Archie Campbell

Archie Campbell entered the world on November 7, 1914, in Bulls Gap, Tennessee. He pursued art studies at Mars Hill College in North Carolina before securing employment in 1936 at WNOX-Knoxville on the Mid-Day Merry Go Round. The following year he relocated to WDOD-Chattanooga, where he remained through 1941, at which point he enlisted in the Navy. Following World War II he resumed work at WNOX and launched the Knoxville television program Country Playhouse in 1952; that series continued for six years, after which he relocated to Nashville and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

He signed with RCA Victor in 1959 shortly after his Opry debut and reached the country Top 25 in 1960 via the single “Trouble in the Amen Corner,” although subsequent releases failed to chart. A move to Starday in 1962 likewise produced no hits. Returning to RCA in 1966 yielded the Top 20 single “The Men in My Little Girl’s Life,” and in 1968 both “The Dark End of the Street” and “Tell It like It Is” reached the Top 30. His chart presence waned after he joined Hee Haw in 1968 as a star performer and chief writer. Among the comedy and music albums he released were Bull Session at Bull’s Creek, recorded with Junior Samples, and a self-titled 1976 LP for Elektra. In 1984 he hosted the TNN interview series Yesteryear.