Stonewall Jackson (musician)

__NOTOC__ Infobox musical artist
Name = Stonewall Jackson
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Stonewall Jackson
Born = birth date and age|1932|11|06
Origin = Tabor City, North Carolina, USA
Genre = Country
Associated_acts = Ray Price, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell
Occupation = musician
Years_active = 1956 – present
Label = Columbia
URL = [http://www.stonewalljacksoncountry.com/]

Stonewall Jackson (born November 6 1932, Tabor City, North Carolina) is an American country singer and musician who achieved his greatest fame during country's "golden" honky tonk era in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was named after the famous Confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, who he claims was an ancestor of his; the name is not a nickname.

His most popular song was "Waterloo," in 1959. The song is a haunting and catchy tune that states "Everybody has to meet his Waterloo," meaning their fate or comeuppance. The song cites Adam, Napoleon and Tom Dooley as examples.

Jackson was the first artist to join the Grand Ole Opry before obtaining a recording contract. He signed to Columbia Records and debuted in 1958 with "Don't Be Angry." The song did not score in the country music top 40, but it got him recognition.

His breakthrough came in the country Top 40 in late 1958, with a song written by a young George Jones, "Life to Go." It peaked at #2 in early 1959 and his follow-up record, "Waterloo," was #1 for 5 weeks and crossed over into the Top 40 Pop charts, where it reached #4. His next #1 came in 1964, with "B.J. The D.J." (about an over-worked country music radio station disc jockey, who crashes his car in a rainstorm because of bad tires). Jackson was the first artist to record a live record from the Grand Ole Opry, in 1963 with "Old Showboat." Other classics include "The Carpet On The Floor," "Why I'm Walkin'," "A Wound Time Can't Erase" and "I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water." Jackson also recorded a cover version of Lobo's 1971 hit, "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo."

From 1958 to 1971, Jackson had 35 Top 40 Country Hits. Along with Ray Price, Jackson is considered a cornerstone, after Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell, of the hard-driving honky tonk sound in the late 50s and early 60s.

In 2006, Jackson sued the Grand Ole Opry for $10 million, claiming age discrimination. As a member of the Opry for over fifty years, Jackson believed that management was sidelining him in favor of younger artists. In his court filing, Jackson claimed that Opry general manager Pete Fisher stated that he didn't "want any gray hairs on that stage or in the audience, and before I'm done there won't be any." Fisher is also alleged to have told Jackson that he was "too old and too country." [(Yahoo! News, 1/12/07)]

Notes

References

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:21t67uy0h0jk~T1/ All Music Guide overview]
* [http://www.stonewalljacksoncountry.com/ Official website]
*Trott, Walt (1998). "Stonewall Jackson". In "The Encyclopedia of Country Music". Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 259.

External links