Jack Greene

Jack Greene
Jack Greene
Background information
Birth name	Jack Henry Greene
Also known as	"The Gentle Giant" "The Jolly Greene Giant"
Born	(1930-01-07)January 7, 1930 Maryville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	March 14, 2013(2013-03-14) (aged 83) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1965-2011
Associated acts	Ernest Tubb Jeannie Seely
Website	Official website

Jack Henry Greene^[1] (January 7, 1930 – March 14, 2013) was an American country musician. Nicknamed the "Jolly Greene Giant" due to his height and deep voice, Greene was a long time member of the Grand Ole Opry. A three-time Grammy Award nominee,^[2] Greene is best known for his 1966 hit, "There Goes My Everything". The song dominated the Country music charts for nearly two months in 1967 and earned Greene "Male Vocalist of the Year", "Single of the Year", "Album of the Year" and "Song of the Year" honors from the Country Music Association.^[2][3] Greene had a total of five #1 Country hits and three others that reached the Top Ten. Billboard magazine named Greene one of the Top 100 "Most Played Artists".^[4]

Early career

Greene was born in Maryville, Tennessee and learned to play guitar when he was ten years old.^[3] His first involvement with the music industry came when he was still a teenager, working as a disc jockey at radio station WGAP in Maryville.^[2][3]

By the age of 18, Greene was a regular on the Tennessee Barn Dance show on vocalist, drummer, and guitarist for the group for eight years.^[4] In 1959, he moved back to Tennessee and settled in Nashville and formed another band, The Tennessee Mountain Boys. A major career break came Greene's way in 1961 when his band served as the opening act for Ernest Tubb. Impressed, Tubb asked Greene to become a part of his backing band, the Texas Troubadors in 1962.^[3]

For the next few years, Jack Greene was a drummer, guitarist, vocalist, and master of ceremonies for the Troubadors' performances. He soon began serving as opening act on a regular basis for Tubb, as well as playing in the band.^[3] In 1964, Jack released his first solo record with The Last Letter. The song originally appeared on one of Ernest Tubb's live albums but drew enough attention that Tubb's record label, Decca Records, released it as a single. Another single, Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me), followed in 1965 but failed to make the Country music charts, having the bad luck to come out at the same time as Ray Price's version. Tubb encouraged Jack Greene to leave the Texas Troubadors and pursue a solo career. Said Greene in an interview, "Ernest told me 'Son I believe it's time to go.' But also said 'If you can't make it you can always come back and be a Troubador."^[3]

Greene's first Top 40 hit came in early 1966 with Ever Since My Baby Went Away, peaking at #37. Later that year, Decca released what would become his signature song, There Goes My Everything. The song reached #1 and stayed on top of the Country charts for 7 weeks while becoming a crossover hit; the album stayed No. 1 for an entire year. His success continued into 1967 with another number 1 in All The Time (on top for 5 weeks) and a number 2 hit with What Locks The Door. In 1967, he received the prestigious awards for Male Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Album of the Year from the Country Music Association. In all, he recorded nine number one country hits on various charts including 5 number one Billboard hits. His success continued into 1968 with another number 1 with You Are My Treasure and the top 5 hit Love Takes Care Of Me.

In 1969, he had 2 number 1 hits with Until My Dreams Come True and Statue of a Fool. He completed the year out with the Top 5 Back In The Arms Of Love.^[5] It was also in 1967 that Jack Greene became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.^[6] He became an Opry mainstay, performing there frequently each year until his health failed.

Later career

In 1970, Greene gained a duet and a touring partner in Jeannie Seely. Together they had three Country hits including Wish I Didn't Have To Miss You, which reached #2 on the charts and became Greene's last top ten hit.^[6] Jack and Jeannie's stage show became one of the biggest touring acts during the 1970s. Jack continued to have both solo hits and duets with Seely. Among the biggest of these hits during the 70's included Lord, Is That Me (1970), There's A Lot About A Woman A Man Don't Know (1971), and two more duets with Jeannie with Much Obliged (1972) and What In The World Has Gone Wrong With Our Love (1972).^[4]

Decca became MCA Records in the early 1970s but Greene kept on having chart success with Satisfaction (1973), I Need Somebody Bad (1973), and It's Time To Cross That Bridge (1974). Afterwards, his chart success declined rapidly as another song in 1974 and one song in 1975 were minor hits, and he was dropped by MCA Records in 1976.^[4]

Jack Greene enjoyed a brief comeback with the Frontline Records label in 1980 as the song Yours For The Taking peaked at #28 on the Country charts.^[6] The song would be Greene's last in the Country Top Forty. He achieved several more minor hits however on Frontline and then on EMH and Step One Records. He continued to tour regularly and appear on the Grand Ole Opry; 2007 marked his 40th anniversary with the Opry.^[7][8]

Jack & Jolly Green Giants 2003

Final years and death

Greene continued to record sporadically in the 2000s including the duet You Have Won My Heart with Santana Maria. However, it failed to chart. Greene recorded his final studio album Precious Memories, Treasured Friends in 2010. An album of duets, it featured fellow Country stars like

• Profile, imdb.com; accessed March 31, 2015.
• Profile, Grand Ole Opry; accessed March 31, 2015.
• Jack Greene at Find a Grave

External links

1. ^ "Jack Greene Amazon.com Bio". Amazon.com website. 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Country music's Jack Greene dies in Nashville". Associated Press via Yahoo News website. Retrieved March 31, 2015. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Jack Green biodata". Grand Ole Opry official website. 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2015. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} "Jack Greene's official website biography". 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013. 
5. ^ Roland, Tom (2003). All Music Guide to CountryCountry, 2nd ed. San Francisco:  
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Dauphin, Chuck. "Country Star Jack Greene Dead At 83". Billboard Magazine via official website. Retrieved March 31, 2015. 
7. ^ "Jack Green profile". Grand Ole Opry. Retrieved June 29, 2012. 
8. ^ "Opry Member List PDF" (PDF). April 23, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2012. 

References

Singles

Albums

Discography

• 1967 — Became a member of the Grand Ole Opry
• 1967 — Country Music Association - Male Vocalist of the Year
• 1967 — Country Music Association - Single of the Year
• 1967 — Country Music Association - Album of the Year

Awards

^[2].Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 83 in Alzheimer's disease In failing health, Greene retired from performing in 2011. He died on March 14, 2013 from complications of [6]