Stonewall Jackson (musician)

Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson in 1966
Background information
Birth name Stonewall Jackson
Born (1932-11-06) November 6, 1932
Tabor City, North Carolina, US
Genres Country, Honky-tonk
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments vocals, acoustic guitar
Years active 1956–present
Labels Columbia
Associated acts Ray Price, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell

Stonewall Jackson (born November 6, 1932) is an American country singer, guitarist and musician who achieved his greatest fame during country's "golden" honky tonk era in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Biography

Early years

Jackson, born in Tabor City, North Carolina, is the youngest of three children. Stonewall is not a nickname; he was named after the Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Some publicity for the singer claimed he was a descendant of the general, although this is extremely unlikely. (General Jackson's only descendants are through his daughter Julia's marriage to William Edmund Christian, and these descendants consequently do not bear the surname "Jackson"; thus, if the musician were to have descended from the general, it would have to be an indirect descent.)

Stonewall's father died when he was two and his mother moved the family to South Georgia. Jackson grew up there working on his uncle's farm. Jackson enlisted in the Navy in 1950 and was discharged in 1954. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1956.

Recording career

After hearing Jackson's demo tape, Wesley Rose, president of Acuff-Rose Music, arranged for Jackson to audition for the Grand Ole Opry. Jackson became the first artist to join the Grand Ole Opry before obtaining a recording contract.[1] He toured with Ernest Tubb, who became his mentor. Jackson signed with Columbia Records in 1958.

His breakthrough came in the country Top 40 in late 1958, with a song written by a young George Jones, "Life to Go". It peaked at No. 2 in early 1959 and his follow-up record, "Waterloo", was No. 1 for five weeks and crossed over into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it reached No. 4. The track also reached No. 24 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1959.[2] It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[3] The song was a haunting and catchy tune that states "Everybody has to meet his Waterloo", meaning their fate. The song cites Adam, Napoleon and Tom Dooley as examples.

His next No. 1 hits came in 1964 with "Don't Be Angry" and "B.J. the D.J." (about an over-worked country music radio station disc jockey, who crashes his car in a rainstorm). In 1963, Jackson was the first artist to record a live album from the Grand Ole Opry with Old Showboat. Other song hits include "The Carpet on the Floor", "Why I'm Walkin'", "A Wound Time Can't Erase" and "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water". Jackson also recorded a cover version of Lobo's 1971 hit, "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo", which became Jackson's final top 10 hit.

From 1958 to 1971, Jackson had 35 Top 40 country hits. Along with Ray Price, Webb Pierce, Carl Smith, Faron Young, Carl Butler, George Jones and Charlie Walker, Jackson is considered a cornerstone, after Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell, of the hard-driving honky tonk sound in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Later years

In 2006, Jackson sued the Grand Ole Opry for $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damage, claiming age discrimination. As a member of the Opry for over fifty years, Jackson believed that management was sidelining him in favor of younger artists. In his court filing, Jackson claimed that Opry general manager Pete Fisher stated that he did not "want any gray hairs on that stage or in the audience, and before I'm done there won't be any." Fisher is also alleged to have told Jackson that he was "too old and too country."[4] The lawsuit was settled on October 3, 2008 for an undisclosed amount and Jackson returned to performing on the show.[5] He has been a member of the Opry since 1956.[1][6]

Jackson lives on a farm in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife Juanita, who is also his personal manager and operates his song publishing company, Turp Tunes. He has a son, Stonewall Jackson, Jr.

