Left us on this day (Jun. 19) in 2013: American country singer, songwriter & guitarist Slim Whitman (heart failure, age 90); highly influential (even the likes of George Harrison & Michael Jackson cited him as an influence), he is best remembered for his signature high voice & yodeling skills; while working in a hometown Tampa, Florida shipyard, he was given the chance to sing on a local radio station, where he was heard by Col. Tom Parker (of Elvis Presley fame); The Colonel helped secure Slims first recording contract with RCA in 1948; a series of Country hits followed until 1955, when he scored his first #1 Pop hit with Rose Marie - it topped the UK charts for an unprecedented 11 weeks (until Bryan Adams broke that record in 1991); in 1979, Slim appeared in one of the earliest TV infomercials, considered THE most successful such promo ever, responsible for selling 1.5 million copies of his All My Best greatest hits collection; over the course of his career, he sold over 120 million albums, including his most recent, Twilight On The Trail (2010), his first new studio release in 26 years; he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museums Walkway of Stars in 1968; the 1996 film Mars Attacks! features Slims rendition of Indian Love Call as a weapon against alien invaders…
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 20:38:40 +0000
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