HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American
pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...
who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...
. His signature playing style was a cornerstone of the pop-oriented "Nashville sound" of the 1950s and 1960s. Cramer's "slip-note" or "bent-note" style, in which a
passing note A nonchord tone (NCT), nonharmonic tone, or embellishing tone is a note in a piece of music or song that is not part of the implied or expressed chord set out by the harmonic framework. In contrast, a chord tone is a note that is a part of the ...
slides almost instantly into or away from a chordal note, influenced a generation of pianists. His sound became popular to the degree that he stepped out of his role as a sideman and began touring as a solo act. In 1960, his piano instrumental solo, " Last Date" went to number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100
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. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...
chart and sold over one million copies. Its follow-up, "
On the Rebound "On the Rebound" is a 1961 instrumental by pianist Floyd Cramer. In contrast to most of Cramer's work, which consisted mostly of countrypolitan ballads, "On the Rebound" was an uptempo rock and roll instrumental. It made No. 4 in the US and No. 1 ...
", topped the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in 1961. As a studio musician, he became one of a cadre of elite players dubbed the Nashville A-Team and he performed on scores of hit records.


Biography

Cramer was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas. He taught himself to play the
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...
. After finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the
radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...
'' Louisiana Hayride''. After
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
performed on ''Louisiana Hayride'' in 1955, he hired his own band which included Cramer, Jimmy Day,
Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic D ...
, Bill Black, and
D.J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationsh ...
. This group remained his supporting band for much of that year; however, when Presley asked them to relocate to Hollywood, Cramer and Day declined to follow him there, preferring to remain in Nashville to pursue independent careers as studio musicians. In
Nashville 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 ...
, Cramer found that piano accompaniment in
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 ...
was growing in popularity. By the next year he was, in his words, "in day and night doing session". Before long, he was one of the busiest studio musicians in the industry, playing piano for stars such as
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...
,
Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Amon ...
, the Browns, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison,
Don Gibson Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and " I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoy ...
, and the
Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...
, among others. It was Cramer's piano playing, for instance, on Presley's first
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...
single, "
Heartbreak Hotel "Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being g ...
". While Cramer was well-established as a session player, he had a long career as a solo performer with dozens of his own albums and singles, including some Top 40 instrumental hits. Cramer had released records under his own name since the early 1950s and became well known following the release of " Last Date", a
45-rpm In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...
single, released by RCA Victor in 1960."Last Date" is the closing theme of Ray Hadley's radio show on Sydney's radio station 2GB. The instrumental piece exhibited a relatively new concept in piano playing known as the "slip note" style. The record went to number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100
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. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...
chart, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song was kept out of the number 1 position by Elvis Presley's " Are You Lonesome Tonight". The session pianist for Elvis's recording of that #1 song, in a very early morning session (about 4:00 AM) at RCA Studio B in Nashville, was none other than Floyd Cramer himself. In 1961, Cramer had a hit with "
On the Rebound "On the Rebound" is a 1961 instrumental by pianist Floyd Cramer. In contrast to most of Cramer's work, which consisted mostly of countrypolitan ballads, "On the Rebound" was an uptempo rock and roll instrumental. It made No. 4 in the US and No. 1 ...
", which went to number 4, and number 1 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. ("On the Rebound" was featured during the opening credits of the 2009 Oscar-nominated film '' An Education'', which was set in England in 1961.) Also in 1961, Cramer had a hit with " San Antonio Rose" (number 8). By the mid-1960s, Cramer had become a respected performer, making numerous albums and touring with guitar maestro Chet Atkins and
saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
Boots Randolph, sometimes headlining and sometimes as the opening act for Eddy Arnold. Cramer also performed with them as a member of the Million Dollar Band. Cramer died of
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 ...
on New Year's Eve, 1997 at the age of 64. He was interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in the Nashville suburb of
Madison, Tennessee Madison (originally Madison Station) is a former settlement, now a suburban neighborhood of northeast Nashville, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is incorporated as part of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. The ...
.


Legacy

Cramer’s grandson, Jason Coleman, followed in his footsteps taking up the piano, performing with him on television and in concert at a young age. At age 17, he played " Please Help Me, I'm Falling", the first song to feature Cramer's signature slip notes, with Hank Locklin at 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 divi ...
, and two years later played piano for the Medallion Ceremony at Cramer's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He carries on his grandfather's legacy with recordings and a touring tribute concert, The Piano Magic of Floyd Cramer, sharing the piano arrangements and story of Cramer's contributions to American music.


Awards

In 2003, Cramer was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...
. In 2004, his recording of "Last Date" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, established to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. In 2008 Cramer was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...
, in
Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. J ...
, offers the Floyd Cramer Competitive Scholarship.


Discography


Albums


Singles

*A"Dallas", a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...
of the theme to the popular
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...
, peaked at No. 8 on the '' RPM'' Country Tracks chart in Canada.


See also

* The Nashville A-Team


References


Other sources

* Escott, Colin (1998), "Floyd Cramer". In Paul Kingsbury (ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music'', New York: Oxford University Press., pp. 117–18.


External links


Rockhall.com


*
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
*
Floyd Cramer recordings
at the
Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
.
Jason Coleman, grandson of Floyd Cramer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cramer, Floyd 1933 births 1997 deaths American country pianists American male pianists American country singer-songwriters Abbott Records artists RCA Victor artists Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana People from Union County, Arkansas Deaths from lung cancer Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Country Music Association Deaths from cancer in Arkansas Million Dollar Band (country music group) members Burials in Tennessee 20th-century American singers 20th-century American pianists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Arkansas Country musicians from Louisiana Country musicians from Arkansas Easy listening musicians 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters