Bill Carlisle

Mainstay of the 'Grand Ole Opry' for more than 40 years

William Carlisle, singer and guitarist: born Wakefield, Kentucky 19 December 1908; married (one son, one daughter); died Nashville, Tennessee 17 March 2003.

Visitors to the Grand Ole Opry, the long-running Nashville stage and radio show, may, over the past few years, have been surprised to see a man in his ninth decade leaping about the stage as he performed. "Jumping" Bill Carlisle was a mainstay of the Opry for over 40 years; marrying humour and exuberance into a lighthearted whole that appealed to generations of fans.

He began to "jump" back in the 1940s whilst performing on the influential, if often underrated, Midday Merry-Go-Round radio show from WNOX, Knoxville, Tennessee. Having created the comedic persona of "Hotshot Elmer", Carlisle started staging mock fights and began jumping, flat-footed, over chairs.

The novelty numbers and the on-stage antics are, however, only part of the story, for Carlisle began his career as one of the many white country bluesmen who dominated "hillbilly" music in the late Twenties and early Thirties; often performing with his elder brother Cliff.

A pioneer of the steel guitar, Cliff Carlisle had played alongside the great Jimmie Rodgers and as part of a duo with the guitarist Wilbur Ball before he and Bill joined forces. Together, they became radio stars at WLAP, Lexington. In 1933 Bill Carlisle cut one of his most popular radio hits, "Rattlesnake Daddy". In common with other hillbilly records of the era it betrayed the clear influence of Rodgers, as did sometimes risqué numbers like "Copper Head Mama" and "String Bean Mama". The brothers were equally at home with gospel material and, joined by Cliff's three-year old son "Little" Tommy, also cut sentimental numbers including "Lonely Little Orphan Child".

By 1937 the brothers hosted their own Carlisle Family Barn Dance on a Louisville radio station and two years later recorded a delightful version of Billy Cox's "Sparkling Blue Eyes". Originally entitled "Sparkling Brown Eyes", it was also a success that year for Wade Mainer and his Sons of the Mountaineers.

Cliff gradually drifted away from the music scene, spending the decades until his death in 1983 in semi-retirement. Bill, however, formed a small group, the Carlisles, and recorded for King and Mercury Records.

Whilst "Rainbow at Midnight" (1946) and "Tramp on the Street" (1948), for King, were standard country hits of the period, the numbers Bill Carlisle recorded for Mercury tended to be up-tempo novelties. They included "Too Old to Cut the Mustard" (1951), "No Help Wanted" (1952), "Is Zat You, Myrtle?" and "'Taint Nice (To Talk Like That)" (both 1953).

"No Help Wanted", which became a No 1 hit in 1953, features not only the vocal trio of Carlisle, Martha Carson and Ray Sneed, but also the distinctive guitar work of the young Chet Atkins, who dextrously weaves his licks around Ernie Newton's percussive bass. "Leave That Liar Alone" (1953) was four years later transformed by Ray Charles into "Leave My Woman Alone" and has become an R&B staple.

The hits dried up for the Carlisles in the late Fifties but they continued to turn out albums for labels like Columbia and Vanguard. In the mid-Sixties Bill Carlisle enjoyed a further Top Ten hit in 1966 with "What Kinda Deal is This?"

He had joined the cast of the Opry in 1953 and there he remained for over 40 years, performing either with a group which at different times included his children Billy and Sheila or, on rare occasions, with his brother Cliff. Even a quadruple heart bypass in 1993 failed to dim his energy and he remained a much-loved figure within the music industry. Last year he was belatedly inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

I first had the pleasure of seeing Bill Carlisle perform on the Opry in September 1996 and found him in surprisingly good voice. Having undergone surgery only a few months earlier, he shuffled onstage using a zimmer frame for support. However, he not only "jumped" during his performance but also carried the frame on his back as he strolled offstage.

Paul Wadey