Eddy Arnold

By ushering hillbilly music into urban settings, Eddy Arnold forged a refined style centered on his velvety vocals and, at times, opulent orchestral backings. This transformation established him as the foremost country artist of the twentieth century, logging more weeks at the summit of the charts than any rival. He tallied 28 number-one singles and outpaced every other performer in total charting releases. No other postwar country figure did more to deliver the music to everyday listeners outside its traditional base. Cowboy vocalists such as Gene Autry informed his early work, but he later refined his phrasing after the model of Pete Cassell. His identity as a crooner rather than a conventional hillbilly singer helped secure acceptance across the wider entertainment industry and enabled regular forays onto the pop charts. The momentum of his career persisted deep into the 1990s. While subsequent releases never matched the dominance of the 1940s and 1950s, he kept filling concert venues and older catalog reissues continued to move briskly.

Raised on a Tennessee farm, Eddy Arnold received a guitar from his mother at age ten. The following year he lost his father, who had played fiddle and bass. He quit school to assist on the family land yet seized every opportunity to perform at local dances. Several years afterward he made his radio debut on a station in Jackson. He soon relocated to St. Louis and worked nightclubs there alongside fiddler Speedy McNatt. While in St. Louis he secured a steady slot on WMPS Memphis and remained at the station for six years, building a loyal audience through those broadcasts.

During World War II, Eddy Arnold joined R.J. Reynolds’ Camel Caravan, whose roster included Redd Stewart, Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys, Minnie Pearl, and San Antonio Rose. The ensemble entertained American troops across the United States and at select engagements in Panama. Following that tour he became the featured vocalist with the Golden West Cowboys on the Grand Ole Opry, initially billed as the Tennessee Plowboy, a sobriquet that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

Eddy Arnold cut his first single, “Mommy Please Stay Home With Me,” for RCA Victor in 1944. At the label he benefited from the counsel of A&R chief Steve Sholes, whose guidance proved instrumental to his ascent.

Eddy Arnold launched his solo career in 1945, the year he married Sally Gayhart. That same year “Each Minute Seems a Million Years,” issued on RCA’s Bluebird imprint, became his first chart entry and reached the Top Five. His breakthrough accelerated in 1946 when “That’s How Much I Love You” climbed to the Top Three, lingered for sixteen weeks, and sold more than 650,000 copies; the B-side, “Chained to a Memory,” also entered the Top Three. Two number-one hits followed in 1947—“What Is Life Without Love” and “It’s a Sin”—yet neither matched the impact of “I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms).” The record remained on the charts for forty-six weeks, twenty-one of them at number one, crossed over to the pop Top Thirty, and finished as the decade’s biggest country single.

With “I’ll Hold You in My Heart” Eddy Arnold’s status as a country superstar was confirmed, a position underscored by the nine singles he released in 1948. All nine reached the Top Five and five attained number one: “Anytime,” “What a Fool I Was,” “Texarkana Baby,” “Just a Little Lovin’ (Will Go a Long, Long Way),” “My Daddy Is Only a Picture,” and “Bouquet of Roses,” the last of which held the top spot for nineteen weeks. In all, he accumulated more than forty weeks at number one that year, solidifying his place as America’s leading country star. He headlined every radio program and concert he joined and drew national demand. By year’s end Colonel Tom Parker had taken over as his manager, later guiding Elvis Presley as well. Throughout 1949 Arnold sustained his dominance, issuing a string of Top Ten releases that included the chart-toppers “Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle,” “One Kiss Too Many,” “I’m Throwing Rice (At the Girl I Love),” and “Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me.”

In the early 1950s Eddy Arnold became a household name beyond country circles. He toured the United States and several foreign countries while appearing on every major television program of the era, among them The Perry Como Show and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. His popularity led to Eddy Arnold Time, the first television series hosted by a country performer; the program originated on NBC before moving to ABC. Throughout this period his run of country Top Ten hits never broke, even though another pop crossover did not arrive until 1954. The volume of country successes remained extraordinary: seven in 1950 and thirteen in 1951, the latter group featuring the number ones “There’s Been a Change in Me,” “Kentucky Waltz,” “I Wanna Play House With You,” “Easy on the Eyes,” and “A Full Time Job.” The hits—“Eddy’s Song,” built from titles of earlier releases, “How’s the World Treating You?,” “I Really Don’t Want to Know,” “My Everything,” “The Cattle Call,” “That Do Make It Nice,” “Just Call Me Lonesome,” and “The Richest Man (In the World)”—kept arriving in strength through 1956.

From 1956 to 1964 Eddy Arnold continued to chart, though Top Ten appearances grew less frequent than in the previous decade. During these years his approach evolved, trading rural textures for a smoother, urbane sound suited to city audiences. He emerged as a crooner backed by restrained instrumentation, understated steel guitar, and occasional orchestral support. The stylistic shift proved commercially potent, ushering in renewed chart supremacy that began in 1965 with “What’s He Doing in My World.” He reclaimed the country summit and again crossed into the pop ranks. This second wave of major hits lasted until 1969 and yielded numerous number-one and Top Ten singles that also registered on the pop charts, among them “Make the World Go Away,” “I Want to Go With You,” “The Last Word in Lonesome,” “Somebody Like Me,” “Lonely Again,” “Turn the World Around,” “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye,” “They Don’t Make Love Like They Used To,” and “Please Don’t Go.”

Into the early 1970s Eddy Arnold remained visible on the country charts even as pop entries ceased. He left RCA for MGM in 1972 after twenty-seven consecutive years with the label. His four-year MGM tenure produced only one substantial hit, 1974’s “I Wish That I Had Loved You Better.” Rejoining RCA in 1976, he closed the decade with “Cowboy” (1976) and “If Everyone Had Someone Like You” (1978). Two further Top Ten country singles arrived in 1980—“Let’s Get It While the Gettin’s Good” and “That’s What I Get for Loving You”—making him one of the rare artists to chart in five separate decades. He continued recording through the 1990s without additional hit singles, yet his concerts and television appearances stayed in demand.

Beginning in the 1960s Eddy Arnold received numerous honors. He entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966. The following year the CMA named him its first Entertainer of the Year. The ACM presented him with the Pioneer Award in 1984; three years later the Songwriters Guild bestowed its President’s Award. Perhaps the clearest measure of his achievement lies in sales: more than 85 million records over the course of his career, ranking him among the most successful artists of the twentieth century. His hundredth album, After All These Years, appeared on RCA Records in 2005.