Gordon Terry (October 7, 1931 – April 9, 2006) was an American bluegrass and

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 ...

fiddler and guitarist. He was a member of

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled ...

's backing band

The Strangers Strangers are people who are unknown to another person or group. Strangers or The Strangers may also refer to: History * Elizabethan Strangers or Strangers, a name applied to French and Belgian immigrants to Norwich, East Anglia, England, during ...

. He was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Fiddlers Hall of Fame.

Biography

Terry was born in

Decatur, Alabama Decatur (dɪˈkeɪtə(r)) is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City", it is located in northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler La ...

and learned to play the fiddle at an early age. He made his first performance 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 divi ...

at age nine. He attended fiddlers' conventions, and won first prize at the Alabama Fiddling Championship in 1946. In 1950, he joined the Grand Ole Opry and within a year, he performed and recorded with

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

. Terry served in the US Army in Korea. After his discharge, he moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, and made his movie debut in '' Hidden Guns'' in 1956. He appeared in three other movies and one episode of '' Sky King''. In 1957, Terry returned for a recording session with Bill Monroe. In the following decades, he recorded with artists such as

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later s ...

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 ...

, Wynn Stewart, Faron Young,

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

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and many more. In November 1961, he recorded a square dance album with Flatt & Scruggs. Terry founded Terrytown, an amusement park in Loretto, Tennessee in 1964, but later sold it. He also founded Reunion Of Professional Entertainers (ROPE), an association with an aim to build a retirement home for entertainers. In 1981, Terry was inducted as a charter member into the Fiddlers Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, the Gordon Terry Parkway in Decatur was named after him. He died in 2006 in Spring Hill, Tennessee. He was posthumously inducted into The Southern Legends Entertainment & Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2006.

References

*
Gordon Terry on Answers.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Gordon 1931 births 2006 deaths People from Decatur, Alabama American bluegrass fiddlers American country singer-songwriters American country fiddlers RCA Victor artists Apex Records artists Liberty Records artists Cadence Records artists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Alabama The Strangers (American band) members Singer-songwriters from Alabama The Tennessee Three members