FARON FIFTY-FOUR YEARS AGO: In January 1952, Webb Pierce and the Southern Valley Boys helped the Shreveport police raise money for the March of Dimes. They played four shows at locations around town one Saturday, playing on the back of flatbed trucks. Faron fronted Webb’s band. Appearing with them that day was 11-year-old Jerry Kennedy, […]
FARON FIFTY-ONE YEARS AGO: On February 6, 1955, Faron headlined two shows at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. Package tours usually included local talent as well as the advertised performers, with the headliner closing the show. In Memphis that Sunday the local talent was Elvis Presley and his two-man band. The advertising poster listed Faron’s […]
FARON TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO: In January 1982 Faron moved out of the Harbor Island house he had bought from his friends, Casey and Liz Anderson, when he and Hilda separated in 1976. Located on a privately-owned island on Old Hickory Lake and decorated in Faron’s favorite colors, blue and white, the house had an indoor […]
FARON FORTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO: Faron’s only recording experience at the Capitol Tower studio in Hollywood, California, took place during the three-day period of January 14-16, 1958. It resulted in his second album, “The Object of My Affection,” a collection of songs popular in earlier decades. The songs included several Faron sang during his teen years, […]
FARON FIFTY-SEVEN YEARS AGO: In January 1949 Faron introduced himself to 15-year-old Carole Wicks in the cafeteria of Fair Park High School and said, “You’re a pretty little thing–you know that?” He smelled of cigarettes and Old Spice shaving lotion and wore a red and black plaid jacket, a blue shirt open at the neck, […]
FARON FIFTY-FOUR YEARS AGO: Faron signed his first recording contract on January 2, 1952, with Capitol Records. At 19, he was still a minor. His parents both signed a letter that certified, “Faron Young is our natural son [and] we have legal custody of him.” Ken Nelson hadn’t met Faron yet, but he’d heard him […]
FARON FIFTY-ONE YEARS AGO: Christmas Day fell on a Saturday in 1954, and Faron appeared on the Grand Ole Opry that evening. Ernest Tubb hosted the Martha White portion, where Faron sang his latest release, “If You Ain’t Lovin’ (You Ain’t Livin’).” Faron hosted a 15-minute portion of the Opry later in the evening. There […]
FARON FIFTY-ONE YEARS AGO: When Faron returned to Nashville and started touring as a civilian again, Hubert Long booked him on shows with Marty Robbins and the Wilburn Brothers. Faron put together his own band in December 1954. The first member was Gordon Terry, who had been the military supervisor and fiddle player for PFC […]
I can’t type “December 7” without thinking of Pearl Harbor. It’s the day that brought the United States into World War II and changed the lives of everyone living at the time. No, that does not include me. This week marks the ninth anniversary of Faron’s death.
Instead of cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my daughters, I took them to see “Walk the Line.” (We’d met Tommy Cash and visited Johnny & June’s empty house on Old Hickory Lake when we were last in Nashville.) I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, especially the music. Truly impressive acting and singing. As soon as we got […]