Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, 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. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars

Patsy Cline Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. One of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, she was known as one of the first country music artists to successfully Cross ...

and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Copas was a member of 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 ...

Biography

Copas was born in 1913 in Blue Creek, Ohio, United States."Cowboy Copas", in ''Country Music: The Rough Guide'', Kurt Wolff and Orla Duane, editors (Rough Guides, 2000) pp. 107-108 He began performing locally at age 14, and appeared on WLW-AM and WKRC-AM in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

during the 1930s. In 1940, he moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, where he performed on WNOX-AM with his band, the Gold Star Rangers. In 1943, Copas achieved national fame when he replaced

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' country music charts, second onl ...

as a vocalist in the

Pee Wee King Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000), known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz". Pee Wee King is credited with ...

band, and began performing on the

. His first solo single, "Filipino Baby", released by King Records in 1946, hit number four on 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, and sparked the most successful period of his career. While continuing to appear on the Opry, Copas recorded several other hits during the late 1940s and early 1950s, including " Signed Sealed and Delivered", " The Tennessee Waltz", "Tennessee Moon", "Breeze", "I'm Waltzing with Tears in My Eyes", " Candy Kisses", "Hangman's Boogie", and "The Strange Little Girl". Copas' 1952 single, "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered", reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' country chart, but it was his final top-40 hit for eight years. Although Copas did not maintain his popularity of the late 1940s through the next decade, he continued to perform regularly at the Grand Ole Opry, and appeared on ABC-TV's ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s American television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ''Country Mu ...

''. After a lackluster partnership with

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In its early years, Dot sp ...

, Copas surged to the top of the charts again in 1960 with the biggest hit of his career, " Alabam", which remained number one for three months. Other major hits during his successful period with Starday Records in the early 1960s, including "Flat Top" and a remake of "Signed, Sealed And Delivered", held promising implications for the future of his career.

Aircraft accident

On March 3, 1963, Copas,

, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and others performed at a benefit concert at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

, for the family of

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

Cactus Jack Call, who had died the previous December in an automobile accident. On March 5, they left for Nashville in a Piper Comanche piloted by Copas' son-in-law (and Cline's manager), Randy Hughes. After stopping to refuel in

Dyersburg, Tennessee Dyersburg is a city in and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 16,164 at the 2020 census, down 5.72% from the 2010 ce ...

, the craft took off at 6:07 pm CT. The plane flew into severe weather and crashed at 6:29 pm in a forest near

Camden, Tennessee Camden is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Tennessee. The population was 3,674 at the 2020 census. History Native Americans were living in the Camden area as early as the Archaic period (8000-1000 BC). A significant archaeologica ...

, 90 miles from their destination, with no survivors. A stone marker, dedicated on July 6, 1996, marks the location of the crash. Copas was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in

Goodlettsville, Tennessee Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson and Sumner County, Tennessee, Sumner Counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; in 2020, its popul ...

, in "Music Row" with Hawkins and other country music stars. AdamsCountyOHCourthouse2

Discography

King Records

*''Sings His All-Time Hits'' (1957) *''Hymns and Sacred Songs'' (1959) *'' Tragic Tales of Love and Life'' (1960) *''Broken Hearted Melodies'' (1960) *''The Country Gentleman of Song'' (1963) *''As You Remember'' (1963) *''The Legend of Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins No. 2'' (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins *''In Memory'' (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins *''Tragic Romance'' (1969)

Starday Records

*All Time Country Music Great (1960) *Inspirational Songs by Cowboy Copas (1961) *Songs That Made Him Famous (1961) *Mister Country Music (1962) *Opry Star Spotlight on Cowboy Copas (1962) *Country Music Entertainer No. 1 (1962) *Beyond the Sunset (1963) *The Unforgettable Cowboy Copas (1963) *Star of the Grand Ole Opry (1963) *The Late and Great (1964) *Cowboy Copas and His Friends (1964) *The Legend Lives On (1965) *The Cowboy Copas Story (1965) *Shake a Hand (1966) *Signed Sealed and Delivered (1967) *Filipino Baby (1970) *16 Greatest Hits Of Cowboy Copas (1970)

Imperial Records

*Songs of the Old West 1 (1961)

Hilltop Records

*Gone But Not Forgotten (1965) with Patsy Cline & Johnny Horton *A Satisfied Mind (1966)

Singles

Notes

References

*Bush, John (2003). Edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, & Stephen Erlewine. "Cowboy Copas (Lloyd Estel Copas)." ''All Music Guide to Country'', 2nd ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2003. *Smith, Jonathan Guyot (1998). "Cowboy Copas." In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 111. *Simon, John Roger (2008) ''Cowboy Copas and the Golden Age of Country Music''. Jesse Stuart Foundation, publisher. 416 pages w/ illustrations.

External links

Cowboy Copas tribute page at patsycline.comCowboy Copas biography at hillbilly-music.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Copas, Cowboy 1913 births 1963 deaths American country singer-songwriters Grand Ole Opry members American male singer-songwriters King Records artists Dot Records artists Starday Records artists People from Adams County, Ohio Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Tennessee 20th-century American songwriters Singer-songwriters from Ohio Country musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents