Song:Last Date
Album:20 Greatest Hits
Pianist Floyd Cramer was one of the most important figures in country music history. His playing style is synonymous with country music. He played on many sessions and he even scored a top five pop hit with Last Date in 1960. He was born Oct. 27, 1963 in Shreveport, LA and he grew up in Huttig, AR. Cramer taught himself to play piano and after graduating high school, he became the pianist on the Louisiana Hayride radio show. He even toured with Elvis Presley. The event that changed Cramer's life was when he met RCA Nashville head and guitar legend Chet Atkins. Atkins brought Cramer to Nashville. Cramer played on everything produced at RCA Nashville. He developed what became known as the "slip note" piano style. You can hear this on hundreds of hits including Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. Occasionally Cramer recorded his own music. And one of those recordings Last Date reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. The only thing that kept Last Date from topping the charts was Elvis Presley's Are You Lonesome Tonight and Cramer played piano on that record. Lawrence Welk's cover of Last Date was also a hit. Skeeter Davis even wrote lyrics for Last Date and that was a hit too. And in 1972 Conway Twitty wrote his own lyrics to Last Date. Obviously Last Date was Cramer's signature song. But his real legacy was all the hits he played on. Cramer recorded and toured for many years until his death on Dec. 31, 1997 at age 64. This comp was sold on TV and it's a good intro to Cramer's music. Floyd Cramer was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2003. Cramer's grandson Jason Coleman also plays piano and he tours as a tribute to Cramer's legacy. Here's Floyd Cramer performing Last Date on The Johnny Cash Show 1971.
No comments:
Post a Comment