Faron Young

Faron Young first gained recognition under the nicknames "the Hillbilly Heartthrob" and "the Singing Sheriff," building one of the most enduring and widely followed trajectories in country music. Rising at the start of the 1950s, he ranked among the leading honky-tonk performers who surfaced after Hank Williams passed away, owing partly to his skill at softening the rawest aspects of the style. Early on, he blended honky-tonk roots with pop-oriented vocal delivery and embellishments, a mix that produced a string of Top Ten successes such as "If You Ain't Lovin'," "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," "Sweet Dreams," "Alone With You," and "Country Girl," extending through the decade. In the 1960s he leaned further into country-pop, yet releases kept appearing at a steady clip into the early 1980s. Throughout those years he remained a regular presence at the Grand Ole Opry and on programs such as Nashville Now, while also establishing the prominent country publication Music City News. Above all, he actively championed emerging writers such as Don Gibson, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson, helping nurture the next wave of talent.

Born and raised near Shreveport, Louisiana, Young received a guitar during his childhood on his father's dairy farm and was performing with a country group by high school. After graduation he briefly enrolled in college, then departed to become a regular on the Louisiana Hayride. There he encountered Webb Pierce, and the two soon toured the South as a duo, appearing in nightclubs and honky-tonks. In 1951 Young cut "Have I Waited Too Long" and "Tattle Tale Tears" for Gotham Records; Capitol acquired his contract the following year after hearing those sides. Also in 1952 he joined the regular cast of the Grand Ole Opry.

Just as momentum built, Young was drafted for service in the Korean War. Stationed with the Special Service division, he performed for troops across Asia and took part in recruitment broadcasts; during a furlough he laid down his first Capitol single, "Goin' Steady." Issued in early 1953, the track rose to number two on the country charts and was succeeded that summer by "I Can't Wait (For the Sun to Go Down)," which peaked at number five. Discharged in November 1954, he promptly delivered "If You Ain't Lovin," his strongest seller to that point, followed in spring 1955 by the chart-topping "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" and the number-two follow-up "All Right."

Once back in the States, Young issued singles rapidly, most of them landing inside the Top Ten. He simultaneously entered films, beginning with Hidden Guns in 1955, and over the next several years appeared in at least ten more pictures, among them Daniel Boone, Road to Nashville, Stampede, A Gun and a Gavel, That's Country, and Raiders of Old California, plus numerous television programs. His initial screen role earned him the sobriquet "the Young Sheriff," which later evolved into "the Singing Sheriff." The year 1956 marked a clear upswing: "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night" and "You're Still Mine" reached numbers four and three in the spring, and "Sweet Dreams" climbed to number two that summer. The latter not only revived his commercial strength since "All Right" but also provided Don Gibson his first major showcase as a writer. Young soon earned a reputation for surfacing promising talent, guiding Roy Drusky's "Alone With You" to the summit in summer 1958 and taking Willie Nelson's "Hello Walls" to number one in 1961, one of the earliest recordings of a Nelson composition.

Young remained with Capitol until 1962, when he moved to Mercury. His Mercury sides generally favored a more pop-inflected approach than his earlier work, perhaps influenced by the fact that "Hello Walls," his final Capitol number one, had reached number 12 on the pop charts. Through the early and middle 1960s his sound grew smoother and more produced, yet popularity held firm; although fewer records dominated the uppermost chart positions than in the 1950s, he sustained consistent success with entries such as "You'll Drive Me Back (Into Her Arms Again)," "Keeping Up With the Joneses," and "Walk Tall."

In 1965 Young exited the Grand Ole Opry, finding solo touring more lucrative than the venue's schedule. He then pursued varied enterprises, including a Nashville racetrack and co-founding the country journal Music City News with Preston Temple in 1963. Toward the decade's close he revisited honky-tonk material, highlighted by the number-two hit "Wine Me Up" in summer 1969. For roughly the next five years he continued to score Top Ten placements with tracks including "Your Time's Comin'," "If I Ever Fall in Love (With a Honky Tonk Girl)," "Step Aside," and "It's Four in the Morning." He kept appearing on television and made occasional Opry guest spots. By the late 1970s his chart entries tapered off. After leaving Mercury for MCA in 1979, none of his singles for the new label cracked the Top 40.

Through most of the 1980s Young played concerts, oversaw his commercial interests, and made television appearances, functioning as the established country figure he had become. In 1988 he returned briefly to the studio with the independent Step One label, scoring two modest chart entries. Afterward he eased into semi-retirement, performing only sporadically.

During the 1990s Young suffered from severe emphysema. Discouraged by declining health, he died by suicide on December 10, 1996, one day after shooting himself. Although his later years brought less attention, Faron Young proved an influential vocalist of the 1950s and stands among the era's most accomplished honky-tonk singers. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine