Merle Travis
Induction Year: 1970
Birth Name: Merle Robert Travis
Birth Date: November 29, 1917
Place of Birth: Rosewood, KY
Discography / Career Highlights
Career Milestones:
1935--played at a marathon dance in Evansville, Indiana (first "discovered" there)
1935--professional debut over WGBF Radio (Evansville, IN) playing a homemade guitar
1937--landed a job with Clayton McMichen and his Georgia Wildcats in March
1937--began performing on WLW's (Cincinnati) Boone County Jamboree
1939--joined the Drifting Pioneers
late 1930s--performed on NBC-Radio's Plantation Party
1940--broadcast as a solo act
1940-1941--formed gospel quartet the Brown's Ferry Four with Grandpa Jones and Alton and Rabon Delmore
1943--went to Dayton, Ohio with Grandpa Jones to make the first records for the new King label
1944--moved to Hollywood; worked in films and radio and played local clubs
1946--signed with Capitol Records
1947--"Folk Songs of the Hills" album released in June
1953--appeared in feature film "From Here to Eternity"
1955--first LP released, "The Merle Travis Guitar," an instrumental set
1955--"Sixteen Tons" goes to #1 for Tennessee Ernie Ford
mid 1960s--made brief move to Nashville and joined the Grand Ole Opry
1970--nominated for CMA award in the Instrumentalist of the Year category
1971--participated in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's summit meeting "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"
1974--nominated for CMA award in the Instrumental Group of the Year category (with Chet Atkins)
Awards:
1946--Billboard\Top record sales
1974--Grammy\Best Country Instrumental Performance\for duet guitar record (with Chet Atkins) "The Atkins-Travis Travelling Show"
1974--Academy of Country Music\Pioneer Award
1977--Country Music Hall of Fame induction
1979--Gibson Guitar Hall of Fame induction
Catalog Highlights:
"Dark as a Dungeon" - Artists: Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Kitty White, Grandpa Jones, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
"Sixteen Tons" - Artists: Tennessee Ernie Ford, Tom Jones, Johnny Desmond, Don Harrison Band, Merle Travis, Red Sovine, B.B. King, Mitch Miller, Jimmy Dean, Bo Diddley, The Weavers, Stevie Wonder
"No Vacancy" - Co-writer: Cliffie Stone - Artists: Cliffie Stone, Merle Travis
"So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed" - Co-writer: Cliffie Stone, E. Kirk - Artists: Eddie Arnold, Merle Travis, Johnny Bond, Ernest Tubb
"Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!" (That Cigarette) - Co-writer: Tex Williams - Artists: Tex Williams, Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen, Tom Bresh, Sammy Davis Jr., Doc Watson
"Old Mountain Dew" - Co-writer: Bascome Lunsford
"Divorce Me C.O.D." - Co-writer: Cliffie Stone - Artists: Merle Travis, Johnny Bond, King Sisters
"Sweet Temptation" - Co-writer: Cliffie Stone - Artists: Jean Shepard, Lina Doherty, Ricky Skaggs
"I Like My Chicken Frying Size"
"Mus'Rat" - Co-writer: H. Hensley, Texann - Artists: Merle Travis
"Too Much Sugar For a Dime" - Artists: Merle Travis and Judy Hayden
"Cincinnati Lou" - Co-writer: Fisher - Artists: Merle Travis
"I Am a Pilgrim" - Artists: Merle Travis, Bill Monroe, Fairfield Four
"Nine Pound Hammer" - Artists: Merle Travis, Tennessee Ernie Ford
Comments:
Generally credited with designing the first solid body type guitar (electric Fender)
Used the five-string banjo style of picking on the guitar, an accompaniment played with the thumb while the forefinger plays the melody on the higher-pitched strings
Received 7 gold records and 12 BMI awards for top songs
Very influenced by Mose Rager and Ike Everly (father of Don & Phil)
Last film appearance in Clint Eastwood's "Honky Tonk Man" in 1982
Merle Travis: "I don't feel that I deserve any credit as merely a writer. Anybody can write a song but it takes a great artist ...to deliver it to the multitudes and make them love it. Let's say it this way...We can all purchase peroxide but there's only one Marilyn Monroe."
