Billy Wayne Grammer (August 28, 1925 – August 10, 2011) was an American country music singer and accomplished guitar player. He recorded the million-selling "

Gotta Travel On "Gotta Travel On" is an American folksong. The earliest known version was printed in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag in 1927 under the title "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff" and several variations were recorded in the 1920s, but the best kn ...

", which made it onto both the country and pop music charts in 1959. Grammer would become a regular performer on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

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

Biography

Grammer, the eldest of 13 children (nine boys and four girls), was born in Benton, Illinois. His father was a musician; he played the violin and trumpet. He served in the US Army during World War II, 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.

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.Grand Ole Opry legend Billy Grammer dead at 85
''The Southern Illinoisan'', August 10, 2011, by Brent Stewart After being signed by Monument Records in Nashville, Tennessee, Grammer scored a big hit with the million-selling single: "

", written 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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

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. "

" 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 and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

on his final tour in January and February 1959, which ended in tragedy. He recorded the first chart version of

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Early ca ...

's "

Detroit City Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

", 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 advertise ...

'' 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 in Nashville on March 1, 1969. On May 15, 1972, Grammer and the Travel on Boys played at the rally in Laurel, Maryland where Alabama governor

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

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 (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

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