlemen appeared at Panther Hall and on Fort Worth television.
He only recorded one album in 1964 titled “Suddenly.” Backing McDuff were some high-powered pickers, including Orville Couch on rhythm guitar, Doyle Grisham (steel guitar), Chuck Jennings (lead guitar), George Kent (guitar), Harland Powell (bass) and Micky Williams on drums. The liner notes are by Groovy Joe Poovey, who at the time was the music director of radio station KPCN. Poovey tries to hype the local "Dallas Sound" as a Bakersfield-style anti-Nashville option, and in McDuff's case, there may have been some truth to that proposition.
Couch and McDuff co-wrote the song "Hello Trouble," which was recorded by Buck Owens, Ernest Tubb and others, and is included on this album. He also placed songs with Frankie Miller ("Big Talk Of The Town"), Marty Robbins ("Fresh Out Of Tears"), Margie Singleton ("Forget Me Not") and was posthumously covered by some of the guys who back him here, such as Couch and Kent, and Joe Poovey himself. (There's also controversy as to whether McDuff composed the melody to the Jim Reeves hit, "Welcome To My World," as a work-for-hire job, but that dispute will have to be left to the experts.)
 |
| The plane involved in fatal crash |
Eddie McDuff died tragically young on May 3, 1968 (aged 32). He was a passenger aboard a commercial airplane, Braniff Flight 352 flying from Houston Hobby Airport to Dalls Love Field. The aircraft was caught in a severe storm and crashed in a field near Dawson, Navarro County, Texas. None of the 85 people on board survived. Eddie was buried at Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park, Colleyville, Tarrant County, Texas, He was married to Glenda Ashlock Coker (1937 – 2012) and had two sons, Donny and Eddie Jr., and two daughters, Cathy and Darla.
(Edited from Slipcue & Fort Worh Star-Telegram & findagrave.com)