[Vintage-Audio] Music Trivia

[Robert Nickels]

Duane Fischer, W8DBF wrote:
> Thanks Bob,
>
> Now I may be mistaken, but my finely tuned ears tell me one of the 
> bass singer's at the RCA Nashville Studio B was Black. He is on the 
> 1963-1964 release of the Al Hirt "Honey In The Horn" album. He is 
> singing with Anita Kerr and company.
Again you prove you have good ears, Duane.  Right you are, that would be 
Louis Nunley -  Original Bass Singer with the Anita Kerr Singers, Louis 
has stood in on the bass part, and other parts for the Jordanaires, when 
he was needed and available;  became official Baritone April, 1999, due 
to the illness of Duane West.

However he may sound, Duane, there's a picture too, and well, unlike 
Michael Jackson, there's no doubt Louis is NOT black!  But there is a 
history page devoted to each of the ex-Jordanaires, and since I think it 
would be of interest to many, I'll paste the entire text below.   And 
Duane you won't be surprise to know that in the background of the 
webpage there are two group photos, one with the Jordanaires and one 
with the Anita Kerr Singers.   And the cover art from the Grammy winning 
"We Dig Mancini" Kerr LP, the last one recorded in 1965 with the RCA 
Nashville singers before she moved to California.

73, Bob W9RAN

       
Louis Nunley is a veteran of the music industry in Nashville. As the 
Bass Singer with The Anita Kerr Singers since February 1953, he is one 
of the twenty or so performing musicians, including The Jordanaires, 
whose contributions to recordings were the basis of what has become 
known the world over as "The Nashville Sound".

Louis was born October 15, 1931, in Sikeston, Missouri, and was raised 
in Anderson, Indiana. In 1948, he moved to Nashville to attend David 
Lipscomb College, where he made his first commercial recordings in 1949, 
and was graduated in 1952, with a major in Mathematics. 
   
In 2001, Louis and his wife, Mary Ann, happily celebrated their 50th 
Wedding Anniversary. They have two sons: Louis, Jr. and Lee, both of 
whom are quite successful and live in Nashville.

In the early years of the recording industry in Nashville, there were 
two active vocal groups: The Jordanaires and The Anita Kerr Singers. 
Since vocal groups are a basic element in almost all Nashville 
recordings, both groups worked unbelievably busy schedules in the 
studio, on television and on the radio. The two groups were doing three 
to four, 3 hour recording sessions per day, 7 days a week. Consequently, 
they are collectively and individually, among the most recorded voices 
in the history of music.

In 1956, The Anita Kerr Quartet won the popular "Arthur Godfrey Talent 
Scouts Show". That began a relationship with Godfrey that continued 
until he retired from his daily CBS radio and television shows. The 
group had an open invitation to come to New York and appear on Godfrey's 
shows, so they arranged their schedules of background recordings in 
Nashville, as often as possible to clear small blocks of time for him. 
It was an opportunity to promote their growing reputation as a featured 
recording act and that recognition culminated in the quartet's winning 
two "Grammy's" in 1965: "Best Recording By A Vocal Group" and "Best 
Religious Recording" with George Beverly Shea.

Meanwhile, Louis had stayed busy in the " background singing business" 
through the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and is still going strong. 
Today, Louis has recorded with hundreds of artists, some of whom are: 
Red Foley, Brenda Lee, Burl Ives, Jim Reeves, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, 
Floyd Cramer, Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, Dolly 
Parton, Engelbert Humperdinck, Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, 
and, yes, Elvis Presley -- and the list goes on.

In addition to recordings, Louis has been active in commercials, movie 
and television soundtracks, and has appeared on the vast majority of 
major network television specials originating in Nashville, including 
The CMA Awards Shows and The Music City News Awards Shows, as well as 
being a regular on the "Statler Brothers Show", among the countless 
others. He is also an outstanding arranger, both for vocals and for 
instruments, from one piece to symphony.

Louis has filled in with "The Jordanaires" when needed for over 
forty-five years, subbing for everyone in the group at one time or 
another. When illness forced the retirement of Duane West in 1999, Louis 
was tapped for replacing him as baritone and as a regular member of the 
group. With the passing of Neal Matthews in the year 2000, Louis was 
pressed into his role as arranger for the group.

Quoteth Louis: "The first 50 years as a professional singer has been a 
great warm-up and now I'm looking forward to meeting all the new 
challenges in today's music industry and to many more pleasant, 
productive years with Gordon, Curtis and Ray: "The Jordanaires".


 

>