Update: Gary Robble, one of Sonny’s original Southern Gentlemen, will be joining me at 10pm Central Thursday, August 31 on The Right Track at Wide Awakes Radio. Feel free to leave questions for Gary in the comments section of this post.
Update II: If you wish to get a letter to Sonny James, Gary Robble said he’d be happy to forward it. This is Gary’s address, send it to:
Sonny James
P.O. Box 210123
Nashville, TN 37221-0123
Update III: In case you missed it Thursday, a podcast of the show is available at the end of this post.
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It’s finally happened. Sonny James will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame at the 40th Annual CMA Awards on November 6 in Nashville.
Contemporary superstar George Strait, ’60s and ’70s hitmaker Sonny James and legendary studio musician Harold Bradley have been selected as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The formal inductions will take place during the 40th annual CMA Awards on Nov. 6 in Nashville.
Strait will become the second artist inducted in a category for artists who achieved national prominence between 1975 and the present. James will be inducted in a separate category for those who achieved career prominence between World War II and 1975. Bradley will be inducted in a category honoring recording and/or touring musicians active prior to 1980.
Strait, James and Bradley will increase membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame from 95 to 98 inductees. All Hall of Fame inductees are selected by a panel of more than 300 anonymous voters appointed by the board of directors of the Country Music Association.
If you’ve read my About Me or saw my post on Sonny’s birthday, you know what a huge fan I am of Sonny’s. Recently I’ve had the honor of communicating with a member of Sonny’s original Southern Gentlemen, and with Sonny’s webmaster (I’m not sure if they’d mind me releasing their names, so I’m going to play it safe here). I got e-mails from both of them within a few minutes of each other this morning, and it sure sounded like they were beyond excited.
As well they should be. Not only did Sonny have one of the most distinctive sounds in Country Music (thanks in large part to the musical group The Parsons, who went on to greater fame as Sonny’s original Southern Gentlemen), from all accounts he was one of the nicest, most genuine people you could ever hope to meet. Entertainers today could do worse than take humility lessons from the man!
The picture shown above was taken the night the Parsons — a group of young men who had gotten together to perform Christian music while in college in the Northeast, then migrated to Nashville — first joined Sonny on the Grand Old Opry as the Southern Gentlemen. This was taken on August 15, 1964, just over 42 years ago. Left to right are Lin Bown, Sonny, Gary Robble, and Glenn Huggins. Duane West, also in the group, was out that night — for duty in the Guard Reserves!
At any rate, I’ve literally waited years for this announcement, and want to congratulate Sonny for achieving this career milestone.
It’s long overdue.
Technorati: Sonny James, Country Music Hall of Fame, country music, Country Music Awards, Country Music Association, CMA, George Strait, Harold Bradley
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