Buddy Wayne Knox (July 20, 1933 – February 14, 1999) was an American singer and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, best known for his 1957 rock hit song, " Party Doll".

Biography

Knox was born in the tiny farming community of Happy, Texas, United States, and learned to play the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

in his youth. In his teens, he and some high-school friends formed a band called the "Rhythm Orchids". After they performed on the same 1956 radio show as fellow Texan

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

and his "Teen Kings" band, Orbison suggested that Knox go to

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Norman Petty, who had a recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, the same studio where Buddy Holly recorded several of his early hits, including " That'll Be the Day". Knox's song "Party Doll" was released on the

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

record label, and went to number one on the Cash Box record chart in 1957 (after being picked from the tiny Triple-D label). It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. This success was followed by "Rock Your Little Baby To Sleep", a number-17 hit, and " Hula Love", a number-9 hit. While he never achieved the same level of artistic success as Holly or Orbison, Knox outlived both and enjoyed a long career in music. For his pioneering contribution, Knox was elected to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. "Party Doll" was voted one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In the early 1960s, Knox signed with

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

and released several more mainstream pop records, featuring

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s and

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

s. "Lovey Dovey" and "Ling-Ting-Tong" were the most notable recordings from this era. The sound captured on these recordings was a distinct departure from his earlier rockabilly work for Roulette. Liberty and principal

Snuff Garrett successfully employed the same production techniques for their other mainstream pop artists of the time, which included Johnny Burnette and Bobby Vee. In 1968, Knox, who had been living in semiretirement in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and ...

, while running his publishing company, moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, and signed a new recording contract with United Artists Records. Working with producer Bob Montgomery (songwriter), Knox honed his traditional rockabilly style more toward the modern

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

sound of the day. His first album on United Artists earned him the nickname by which he would be known for the remainder of his life. The title song of the album, ''Gypsy Man'', written by Sonny Curtis and featuring Curtis' acoustic guitar work, received airplay on

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

radio stations. Several singles recorded by Knox between 1968 and 1974 were notable for his experimenting with a variety of sounds and styles, and from a creative and critical standpoint, may have been his most productive era. His version of Delaney Bramlett's "God Knows I Love You", along with his self-penned "Salt Lake City", placed Knox firmly in the midst of the new pop-music genre, being populated by artists such as Delaney & Bonnie,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in '' Rolling Stone''s list ...

, and others who were on the leading edge of the developing Southern rock style such as Black Oak Arkansas and the Allman Brothers Band. His cover version of James Hendricks' "Glory Train" was another stylistic stretch and featured a gospel-like chorus of backing vocalists. His cover of the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me" demonstrated a vocal range not heard on his older recordings. He also reached out to the new generation of songwriters who would become prominent during Nashville's " Outlaw era" of the 1970s, as he was one of the first artists to record Mickey Newbury's "I'm Only Rockin'". Several other major country music artists later recorded this song, but under the alternate title of "T. Total Tommy". Knox also recorded songs by Alex Harvey, John D. Loudermilk, and Gary Paxton. On several of these recordings, Knox experimented with multitracking, something few artists had done up to that time. For many decades from the 1970s to the 1990s, Knox was based in the small town of Dominion City,

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

, Canada, and toured primarily in Western Canada and upper Midwest U.S. with occasional European appearances. In 1981, he starred in an independent Canadian movie ''Sweet Country Road''. He said the fame took a toll on his family life. Traveling 250 days a year for 35 years, he was voted "the most traveling entertainer in the world" by ''Billboard'' magazine, but he said it cost three marriages for him. In 1992, he divorced and moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, where he was involved in several business ventures including a partnership in a local British Columbia nightclub. His son, Michael Knox, is a record producer.

Death

Moving to Port Orchard, Washington, in 1997 to be with his fiancée, he experienced a fall and injured his hip. The doctor informed him at that time that he had terminal

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. Knox scheduled a farewell show, but died just a few weeks later on February 14, 1999, in Bremerton, Washington. He is interred in Dreamland Cemetery, in

Canyon, Texas Canyon is a city in, and the county seat of, Randall County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,836 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Amarillo, Texas, metropolitan statistical area. Canyon is the home of West Texas A&M University a ...

Discography

Compilation albums

''Buddy Knox — Greatest Hits'' — all the Roulette and Liberty recordings # " Party Doll" (1957, US no. 1, UK no. 29) # "Storm Clouds" (1957) # "That's Why I Cry" (1959, US no. 88) # " Hula Love" (1957, US no. 12) # "C'mon Baby" (1959) # "All For You" (1959) # "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself" (1959, US no. 55) # "Lovey Dovey" (1961, US no. 25) # "Ling-Ting-Tong" (1961, US no. 65) # "Somebody Touched Me" (1958, US no. 22) # "Rock Your Little Baby to Sleep" (1957) # "Cause I'm In Love" (1957) # "Swinging Daddy" (1958, US no. 80) # "The Girl with the Golden Hair" (1959) # "Devil Woman" (1957) # "Mary Lou" (1957) # "Rock House" (1957) # "Maybellinne" (1957) # "Rock Around the Clock" (1957) # "She's Gone" (1962, UK no. 45) # "Slippin' and Slidin'" (1962) # "Chi-Hua-Hua" (1962) # "OPEN YOUR LOVIN' ARMS" (1962) # "Dear Abby" (1962) # "Three Eyed Man" (1962) # "Tomorrow is a Comin'" (1963) # "Hitch Hike Back To Georgia" (1963) # "I Got You" (1960) # "I Ain't Sharin' Sharon" (1959) # "I'm in Love With You" (1957) # "Long Lonely Nights" (1960) # "Good Time Girl" (1965) # "Livin' in a House Full of Love" (1965) # "Love Has Many Ways" (1965) # "Teasable, Pleasable You" (1959, US no. 85)

Singles

* ^A"Gypsy Man" peaked at #64 on Billboard Country charts

References

External links

Rockabilly Hall page
*

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Buddy 1933 births 1999 deaths Musicians from Amarillo, Texas Musicians from Manitoba Songwriters from Texas American rockabilly musicians Apex Records artists Charly Records artists Liberty Records artists Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) Roulette Records artists 20th-century American singers People from Happy, Texas Country musicians from Texas 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters