Cowboy Copas

Born Lloyd Estel Copas on July 15, 1913, the honky tonk vocalist enjoyed strong popularity during the final years of the 1940s and staged a notable return in the opening years of the 1960s, only to perish alongside Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins in the same plane crash. He left school at age fourteen and took up the fiddle with assorted string ensembles near his Ohio residence. A spontaneous wager sent him to Cincinnati for a talent competition that led to radio appearances on WLW and, subsequently, WKRC. By 1940 he had relocated to Knoxville’s WNOX alongside the Gold Star Rangers.

His breakthrough arrived three years later when he assumed the vocal role previously held by Eddy Arnold in Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys, a position that placed him on WSM-Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry. King Records signed him in 1946; his first release, “Filipino Baby,” reached number four on the country charts that August. Two years afterward he returned to the Top Ten with “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” at number two, “Tennessee Waltz” at number three, and “Tennessee Moon” at number seven, while also contributing a chart version of “Tennessee Waltz” during continued Opry appearances with Pee Wee King.

Following the Top 20 entries “Breeze” and “I’m Waltzing With Tears in My Eyes,” he again cracked the Top Ten in early 1949 via “Candy Kisses” at number five, “Hangman’s Boogie” at number fourteen, and “The Strange Little Girl” at number five. The 1952 single “‘Tis Sweet to Be Remembered” peaked at number eight, yet nearly a decade passed before another chart entry appeared. His tenure with King Records ended in 1955, and a short association with Dot proved equally unproductive.

Copas remained active on the Opry through the late 1950s and joined Starday in 1960. The label’s inaugural release, “Alabam,” became his career pinnacle by holding the country summit for three months in the latter half of that year. “Flat Top” entered the Top Ten in April 1961, and a re-recording of “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” followed suit that September. Roughly eighteen months later, while returning from a Kansas City benefit, the private plane piloted by his son-in-law Randy Hughes crashed, claiming the lives of Copas, Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Hughes. Issued a month after the accident, his final single, “Goodbye Kisses,” reached the Top 15.