- Red Sovine’s full name was Woodrow Wilson “Red” Sovine.
- He was born on July 7, 1917, and he died at the age of 63 on April 4, 1980.
- He was known as a country musician and songwriter.
- He was married to Norma Searls before she passed on June 4, 1976.
- His songs Giddyup Go(1965) and Teddy Bear(1976) topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
The famous American country music singer and songwriter Red Sovine was known for his earnest, funny, and highly sentimental recitations and truck driving songs.
The country singer was inspired as a child BY WCHS radio musicians BuddyStarcher and Frank Welling. His first music collaboration was with his friend, Johnnie Bailes. He also performed several covers of many truck driving songs. His songs and albums topped the Billboard charts and other music charts.
Who Is Red Sovine?
On July 7, 1917, the country singer was born in Charleston, West Virginia. He had two brothers and two sisters. Sovine was born with reddish-brown hair and that earned him the nickname “Red”.
He was reportedly raised in an impoverished family in Charleston. At a young age, his mother taught him how to play the guitar, and by the time he was 17 years, he was working professionally on WCHS Charleston with Johnny Bailes.
Red Sovine started his career in music while he was working in a hosiery factory
In 1948, Red Sovine formed his own band, The Echo Valley Boys while he was holding down a job as a supervisor of a hosiery factory in the Putnam County town of Eleanor. He decided to pursue music as his career after World War II.
After performing in West Virginia he later moved to Shreveport Louisiana. He began an early morning show but it was not popular until he started gaining exposure from his performance on the famed KWKH radio program Louisiana Hayride.
In 1949, his co-star on Louisiana Hayride helped him get a better slot at WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama, and also a contract with MGM Records. Another co-star, Webb Pierce convinced and helped Red to lead his Wondering Boys band and later helped him get a contract with Decca in 1954.
In 1955, Red’s duet with Goldie Hill Are You Mine? peaked in the Top 15 and in 1956, he had his first number one hit after a duet with Pierce on a cover of George Jones Why Baby Why. He later released singles among which two were in the top five singles. Just like his friend Hank Williams he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Red Sovine recorded close to 50 sides with Decca before he signed to Starday Records in 1959. Later that same year the singer and some of his band members were involved in a car accident. Two of his band members, Doughlas Nicks and Jonny Morris lost their lives as a result of the accident.
One of his songs which was copyrighted in 1955 became a hit on the pop chart. The single Missing You later became a No. 29 Billboard Top 100 hit and No. 7 on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart.
His career began to slow down when his single Dream House For Sale became a No. 22 in 1964 nearly eight years after his last hit. Luckily for him, he found himself back on track after he recorded Giddyup Go and it became the most famous of all his other trucker hits. Giddy Up was more or less spoken word rather than sung. It opened the way for his both truck driving hits as it spent six weeks on country charts and crossed over to the pop charts.
In 1978, Red had his last charting hit. It was a cover of Eric Clapton’s Lay Down Sally. His version made it to number 70 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
In 2008, Red Sovine was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
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How Did He Die?
The Teddy Bear singer was initially married to Norma Searls but she died at the age of 57 on June 4, 1976. They had three sons: William, Michael, and Roger, and also a daughter Janet together before Norma passed. Barely after four, Sovine suffered a heart attack on April 4, 1980, while he was driving in southern Nashville. That made him to run a red light and strike an oncoming vehicle,
Red Sovine and the other driver, Edgar Primm were rushed to St. Thomas Hospital where the latter was treated and released afterward. Sadly, Sovine could not make it. He died shortly after he got to the hospital.
According to reports, the preliminary autopsy suggested that the 63-year old singer sustained massive abdominal bleeding that was caused by a lacerated spleen and liver and also fractured ribs and sternum.
At the time of his death, he was survived by his four children and 12 grandchildren. Michael Sovine passed eight years after the singer died.
Here Are Some Of Best Songs And Albums
