The incomparable Ernest Tubb, known to friends simply as E.T., earned legendary status through both his personal character and a fifty-year career that began with his initial radio appearance in 1932 and concluded with his passing in 1984. Alongside figures such as Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and George Jones, Tubb embodied country music itself. He ranked among the earliest honky tonk vocalists and the first to secure nationwide acclaim. His initial recording, “The Passing of Jimmie Rodgers,” honored his idol, while his enduring partnership with Decca commenced in 1940 via “Blue Eyed Elaine.” Three years afterward, the self-written classic “Walkin’ the Floor Over You” became a hit that opened doors to the Opry, film roles, and widespread fame. In 1947 he launched his Nashville record shop and inaugurated the Midnight Jamboree, the WSM program that followed the Opry, promoted the store, and spotlighted both established stars and emerging talent. By then he stood among the globe’s most familiar musical figures, expanding country music’s reach to unprecedented audiences. Over subsequent decades he traveled extensively with his Texas Troubadors, greeting admirers after performances that showcased numerous successes including “Slippin’ Around,” “Two Glasses Joe,” “Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin,” “Rainbow at Midnight,” “Let’s Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello,” and “Driftwood on the River.” In 1975, following thirty-five years with Decca/MCA, the label ended the relationship, its executives’ loyalty falling short of that shown by his vast fan base. Afflicted by lung disease, Tubb endured pain by resting on a cot between takes, concluding his career in circumstances that mirrored those faced by his hero Rodgers half a century earlier. Echoing one of his album titles, Tubb departed with both a legend and a legacy.
Born the youngest of five children in Ellis County, Texas, Tubb saw his farming parents relocate the family to Benjamin when he reached age six. His parents’ divorce during his pre-adolescent years left him dividing his teenage time between their separate households while taking on various odd jobs. Drawn early in adolescence to Jimmie Rodgers’ music, he followed a friend and fellow guitarist, Merwyn Buffington, in learning the instrument during his late teens. After Rodgers died in May 1933, Tubb resolved to build a musical career in emulation of his idol and relocated to San Antonio, where he rejoined Buffington, then performing with the Castleman Brothers on a local station. The guitarist persuaded his employers to allow Tubb a guest vocal slot, soon leading to Ernest’s own regular early-morning program.
Still sounding much like Rodgers and devoted to the same model, Tubb eventually met the late singer’s widow, Carrie, who took a strong liking to him, lent him one of Jimmie’s guitars, and urged RCA to sign the newcomer. His first singles closely resembled Rodgers’ style, among them two further tributes to the Singing Brakeman, yet they sold poorly and prompted a swift release from the label. Undeterred, Tubb continued performing at small clubs and stations with limited notice. A pivotal development occurred in 1939 with the removal of his tonsils, which eliminated his yodel and fostered the distinctive twangy, nasal delivery for which he became known. Decca recorded him in April 1940, and one resulting single, “Blue Eyed Elaine,” achieved modest success. By year’s end the label had extended a longer-term contract, coinciding with Tubb’s regular radio slot on Fort Worth’s KGKO.
Early in 1941 he recorded several new numbers backed by staff electric guitarist Fay “Smitty” Smith of KGKO. The initial release from those sessions, “Walking the Floor Over You,” grew into a massive hit over subsequent months and ultimately surpassed a million copies sold. Recognized as the first honky tonk song, it simultaneously propelled Tubb’s career and defined the genre. He performed it in the Charles Starrett film Fighting Buckeroos (1941), which led to another appearance in Starrett’s Ridin’ West (1942). By late 1942 his popularity enabled release from his radio contract, and he moved to Nashville. Arriving in January 1943, he joined the Grand Ole Opry and became the first musician to play electric guitar on its stage.
