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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZJACKSON, Stonewall(b 6 November 1932, Tabor City NC; d 4 December 2021, Nashville TN) One of the more genuine country singers of the 1950s-60s, his real name after his great-great-grandfather, a general in the Confederate Army. His father had passed away before he was born, his mother remarried and had to take her three boys away wirh her when the stepfather turned out to be a brute. Stonewall was working in the fields before he was 10. He was an entertainer in the US Navy; from '54 worked as farmer, carpenter, logger while saving for a trip to Nashville: had log-trucking company in Moultrie GA, drove to Nashville '56, signed songwriting contract with Wesley Rose, auditioned for Grand Ole Opry and was the only unknown in modern times (with no records at all) to get an Opry contract. He signed with Columbia '57; first was hit 'Life To Go' '58, then 'Waterloo' '59, no. 1 country, top ten pop '59. He had a distinctive rural voice that the 'Nashville sound' could not diminish. His impressive string of 24 consecutive hit singles included 'Why I'm Walkin'' '60, 'A Wound Time Can't Erase' '62, 'B.J. The D.J.' '63, 'Don't Be Angry' '64, 'Help Stamp Out Loneliness' '67, 'Me And You And A Dog Named Boo' '71. He faded from the charts in the mid-'70s but remained popular with fans of traditional country music and remained a member of the Opry cast for over 60 years. In 2007 He sued the Opry's owners for age discrimination when they began cutting him out of the show; there was a settlement and he continued appearing. From The Bottom Up: The Stonewall Jacson Story In His Own Words was published in 1991. |