Floyd Cramer
| Floyd Cramer | |
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Floyd Cramer (1965)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Floyd Cramer |
| Born | October 27, 1933 Shreveport, Louisiana, United States |
| Origin | Huttig, Arkansas, United States |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist |
| Instruments | Piano, organ, harpsichord |
| Associated acts | Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Patsy Cline |
Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound". He was known for his "slip note" piano style, where an out-of-key note slides into the correct note.
Contents
Biography
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cramer grew up in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas, teaching himself to play the piano. After finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the Louisiana Hayride radio show.
In 1953, he cut his first single, "Dancin' Diane", backed with "Little Brown Jug", for the local Abbott label. During 1955 he played dates with an emerging talent who would later figure significantly in his career, Elvis Presley.[1][2]
Cramer moved to Nashville in 1955 where the use of piano accompanists in country music was growing in popularity. By the next year he was, in his words, "in day and night doing session".[3] Before long, he was one of the busiest studio musicians in the industry, playing piano for stars such as Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, the Browns, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, and the Everly Brothers, among others.[4] It was Cramer's piano playing, for instance, on Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel". However, Cramer remained strictly a session player, a virtual unknown to anyone outside the music industry.
Cramer had released records under his own name since the early 1950s, and became well known following the release of "Last Date", a 45 rpm single, released by RCA Victor in 1960.[5] The instrumental piece exhibited a relatively new concept for piano playing known as the "slip note" style. The record went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song was kept out of the No. 1 position by Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight".[6]
In 1961, Cramer had a hit with "On the Rebound", which went to No. 4, and No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.[7] ("On the Rebound" was later featured during the opening credits of the 2009 Oscar-nominated film An Education, which was set in England in 1961.) That same year Cramer also had a hit with "San Antonio Rose" (No. 8).
By the mid-1960s, Cramer had become a respected performer, making numerous albums and touring with guitar maestro Chet Atkins and saxophonist Boots Randolph, sometimes headlining, and sometimes as the opening act for Eddy Arnold. Cramer also performed with them as a member of the Million Dollar Band.
Over the years, he continued to balance session work with his own albums. Many of these featured standards or popular hits of the era and from 1965 to 1974 he annually recorded a disc of the year's biggest hits prefaced "Class of . . ." Other long-players included I Remember Hank Williams (1962), Floyd Cramer Plays the Monkees (1967), Sounds of Sunday (1971) and Looking For Mr Goodbar (1978). In 1977 Floyd Cramer and the Keyboard Kick Band was released, on which he played eight different keyboard instruments.[1]
Floyd Cramer died of lung cancer in 1997 at the age of 64 and was interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in the Nashville suburb of Madison, Tennessee.
Legacy
His grandson, Jason Coleman, inherited his grandfather's skill on the piano, performing with him on television and in concert at a young age. At age 17, he played "Please Help Me, I'm Falling", the first song to feature Cramer's signature slip notes, with Hank Locklin at the Grand Ole Opry, and two years later played piano for the Medallion Ceremony at Cramer’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He carries on his grandfather's legacy with recordings and a touring tribute concert, The Legacy of Floyd Cramer, sharing the piano arrangements and story of Cramer's contributions to American music.
Awards
In 2003 Floyd Cramer was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Cramer's recording of "Last Date" was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame, established to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. In 2008 Cramer was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, offers the Floyd Cramer Competitive Scholarship.
Quotation
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Trying to launch myself on a solo career, after being Elvis Presley's pianist for so long, placed me in an unenviable position. Some people thought I was trying to cash in. If I had wanted to cash in on my association with Elvis, I would have done it five years ago.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | |||
| 1957 | That Honky Tonk Piano | — | — | MGM Records |
| 1960 | Hello Blues | — | — | RCA Victor |
| 1961 | Last Date | — | — | |
| On the Rebound | — | 70 | ||
| 1962 | America's Biggest Selling Pianist | — | — | |
| Floyd Cramer Gets Organ-ized | — | 113 | ||
| I Remember Hank Williams | — | 130 | ||
| 1963 | Swing Along with Floyd Cramer | — | — | |
| Comin' On | — | — | ||
| Three Great Pianos (with Peter Nero and Frankie Carle) | — | — | ||
| 1964 | Country Piano-City Strings | — | — | |
| Cramer at the Console | — | — | ||