A recording ban stemming from a musicians’ union strike kept Tubb out of the studio between 1942 and 1944, though he maintained an active touring schedule, frequently alongside Pee Wee King and Roy Acuff. Returning to recording in 1944, he issued the number-two “Try Me One More Time” early that year, followed by his first number-one single, “Soldier’s Last Letter.” These tracks initiated a nearly fifteen-year run of almost unbroken Top Ten placements; of the fifty-four singles released during that span, only four missed the Top Ten, each still reaching the Top Fifteen. Beginning in 1946 he recorded exclusively with his own band, the Texas Troubadors, and ranked among the first country artists to cut tracks in Nashville. From the close of 1945 through the end of 1946 he scored major successes with “It’s Been So Long Darling,” “Rainbow at Midnight,” “Filipino Baby,” and “Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin,” solidifying his domestic standing while attracting new listeners worldwide.
Early in 1947 he established the Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville, promoted via the Midnight Jamboree, the program he created to occupy the post-Opry radio slot. That same year he became the first country star to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall, underscoring his role in broadening country’s national appeal; only a few years earlier such rural music would have seemed out of place in so urbane a setting. During 1949 he reached peak popularity, placing an extraordinary thirteen hit singles on the charts—an achievement made more notable by the chart’s mere fifteen positions per week. Many of those releases became standards, among them “Have You Ever Been Lonely? (Have You Ever Been Blue),” “Let’s Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello,” “I’m Biting My Fingernails and Thinking of You” (a collaboration with the Andrews Sisters), “Slipping Around,” and “Blue Christmas.” The following year brought eleven additional hits, including “I Love You Because” and “Throw Your Love My Way,” plus several successful duets with Red Foley such as “Tennessee Border No. 2” and the number-one “Goodnight Irene.” Tubb further demonstrated his influence by aiding Hank Snow’s Grand Ole Opry debut and supporting Hank Williams.
Throughout the 1950s he recorded and toured without pause, accumulating well over thirty hit singles, most—including the classics “Driftwood on the River” (1951) and “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1955)—landing in the Top Ten. Sales softened slightly by decade’s end, resulting in fewer Top Ten entries though continued Top Twenty consistency. Rock & roll and newer, harder-edged honky tonk artists gradually eroded his audience, and big hits ceased arriving in the early 1960s. Despite reduced sales, Tubb still filled concert halls and maintained a popular television program. Although the overall quality of his recordings varied during this period, he produced several enduring tracks such as “Thanks a Lot,” “Pass the Booze,” and “Waltz Across Texas.” Starting in 1964, Decca paired him with Loretta Lynn for a series of duets; over the next five years the pair completed three albums and scored four charting singles: “Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be,” “Our Hearts Are Holding Hands,” “Sweet Thang,” and “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out.”
Diagnosed with emphysema in 1966, Tubb disregarded medical advice and continued touring and recording into the early 1970s, during which time he collected several minor hits along with lifetime achievement honors. Inducted in 1965 as the sixth member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, he became one of the first artists enshrined in the Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame in 1970. Shortly after the latter accolade, new chart entries dwindled sharply; in the ensuing five years he managed only one minor success, 1973’s “I’ve Got All the Heartaches I Can Handle.” Parting from Decca in 1975, he signed with Pete Drake’s First Generation label, which yielded a minor hit, “Sometimes I Do,” in early 1978. The next year Drake assembled an all-star tribute, The Legend and the Legacy, featuring Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Chet Atkins, and Charlie Daniels overdubbing new performances onto Tubb’s original recordings. Issued on Cachet Records, the album generated two minor chart entries—“Waltz Across Texas” and “Walkin’ the Floor Over You”—before contractual issues prompted its withdrawal.
The Legend and the Legacy marked Tubb’s final chart appearance. He persisted with live work for three more years, yet health concerns forced retirement in late 1982. During the closing engagements of his last tours he required oxygen and rested on a cot between shows, an unsettling echo of Rodgers’ final recording sessions. Tubb succumbed to emphysema on September 6, 1984, leaving an immense legacy that helped define the contours of modern country music.
