Louis Marshall Jones (October 20, 1913 – February 19, 1998), known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and old time/country music singer. He was inducted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1978.

Biography

Jones was born in the small farming community of Niagara in Henderson County, Kentucky, the youngest of 10 children in a sharecropper's family. His father was an old-time fiddle player, and his mother was a ballad singer and adept on the concertina. Ramona Riggins, one of several women who began to gain some recognition in a musical form long dominated by men was Grandpa's wife and musical partner of over 30 years. Ramona first started playing the mandolin when she was six or seven years old. His first experience playing music in public came at the age of 11 or thereabouts. The music of the WLS Barn Dance in Chicago was a major influence on Louis, as were the Jimmie Rodgers records his sister brought home. <!--He won a contest which is featured as singer and host in 1929, "I won fifty dollars in ten dollar gold pieces, and of course I went right out and brought a better guitar!" Wonder Hall, “The Red Headed Music Maker” (famous for “It Ain’t gonna Rain No More” The winning songs were “Going Back To Texas” and “ My Dear Old Southern Home.” ???? This bit is evidently mangled and makes little sense. Comment back in once it has been clarified.--> In 1942, Jones joined WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he met fellow Kentuckian Merle Travis. In 1943, they made their recording debuts together for Syd Nathan's upstart King Records. Jones testified at the trial of the killers; his testimony helped to secure a conviction.

Honors

In 1978, Jones was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His autobiography, Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind the Mike, was published in 1984. In 2023, Jones was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in the Historical category.

Death

thumb|Jones's gravestone in Goodlettsville, Tennessee

In January 1998, Jones suffered two strokes after his second show performance on the Grand Ole Opry. He died at 7:00 pm Central Time on February 19, 1998, at the McKendree Village Home Health Center in Hermitage, Tennessee, at age 84. He was buried in the Luton Memorial Methodist Church cemetery in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Discography

Jones recorded for several labels, including RCA Victor, King Records and Monument.

  • Grandpa Jones Sings His Greatest Hits (1954)
  • Country Music Hall of Fame Series (1992) MCA
  • Grandpa Jones & The Brown's Ferry Four 16 Sacred Gospel Songs, King Records
  • Grandpa Jones Yodeling Hits (1963) Monument
  • Grandpa Jones Remembers the Brown's Ferry Four (1966) Monument
  • Grandpa Jones Live (1970) Monument

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! Year

! Single

! width="45"| <small>US Country</small>

|-

| 1944

| "It's Raining Here This Morning"

| align="center"| —

|-

| 1946

| "Eight More Miles to Louisville"

| align="center"| —

|-

| 1947

| "Mountain Dew"

| align="center"| —

|-

| 1947

| "Old Rattler"

| align="center"| —

|-

| 1951

| "Fifteen Cents Is All I Got"

| align="center"| —

|-

|1953

|"I'm No Communist"

| align="center"| —

|-

| 1958

| "Daylight Saving Time"

| align="center"| —

|-

| 1959

| "The All-American Boy"

| align="center"| 21

|-

| 1962

| "T for Texas"

| align="center"| 5

|-

| 1963

| "Night Train to Memphis"

| align="center"| —

|}

References

Other

  • Wolfe, Charles K. (1998). "Grandpa Jones". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury (editor), New York: Oxford University Press. pp.&nbsp;269–70.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed -->
  • Profile, CMT.com
  • Jones profile, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum website
  • Grandpa Jones with the Delmore Brothers