| The Best of Floyd Cramer | — | — | ||
| 1965 | Hits from the Country Hall of Fame | 10 | — | |
| Class of '65 | — | 107 | ||
| The Magic Touch of Floyd Cramer | — | — | ||
| 1966 | The Distinctive Piano Style of Floyd Cramer | — | — | |
| Only the Big Ones | — | — | ||
| Class of '66 | — | 123 | ||
| 1967 | Night Train | — | — | |
| Here's What's Happening! | 20 | 166 | ||
| Floyd Cramer Plays the Monkees | — | — | ||
| Class of '67 | 21 | — | ||
| We Wish You a Merry Christmas | — | 26 | ||
| 1968 | Floyd Cramer Plays Country Classics | 16 | — | |
| Class of '68 | — | — | ||
| Floyd Cramer Plays MacArthur Park | 36 | — | ||
| The Best of Floyd Cramer Volume 2 | — | — | ||
| 1969 | Class of '69 | 31 | — | |
| Floyd Cramer Plays More Country Classics | 17 | — | ||
| 1970 | The Big Ones, Vol. 2 | — | 183 | |
| With the Music City Pops | — | — | ||
| This Is Floyd Cramer | 39 | — | ||
| Class of '70 | 43 | — | ||
| 1971 | Almost Persuaded | — | — | |
| Chet Floyd & Boots (with Chet Atkins and Boots Randolph) | — | — | ||
| Sounds of Sunday | 44 | — | ||
| Class of '71 | 34 | — | ||
| 1972 | Detours | — | — | |
| Class of '72 | — | — | ||
| Best of the Class of Floyd Cramer | — | — | ||
| Date with Floyd Cramer | — | — | ||
| 1973 | Floyd Cramer Plays the Big Hits | — | — | |
| Super Country Hits | — | — | ||
| Class of '73 | 34 | — | ||
| 1974 | Young and Restless | — | — | |
| Spotlight On | — | — | ||
| Floyd Cramer in Concert | 25 | — | ||
| 1975 | Piano Masterpieces 1900–1975 | — | — | |
| Class of '74 and '75 | — | — | ||
| 1976 | Floyd Cramer Country | 46 | — | |
| 1977 | Floyd Cramer & the Keyboard Kick Band | 50 | — | |
| Chet Floyd & Danny (with Chet Atkins and Danny Davis) | 46 | — | ||
| 1978 | Looking for Mr. Goodbar | — | — | |
| 1979 | Super Hits | — | — | |
| 1980 | Dallas | 29 | 170 | |
| 1981 | Great Country Hits | — | — | |
| The Best of the West | — | — | ||
| 1982 | 20 of the Best | — | — | |
| 1985 | Collector's Date | — | — | |
| Country Classics | — | — | Pair Records | |
| 1988 | Special Songs of Love | — | — | Step One Records |
| Country Gold | — | — | ||
| Just Me and My Piano | — | — | ||
| 1989 | Forever Floyd Cramer | — | — | |
| We Wish You a Merry Christmas | — | — | ||
| Originals | — | — | ||
| 1991 | Gospel Classics | — | — | |
| 1994 | The Piano Magic of Floyd Cramer | — | — | Ranwood |
| 1995 | Favorite Country Hits 1 | — | — | |
| 1996 | The Piano Magic of Floyd Cramer 2 | — | — | |
| 1997 | Blue Skies | — | — | |
| Favorite Country Hits 2 | — | — | ||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [9] |
US Country | US R&B | US AC | CAN Country | |||
| 1958 | "Flip Flop and Bop" | 87 | — | — | — | — | Last Date |
| 1960 | "Last Date" | 2 | 11 | 3 | — | — | |
| 1961 | "On the Rebound" | 4 | — | 16 | — | — | On the Rebound |
| "San Antonio Rose" | 8 | 8 | — | 3 | — | ||
| "Your Last Goodbye" | 63 | — | — | — | — | America's Biggest Selling Pianist | |
| "Hang On" | 95 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962 | "Chattanooga Choo Choo" | 36 | — | — | 9 | — | (single only) |
| "Let's Go" | 90 | — | — | — | — | Floyd Cramer Gets Organ-ized | |
| "Lovesick Blues" | 87 | — | — | 20 | — | I Remember Hank Williams | |
| "Hot Pepper" | 63 | — | — | — | — | (singles only) | |
| "Swing Low" | 110 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Losers Weepers" | 127 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963 | "Java" | 49 | — | — | 12 | — | Swing Along with Floyd Cramer |
| "(These Are) The Young Years" | 129 | — | — | — | — | Comin' On | |
| "How High the Moon" | 121 | — | — | — | — | (single only) | |
| "Heartless Heart" | 124 | — | — | — | — | Country Piano-City Strings | |
| 1967 | "Stood Up" | — | 53 | — | 24 | — | (single only) |
| 1968 | "By the Time I Get To Phoenix" | — | — | — | 32 | — | |
| 1970 | "Theme from Two-Twenty-Two" | — | — | — | 39 | — | |
| 1977 | "Rhythm of the Rain" | — | 67 | — | — | — | Floyd Cramer & the Keyboard Kick Band |
| 1980 | "Dallas" | 104 | 32 | — | 34 | 8 | Dallas |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wadey P., "Obituary: Floyd Cramer", Independent Monthly (UK), Independent News and Media Limited, January , 1998.
- ↑ April 01 Friday, 02 Saturday; August 14 Sunday; September 05 Monday beginning of a five-day tour; source: Peter Guralnic and Ernst Jorgensen, Elvis Day By Day, Random House; retrieved 2.2014.
- ↑ "Floyd Cramer", Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- ↑ Chet Atkins interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
- ↑ "Last Date" is also featured as the closing theme for Ray Hadley's radio show on Sydney's radio station 2GB.
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- Escott, Colin (1998), "Floyd Cramer". In Paul Kingsbury (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Country Music, New York: Oxford University Press. ,pp. 117–18.
External links
- Articles with hCards
- 1933 births
- 1997 deaths
- American country pianists
- American country singers
- American country singer-songwriters
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
- Abbott Records artists
- RCA Victor artists
- Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana
- People from Union County, Arkansas
- Deaths from lung cancer
- Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Members of the Country Music Association
- Cancer deaths in Tennessee
- Million Dollar Band (country music group) members
- Burials in Tennessee
- 20th-century pianists
- 20th-century American musicians
- 20th-century American singers
