Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson ranked among country music's leading figures during the early 1960s, amassing multiple Top Ten singles on the country charts while establishing himself as a regular presence at the Grand Ole Opry. His imploring vocal style appeared to echo the difficult and frequently harsh childhood he spent on a dirt farm in south Georgia. Family accounts held that he shared a bloodline with the Confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and had been given the same name in tribute. At age ten he exchanged his bicycle for a guitar and started composing original material, including early versions of songs that later became hits such as "Don't Be Angry."

He launched his professional singing career in the mid-1950s and relocated to Nashville in 1956. Shortly after arriving, he brought an unsolicited demo to Acuff-Rose Publishing, where executive Wesley Rose was sufficiently impressed to arrange an audition at the Grand Ole Opry. Jackson thereby became the first performer admitted to the Opry roster without a prior record deal. He made his initial appearance on the Opry's Friday Night Frolics ahead of the formal debut, and with backing from Ernest Tubb's Texas Troubadours he drew such strong audience response that four encores were requested. Jackson subsequently toured with Tubb, who served as a guiding influence on the younger artist and writer.

In early 1957 he secured a Columbia Records contract and recorded his debut single, "Don't Be Angry." A cover of George Jones' "Life to Go" followed and climbed to number two on the country chart in early 1959. The novelty-tinged yet somber "Waterloo" performed even more strongly, holding the top country position for five weeks, reaching number four on the pop chart, and securing national television spots. Throughout the early 1960s Jackson remained a reliable hitmaker with country standards that included "Why I'm Walkin'" (number six, 1960), "A Wound Time Can't Erase" (number three, 1962), and "I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water" (number eight, 1965). His second chart-topping single, "B.J. the D.J.," appeared in early 1964.

Fewer Top 40 entries arrived during the latter half of the decade, though he did achieve one further Top Ten success with 1967's "Stamp Out Loneliness." Columbia albums from this era featured intricate lyrics supplied by established Nashville writers such as Vic McAlpin; tracks like "Ship in a Bottle" and "Nevermore Quote the Raven" brought literary sophistication to conventional country subjects. By 1970 Jackson had fallen outside the Top 40 altogether. A brief resurgence occurred in 1971 via a cover of Lobo's "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," and his final chart entry came in 1973 when "Herman Schwartz" peaked at number 41.

Thereafter he maintained a steady schedule of Opry appearances and sporadic recording, issuing projects such as the gospel-oriented Make Me Like a Child Again. He also revisited earlier hits in new studio versions and privately issued his autobiography, From the Bottom Up, in 1991. Stonewall Jackson died in Nashville on December 4, 2021, from vascular dementia at the age of 89.