ROCKIN' THE COUNTRY

The 2011 Academy of Country Music Awards were presented on April 3rd with Taylor Swift being named 'Entertainer of the Year'. Swift is the youngest performer ever to win this prestigious award. Brad Paisley won 'Male Vocalist of the Year' with Miranda Lambert as 'Female Vocalist of the Year' and although country and rock stay pretty much on their own side of the street these days, back in the 1950's, '60's, '70' and even into the 1980's, country artists and their hits were standing side by side on the singles chart with their rock pals. So this week, we're taking a look at some of those country artists who crossed over into the op charts. These were household names at the time, so it shouldn't be too hard now, should it? Here we go now ya'll.

QUESTIONS:

1. J.R. Ewing (played by actor Larry Hagman) was an nasty dude on the TV series "Dallas". A disc jockey named Gary Burbank had a minor hit in 1980 with "Who Shot J.R.?", a song based on the plot of one of the TV show's season ending cliff hangers. There was one country singer, who's initials were J.R. that had quite a few hits on both the country and the pop charts. His first pop 'crossover' hit, "Four Walls" made it to # 11 on the pop chart in 1957. His last Top 50 hit came in 1966. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the COuntry Music Hall of Fame in 1967. Do you name his name?
2. Another country/pop cossover singer/songwriter whose initials were also J.R. had two of his songs become hits for Elvis Presley. He went on to make the country & pop charts on his own several times. In fact, two of his pop hits made the Top ten chart in 1970 and '71. He later had his own TV series called "Concrete Cowboys" and he co-starred in severalmovies, including "Smokey Anmd The bandit 1 & 2". So who was this 'Hot' country/pop performer?
3. This singer was born in Delight, Arkansas and was a member of a group of elite and very busy Los Angeles session musicians known as 'The Wrecking Crew', who played on hundreds of hit records during the 1960's. This particular guitar player also became a touring member of The Beach Boy for a short while. His singing, and later his TV and movie careers took him to the upper heights of show business fame and fortune. From 1968 until 1972, he had his own TV show called "The ________ __________ Goodtime Hour". He co-starred in several movies, including one with John Wayne. Just wHo is this country/pop superstar?
4. Throughout Hollywood history, there have been many singing cowboys - Tex Ritter, Gene Autry, Jimmy Wakely, Rex Allen and 'The King of The Cowboys' himself, Roy Rogers. Roy and Gene both had long lasting careers in the movies, on record and on TV. Roy Rogers TV theme song, "Happy Trails", written by Roy's wife and TV show co-star Dale Evans, was used at the end of their weekly TV show. A cover version of "Happy Trails" was recorded by a 1980's heavy metal band. What's the name of this band? Extra props if you can name the album it was on.
5. This country/pop crossover singer was born in Texas and in the early 1960's, was a member of The Kirby Stone Four and The New Christy Minstrels. He then formed a pop group called The First Edition and they had two Top 10 hits in the late 1960's. This performer then went solo and his career skyrocketed with hit after hit on both the country and pop charts. His first number one pop hit happened in 1980 with a song written by Lionel Richie of The Commodores. His second number one, in 1983, was a duet with a female country/pop superstar. The singer we're we're looking for also became an actor in movies and TV. He branched out into the restauarant business for awhile, but that didn't last very long. Who is he?

ANSWERS

1. Jim Reeves was the man in question. Reeves' biggest pop hit was 1960's "He'll Have To Go". Reeves died in a plane crash on July 31,1973 at the age of 40. He charted 80 country hits during his life and even after it from 1953 until 1984. His last 7 songs that hit the pop charts came after his tragic death.
2. Remember "Amos Moses"? How about 1971's "When You're Hot, You're Hot"? Jerry Reed wrote 'em and 'sang 'em. The two songs he wrote that Elvis recorded were "U.S. Male" and "Guitar Man".
3. Glen Campbell was the name we're looking for. Glen charted almost 40 songs on the Pop singles chart, but his only two number one hits were "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1975 and "Southern Nights" in 1977. That movie he co-starred in with John Wayne was "True Grit". He also was in "Norwood" and "Strange Homecoming". He charted some 75 country hits.
4. Roy Rogers famous theme song, "Happy Trails" can be heard on Van Halen's 1982 album, "Diver Down". David Lee Roth did a fine job singing it too. Roy and Dale would have been proud.
5. Did you ever eat at a Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant? It was actually pretty good food. One episode of the TV series "Seinfeld" centered around a Kenny Rogers restaurant. Kenny charted over 40 songs on the Pop singles chart and many more on the country charts. His only number one pop hits were "Lady" in 1980, written by Lionel Richie and "Islands In The Stream", a duet with Dolly Parton in 1983.