FLOYD CRAMER-A SWINGING SAFARI

Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 December 31, 1997) was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville Sound." Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cramer grew up in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas, teaching himself to play the piano. After finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the Louisiana Hayride radio show. After Cramer moved permanently to Nashville, Allen "Puddler" Harris, a native of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, replaced him as the pianist for the Hayride. Cramer moved to Nashville in 1955. The use of piano accompanists in country music was growing in popularity, and by the next year he was, in his words "in day and night doing sessions. [1] Before long, Cramer would become one of the busiest studio musicians in the industry, playing piano for stars such as Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, The Browns, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, and the Everly Brothers, and many others. It's Cramer's piano, for instance, on Presley's first national hit, "Heartbreak Hotel." However, Cramer remained a virtual unknown to anyone but music industry insiders until he recorded a 45 rpm single in 1960 called "Last Date." This instrumental piece exhibited a relatively new concept for piano playing known as the "slip note" style. The record went to Number two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart. This track is used as the closing theme for renowned Australian radio broadcaster Ray Hadley on his number one syndicated show in Sydney on radio station 2GB. Two more hits followed, 1961's "On the Rebound" (Number three) and "San Antonio Rose" (Number eight). By the mid-1960s, Cramer had become a respected performer, making numerous record albums and touring with guitar maestro Chet Atkins and saxophonist Boots Randolph; also performing with them as a member of the Million Dollar Band. . Floyd Cramer died of lung cancer in 1997 at the age of 64 and was interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in the Nashville suburb of Madison, Tennessee. In 2003, he was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee offers the "Floyd Cramer Competitive Scholarship."

Author: oldcountrytunes
Keywords: music country Floyd Cramer piano
Added: January 10, 2009