Y’ALL, July/August, 2008, Volume 6, Number 3, page 69
EDDY ARNOLD
Eddy Arnold, nicknamed “The Tennessee Plowboy,” a singer who took country music uptown and sold more than 85 million recordings over 70 years, died at the age of 89 on May 8. Arnold personified the evolution of country music in the years after World War II, from a rural vernacular to an idiom with broad mainstream appeal. His mellow baritone on songs like “Make The World Go Away” made him one of the most successful country singers in history. Folksy but sophisticated, he became a pioneer of The Nashville Sound, a mixture of country and pop styles. His crossover success paved the way for later singers such as Kenny Rogers. A Y’all Of Fame inductee in 2006, Arnold was a native of Henderson, Tenn.. He scored 28 No. 1 hits throughout his career.
DOTTIE RAMBO DOTTIE RAMBO
Southern Gospel star Dottie Rambo was on her way to a Mother’s Day performance in Texas when her tour bus ran off I-44 and struck an embankment near Mount Vernon, Mo., killing her and injuring seven others, on May 11. She was 74. Also a songwriter, Rambo’s songs have been recorded by Dolly Parton. She had more than 2,500 songs published, including gospel classics such as “He Looked Beyond My Fault & Saw My Need,” and the 1982 Gospel Music Association Song of the Year, “We Shall Behold Him.” A native of Madisonville, Ky., Rambo was a member of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, as well as the Christian Music Hall of Fame. In 1968 she won a Grammy Award for “Best Soul Gospel Performance” for her album It’s The Soul Of Me.
JIM HAGER
For nearly 20 years (1969-86), Jim Hagar and his twin brother Jon entertained audiences as the Hager Twins on Hee Haw. Jim collapsed at a coffee house and died of a heart attack in Nashville, Tenn., on May 1. He was 66.
PHIL HARISON
Augusta, Ga., native Phil Harison was one of two men alive that had attended every Masters; a golf tournament that literally began in his backyard in 1934. He became an iconic starter on the first tee of the Augusta National Golf Club, and introduced everyone from Ben Hogan to Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods during his 60 years in the post. He died in his hometown at the age of 82 on April 27, just a few days after the ‘08 tournament.
BILL E. BURK
Former Memphis reporter Bill E. Burk, who covered the last 20 years of Elvis Presley’s life, died at the age of 75 on April 24. Burk wrote roughly 400 stories and columns about Presley. He published 13 books about the singer and published the quarterly Elvis World magazine. Burk lived one minute from Graceland and at times visited The King there. Every so often Presley would return the gesture with a visit to Burk’s home. He was twice named United Press International Columnist of the Year in Tennessee.
CURTIS WHITLEY
Former Clemson Tiger, Carolina Panther, San Diego Charger and Oakland Raider star Curtis Whitley was found dead in Ft. Stockton, Texas, on May 11. He was 39. The former NFL center had a history of substance use. He had two suspensions for violating the league’s drug policy. He admitted snorting meth while with the Panthers in Year of the Cat, a book chronicling Carolina’s 1996 season called. The Smithfield, N.C., native drove a truck and worked on an oil rig in West Texas. There was no sign of foul play.