Jackson was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame on October 11, 2012.[7]

Discography

Albums

Year Album US Country Label
1959 The Dynamic Stonewall Jackson Columbia
1962 The Sadness in a Song
1963 I Love a Song 2
1965 Trouble & Me 15
The Exciting Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson's Greatest Hits 20
1966 All's Fair in Love 'n' War 5
1967 Help Stamp Out Loneliness 36
Country
1968 Nothing Takes the Place of Loving You 34
The Great Old Songs 38
1969 Old Country Church
Greatest Hits 2
Tribute to Hank Williams
1970 The Lonesome in Me
The Real Thing
1971 Recorded Live at the Grand Ole Opry
Me and You and a Dog Named Boo
1972 The World
1976 Greatest Hits GRT
1979 Platinum Country Little Darlin'
Bad Ass
1981 Stars of the Grand Ole Opry 1st Generation
1983 Audiograph Live Audiograph

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Album
US Country US CAN Country
1958 "Life to Go" 2 The Dynamic Stonewall Jackson
1959 "Waterloo" 1 4
"Smoke Along the Track" 24
"Igmoo (The Pride of South Central High)" 29 95 single only
1960 "Mary Don't You Weep" 12 41 The Dynamic Stonewall Jackson
"Why I'm Walkin'" 6 83
"Life of a Poor Boy" 15 singles only
"A Little Guy Called Joe" 13
1961 "Greener Pastures" 26 The Sadness in a Song
"Hungry for Love" 27
1962 "A Wound Time Can't Erase" 3 I Love a Song
"Second Choice" 18 The Sadness in a Song
"One Look at Heaven" 11
"Leona" 9
1963 "Can't Hang Up the Phone" 11 single only
"Old Showboat" 8 Trouble & Me
"Wild Wild Wind" 15 I Love a Song
1964 "B.J. the D.J." 1
"Not My Kind of People" 24 Trouble & Me
"Don't Be Angry" 4 3 I Love a Song
1965 "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water" 8 Trouble & Me
"Trouble and Me" 30
"Lost in the Shuffle" 22 Stonewall Jackson's Greatest Hits
"Poor Red Georgia Dirt" 44 singles only
"If This House Could Talk" 24
1966 "The Minute Men (Are Turning in Their Graves)" 24 All's Fair in Love 'N' War
"Blues Plus Booze (Means I Lose)" 12
1967 "Stamp Out Loneliness" 5 Help Stamp Out Loneliness
"Promises and Hearts (Were Made to Break)" 15
"This World Holds Nothing (Since You're Gone)" 27 Country
1968 "Nothing Takes the Place of Loving You" 39 Nothing Takes the Place of Loving You
"I Believe in Love" 31
"Angry Words" 16 13 Greatest Hits 2
1969 "Somebody's Always Leaving" 52 The Lonesome in Me
"'Never More' Quote the Raven" 25 13
"Ship in the Bottle" 19
1970 "Better Days for Mama" 72
"Born That Way" 72 The Real Thing
"Oh Lonesome Me" 63
1971 "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" 7 3 Me and You and a Dog Named Boo
"Push the Panic Button"
1972 "That's All This World Needs" (w/ Brentwood Children's Choir) 51 The World
"Torn from the Pages of Life" 71 singles only
1973 "I'm Not Strong Enough (To Build Another Dream)" 70
"True Love Is the Thing"
"Herman Schwartz" 41 89
"Ol' Blue"
1974 "Don't Be Late" Greatest Hits
1978 "Spirit of Saint Louis" Bad Ass
"Walk Out on Me (Before I Walk All Over You)" single only
"My Favorite Sin" Bad Ass
1979 "Point of No Return" singles only
"Listening to Johnny Paycheck"
1981 "Full Moon Empty Pockets" Stars of the Grand Ole Opry
1983 "Let the Sun Shine on the People" Audiograph Live

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 "Stonewall Jackson". Grand Ole Opry. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  2. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 276. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ↑ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 115. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  4. ↑ Yahoo! News, 1/12/07
  5. ↑ "Stonewall Jackson's Lawsuit Against Opry Settled" Cmt.com, October 6, 2008
  6. ↑ "Opry Member List PDF" (PDF). April 23, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  7. ↑ "N.C. Music Hall of Fame offers tickets". The Salisbury Post. August 29, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
Bibliography
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