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A Note From Billy


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During this time in his life, Redd wrote and sold songs to various performers on the Grand Ole Opry.  He offered to sell "The Tennessee Waltz" to a rising young singer, Cowboy Copas, for $25.00.  Copas refused the offer, saying there were "too many waltzes already."  So Redd put the song back in his guitar case where it remained for the next six months.  He later sang it on a Louisville radio station in 1948, and it was recorded by others.  It gained a good bit of popularity as a country song, and then it sort of faded away.

Several years later, the very popular Patti Page needed an additional song to complete a recording session she had planned.  She agreed to add "The Tennessee Waltz" as the "B" side of the record. When it was released in May, 1950, Patti Page's recording of the song soon sold some 5,000,000 copies, and "it became the most popular song in the nation within six months."  According to Dr. Bill Malone, a respected scholar on the subject, it became the biggest hit in modern popular music, and the top song ever licensed by Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).  What started out as a country song, written by a country writer, became "an international pop standard."

The popularity of "The Tennessee Waltz" has continued through the years, and it reputedly has been played on radio and television more times than any country music song every written.  Several years ago the record sales were over 65,000,000, and I understand that it has now surpassed the 100,000,000 mark.  It has been recorded by over 100 major artists, and it is a "Tennessee State Song." (Its popularity, of course, reached far beyond the boundary of country music, and it may be misleading to refer to it as a country song.)

Redd attended our Tennessee Fall Homecoming until his health forced him from the stage.  His brother Bill, who also plays here every year, informed me recently that the very last time Redd ever sang "The Tennessee Waltz" was here at the Homecoming.

Although Redd was an entertainer, singer, and musician, his greatest gift to the development of country music was doubtless his songwriting.  The fact that his early influence and inspiration was the old-time Carter-style music, and that his songs went beyond just "old time" and were enjoyed by those whose bent was for "progressive" country and even popular music, is an important part of the country music story.
(Redd shown seated on the right, seated beside Redd is his brother, Bill Stewart with fiddle, and on his left is Bill's wife, Helen.  Standing at left is Kent, son of Bill & Helen, and standing at right is writer, John Rice Irwin).

Courtesy of John Rice Irwin,
Founder and Board Chairman,
Museum of Appalachia Museum of Appalachia

Author:   "A People And Their Music" (The Story Behind the Story of Country Music)

 

                                                                



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