Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine (July 7, 1917 – April 4, 1980) was an American country music singer and songwriter associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives, but set to music. The most noted examples are his 1965 number one hit "Giddyup Go" and his 1976 number one hit "Teddy Bear".
Sovine was born as Woodrow Wilson Sovine in 1917 in Charleston,
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West Virginia, earning the nickname "Red" because of his reddish-brown hair. He had two brothers and two sisters. Sovine was taught to play guitar by his mother. His first venture into music was with his childhood friend Johnnie Bailes, with whom he performed as "Smiley and Red, the Singing Sailors" in the country music revue Jim Pike's Carolina Tar Heels on WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia. Faced with limited success, Bailes left to perform as part of The Bailes Brothers. Sovine got married, and continued to sing on Charleston radio, while holding down a job as a supervisor of a hosiery factory. With the encouragement of Bailes, Sovine formed The Echo Valley Boys.
After a year of performing in West Virginia, Sovine moved to
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Shreveport, Louisiana, where the Bailes Brothers were performing on KWKH. Sovine's own early morning show wasn't very popular, but he gained greater exposure performing on the famed KWKH radio program, "The Louisiana Hayride". One of his co-stars was Hank Williams, who steered Sovine toward a better time slot at WFSA in Montgomery, Alabama, and toward a contract with MGM Records in 1949. In that same year, Red replaced Williams on Louisiana Hayride when Williams jumped to the Grand Ole Opry. Over the next four years he recorded 28 singles, mostly following in Williams' honky tonk footsteps, that didn't make much of a dent on the charts but did
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establish him as a solid performer.
Another "Louisiana Hayride" co-star that helped Sovine along was country music legend Webb Pierce. Pierce convinced Sovine to lead his Wondering Boys band and helped him along toward a contract with Decca in 1954. The following year Sovine cut a duet with Goldie Hill, "Are You Mine?", which peaked in the Top 15, and in 1956 he had his first number one hit when he duetted with Pierce on a cover of George Jones'"Why Baby Why".
Sovine had two other Top Five singles that year and joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry. After recording close to 50 sides with Decca by 1959, Sovine signed to Starday Records and began
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touring the club circuit as a solo act.
In 1963, Sovine passed on the helping hand given him by older performers when he heard the singing of African-American minor league baseball player Charley Pride and suggested that he move to Nashville, Tennessee . Sovine opened doors for Pride at Pierce's Cedarwood Publishing, but his own career had stalled-- "Dream House for Sale", which reached number 22 in 1964, came nearly eight years after his last hit.
In 1965, however, Sovine at last found his niche when he recorded "Giddy-Up Go", which, like most of his other trucker hits, was co-written by himself with Tommy Hill.
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It is spoken, rather than sung, as the words of an older long-distance truck driver who rediscovers his long-lost son driving another truck on the same highway. The song spent six weeks atop the country charts and even crossed over to the pop charts. Other truck-driving hits followed, including Teddy Bear. He was given the title of “King Of The Narrations” due to these spoken hit recordings.
On 4 April, 1980, Red Sovine suffered a heart attack while driving his Dodge van in the city of Nashville, Tennessee which caused him to crash. The injuries sustained from the wreck and Sovine's heart attack were fatal.
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For many years after his death, his Greatest Hits collection ("The Best Of Red Sovine") was advertised on television; exposing his music to a new generation of fans who would not have otherwise heard of him. In 2007, many of his songs were played in Washington, DC and Richmond, Virginia on the "Elliot in the Morning" Show, exposing Sovine's music to a generation that may have never heard of him without Elliot's help. (edited from Wikipedia)
For many years after his death, his Greatest Hits collection ("The Best Of Red Sovine") was advertised on television; exposing his music to a new generation of fans who would not have otherwise heard of him. In 2007, many of his songs were played in Washington, DC and Richmond, Virginia on the "Elliot in the Morning" Show, exposing Sovine's music to a generation that may have never heard of him without Elliot's help. (edited from Wikipedia)
A tear-jerker from the undisputed King of Country Tear Jerk Songs, Red Sovine. Red was a guest on Porter Wagoner's TV Show in 1961 and sang his new song.