"Merle Travis could write you a hit song and sing it; he could draw
you a cartoon, play you a great guitar solo, or fix your watch." (Chet
Atkins)
"If someone needed a song, he was always willing to oblige. He knew
I liked the cartoons he drew, and nearly every letter I got from him would
have a cartoon drawing on it. I am really proud that he included me as
one of his many, many friends." (Grandpa Jones)
His brother's skill in building things produced a homemade guitar. On
this instrument, he learned a few chords and began to sing songs he had
learned from an old wind-up phonograph. It was at this point that his style
began to develop. He used the five-string banjo style of picking on the
guitar. The style, which he discovered in his teens, is an accompaniment
played with the thumb while the forefinger plays the melody on the higher-pitched
strings. From listening to Mose Rager and Ike Everly, and practicing what
he had heard, he became more and more adept in this style.
Merle worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps just long enough
to buy himself a $30 Gretch guitar, then started hitch-hiking about the
country with his friend, Raymond McClellan, playing on street corners and
taking up collections. It was his first real experience at "touring", and
he slept everywhere from train stations to parked trucks.
His radio debut came in Evansville, Ind, when an announcer allowed him
to play. He played "Tiger Rag" and was heard by a local group called the
"Tennessee Tomcats." He accepted their job offer and played on radio for
free, and toured with the group, making the fantastic amount of 35c a day.
Another job offer came along. This time it was at the mines, but
his dreams were coming true...he was getting to wear costumes on stage
and play in front of a crowd. A job in the mines just wasn't for him.
From these humble beginnings he went on to become a legend in
his own time. The compositions of Merle Travis ranged from juke box hits
to songs that have become internationally known by Country and Popular
singers alike. Such a song is "Old Mountain Dew." The subject matter of
his material ranged from songs such as "Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette" (Capital
records first million seller), to a song of great social comment like "Sixteen
Tons."
Merle Travis died in Oklahoma on October 20th 1983 at the age
of 65. His ashes are buried at the Merle Travis monument in the Muhlenberg
County community of Ebenezer. I have not found much information about him
on the web. He was a very famous person (at one time five of the top six
hits on the country music hit parade were his songs), but this was long
before the personal computer revolution and the internet. I plan on adding
more information about Merle Travis and his music on this page as time
permits and as I gather the information. If anyone has anything they want
me to consider using please E-Mail it to me or leave a comment on my guest
book.
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© 1996 Darrel W. McClellan©
1996
This page has been visited
East of Greenville, KY, in a little community called Rosewood, Merle
Travis was born on November 17, 1917. He gained his first knowledge of
string music when he heard his father play a five string banjo. Whenever
he could, Merle would get the banjo and try to imitate exactly what his
father had played, and when he was still a young boy he had taught himself
to play fairly well.
Visit
another Merle Travis page
VISIT THOM
BRESH, SON OF MERLE TRAVIS<
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