Billy Wayne Grammer (August 28, 1925 – August 10, 2011) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer and accomplished guitar player. He recorded the million-selling " Gotta Travel On", which made it onto both the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

in 1959. Grammer would become a regular performer on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

, eventually designing, and marketing his namesake guitar after co-founding a guitar company, in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Biography

Grammer, the eldest of 13 children (nine boys and four girls), was born in

Benton, Illinois Benton is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Illinois. The population was 6,709 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. In 1839, Franklin County, Illinois, Franklin County was split roughly in half and the county seat was p ...

. His father was a musician; he played the violin and trumpet. He served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and upon discharge worked as an apprentice toolmaker at the Washington Naval gun factory at Shop No. 20. Grammer married his high-school girlfriend, Ruth Burzynski, in 1944. Shortly after the war ended, 18,000 of a 24,000-strong workforce were laid off, including Grammer. The couple returned to their home in

Franklin County, Illinois Franklin County is a county in Southern Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 37,804. The largest city is West Frankfort and the county seat is Benton. This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as "Little Egypt". Histo ...

Music career

When Grammer and his wife were living in Washington D.C., he was hired by Connie B. Gay as a singer in support of Gay's WARL radio program: ''Town and Country Time''. When Gay was preparing to replace the session guitarist, Grammer demonstrated his own guitar prowess, and was re-contracted in a dual-role as both singer and lead guitarist. After being signed by

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

, Grammer scored a big hit with the million-selling single: " Gotta Travel On", copyrighted by David Lazar, Larry Ehrlich, Paul Clayton and Tom Six. The song peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart and No. 5 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in 1959. That same year, he became a regular cast member on the

. Grammer named his band after his most notable hit as The Travel On Boys. " Gotta Travel On" was used as the opening song by

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

on his final tour in January and February 1959, which ended in tragedy. He recorded the first chart version of Bobby Bare's " Detroit City", entitled "I Wanna Go Home". It hit the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country chart in early 1963. Grammer founded RG&G (Reid, Grammer & Gower) Company in 1965 with Clyde Reid and J.W. Gower. RG&G made the Grammer guitar from 1965 until 1968, when a fire consumed the factory in downtown Nashville. The company was then sold to Ampeg, and a new factory was erected down the street from the old one. The company was renamed Grammer Guitar, Inc. (GGI). GGI produced the Grammer guitar until 1970. His guitar was installed into the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

in Nashville on March 1, 1969. On May 15, 1972, Grammer and the Travel on Boys played at the rally in

Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River, in northern Prince George's County. Its population was 30,060 at the 2020 census. Founded as a mill town i ...

where

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

was shot. Grammer and his band played the "Under the Double Eagle" march as Wallace mounted the stage to speak. After he spoke, Wallace mingled with the crowd, and Arthur Bremer shot a concealed handgun at the presidential candidate. The outcome was Wallace's

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

, leaving him using a wheelchair for the rest of his life. "I've said all along, if they wanted to do something like this, they do it under these circumstances," Grammer said, weeping, after the incident. Grammer delivered the invocation for the Grand Ole Opry House opening on March 16, 1974.Trott. p. 208 In 1990, he was inducted into the Illinois Country Music Hall of Fame, along with

Tex Williams Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985) was an American Western swing musician. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)", which held th ...

, Lulu Belle and Scotty, and Patsy Montana. Grammer suffered from the degenerative eye disease

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a member of a group of genetic disorders called inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) that cause loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visua ...

daughter Dianne Grammer and became completely blind. On February 27, 2009, he was honored by the

for his 50-year membership.

Death

Grammer died on August 10, 2011, aged 85, at Benton Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for a long-term illness, which included suffering a heart attack seven months earlier.

Singles

References

External links

Billy Grammer Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grammer, Billy 1925 births 2011 deaths American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Illinois People from Benton, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Grand Ole Opry members American country guitarists American male guitarists Monument Records artists Decca Records artists Epic Records artists London Records artists Guitarists from Illinois 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians United States Army personnel of World War II American blind people