Ernest Tubb

When Ernest Tubb ("E.T." to his friends) was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1965, he said, "I don't deserve it. But I'm sure glad somebody thought I did." All his life, E.T. put country music first and himself second.

Born Ernest Dale Tubb on Feb. 9, 1914 in Crisp, Texas, all he ever wanted to do was sing like Jimmie Rodgers. Tubb was 19 before he ever picked up a guitar, but once Tubb set his mind to something, he didn't go by halves. He practiced on his $5.50 used guitar until his fingers bled.

Eventually Ernest Tubb got a job singing on radio station KONO in San Antonio and decided to contact Carrie Rodgers, Jimmie Rodgers' widow. She became a fan of his radio show, and she not only arranged for E.T. to have a 1936 recording session with RCA, but also loaned him one of Jimmie's guitars for the session.

Ernest Tubb went through more years of struggling before lightning struck, but when "Walking The Floor Over You" hit in 1941, it hit with a vengeance. That year, Tubb appeared in two Hollywood films, signed with J.L. Frank as manager and agent, and made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.

Ernest Tubb became one of the first artists to record in Nashville, and the first country music star to headline a show at Carnegie Hall. Tubb, while determined to keep his music country, was one of the first to use electric guitars when juke box owners complained that it was hard to hear acoustic guitars when the bar crowds got rowdy.

Besides recording on his own, Ernest Tubb had numerous hits with Red Foley and with Loretta Lynn. In order to promote country music, he opened his famous Ernest Tubb Record Shop and began broadcasting his "Midnight Jamboree" every week following the Grand Ole Opry. Many young stars got their start playing on the Jamboree, and several major stars came out of his band, the Texas Troubadours (including Jack Greene and Cal Smith).

Once, when someone asked Ernest Tubb why he appeared on the Grand Ole Opry so much despite the heaviest touring schedule in the business, he replied, "What else would I do? There's nothing I love more than singing for a live audience." Throughout his career, when E.T. finished a performance, he would flip his guitar over. On the back was printed the word "Thanks." And he meant it every time.

Ernest Tubb died in Nashville on September 6, 1984.

From: http://www.cmt.com/art/search/art.bios.jhtml?ai_id=507676

For more information on Ernest Tubb
please see the following sites:

http://www.etrecordshop.com

http://www.halloffame.org/hall/mem/ernest-tubb.html

http://www.camelotmedia.com/ernesttubb.html

http://www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/heritage/biographies/tubb_e.htm