Ernie Ashworth
Encyclopedia
Ernest Bert Ashworth was an American
country music
singer and longtime Grand Ole Opry
star. Signed to the Hickory label, he recorded two studio albums in his career and charted several singles on Billboard
Hot Country Songs
, including the number one "Talk Back Trembling Lips
" and six other top ten hits.
on December 15, 1928, he began his career singing on Huntsville radio station
WBHP-AM. In 1949, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee
, where he worked for several radio stations and was signed by Wesley Rose
as a songwriter
for Acuff-Rose Music
. Among the artists who recorded his songs between 1949 and 1955 were Jimmy Dickens, Carl Smith
, Johnny Horton
and Paul Anka
.
Success as a recording artist eluded him, however, and in 1957 he returned to Huntsville and began working at the US Army's Redstone Arsenal
, doing guided missile work. Three years later, Rose arranged a recording contract for him with Decca Records
. Billed as Ernest Ashworth, his first single, "Each Moment (Spent With You)," became a Top Five Hit. Later that year, "You Can’t Pick A Rose In December" went into the Top Ten; and in 1961, "Forever Gone" reached the Top 20.
In 1962, Ashworth moved to Hickory Records
, owned by Acuff
-Rose
, and he scored a Top Five hit with "Everybody But Me" and a Top Ten with "I Take The Chance."
But it was his third release for Hickory that became a smash hit and his signature song. "Talk Back Trembling Lips" hit number one and stayed on the national country chart for 42 weeks, and peaked at #101 on the pop charts.
Voted "Most Promising Male Artist" by Cashbox, Billboard and Record World
magazines in 1963 and 1964, he was invited to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry
in 1964. More chart records followed including "The D.J. Cried," "At Ease Heart" and "I Love To Dance With Annie." Ashworth continued to be a regular performer at the Opry, but he never had a record to match the success of "Talk Back Trembling Lips".
In 1989, he purchased radio station WSLV
in Ardmore, Tennessee
. In 1992, Ashworth was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame
. Always a popular performer overseas, he had a number one song on the UK Independent Chart, "Lonely Only Bar," in 1999 and was also named the "Number One Most Programmed Independent Artist in Europe" that year.
Ashworth remained active as a recording artist until his death in 2009, making appearances at the Grand Ole Opry and spending much of his time tending to the affairs of his radio stations in Ardmore
and Gallatin, Tennessee
.
In 2008 Ernie was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Throughout his career he achieved many awards and inductions into Halls of Fame across the United States
Notes
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer and longtime Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
star. Signed to the Hickory label, he recorded two studio albums in his career and charted several singles on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
, including the number one "Talk Back Trembling Lips
Talk Back Trembling Lips
"Talk Back Trembling Lips" is a 1963 song first recorded by Ernest Ashworth. The song became the most successful of Ernest Ashworth's career, becoming his only No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that October. The song spent 35 weeks on the country chart. The song also bubbled...
" and six other top ten hits.
Biography
Born Ernest Bert Ashworth in Huntsville, AlabamaHuntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
on December 15, 1928, he began his career singing on Huntsville radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
WBHP-AM. In 1949, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, where he worked for several radio stations and was signed by Wesley Rose
Wesley Rose
Wesley Rose was an American music industry executive and record producer.The son of songwriter Fred Rose, he was born in Chicago, Illinois, and studied to become a Chartered Accountant...
as a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
for Acuff-Rose Music
Acuff-Rose Music
Acuff-Rose Music was an American music publishing firm formed by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms at the time and lead them to fame throughout the 50's, 60's, 70's.-History:Acuff-Rose...
. Among the artists who recorded his songs between 1949 and 1955 were Jimmy Dickens, Carl Smith
Carl Smith (country musician)
Carl Milton Smith was an American country music singer. Known as "Mister Country," Smith was the husband of June Carter and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter...
, Johnny Horton
Johnny Horton
John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
and Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
.
Success as a recording artist eluded him, however, and in 1957 he returned to Huntsville and began working at the US Army's Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base and a census-designated place adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area...
, doing guided missile work. Three years later, Rose arranged a recording contract for him with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. Billed as Ernest Ashworth, his first single, "Each Moment (Spent With You)," became a Top Five Hit. Later that year, "You Can’t Pick A Rose In December" went into the Top Ten; and in 1961, "Forever Gone" reached the Top 20.
In 1962, Ashworth moved to Hickory Records
Hickory Records
Hickory Records is a United States record label founded by Acuff-Rose Music in 1954 which operated the label up to 1979. Present owner Sony/ATV Music Publishing revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, functioning as an independent label throughout its history, it has had several...
, owned by Acuff
Roy Acuff
Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
-Rose
Wesley Rose
Wesley Rose was an American music industry executive and record producer.The son of songwriter Fred Rose, he was born in Chicago, Illinois, and studied to become a Chartered Accountant...
, and he scored a Top Five hit with "Everybody But Me" and a Top Ten with "I Take The Chance."
But it was his third release for Hickory that became a smash hit and his signature song. "Talk Back Trembling Lips" hit number one and stayed on the national country chart for 42 weeks, and peaked at #101 on the pop charts.
Voted "Most Promising Male Artist" by Cashbox, Billboard and Record World
Record World
Record World magazine was one of the three main music industry trade publications in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box magazines. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but since 1964 changed it to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin, both...
magazines in 1963 and 1964, he was invited to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
in 1964. More chart records followed including "The D.J. Cried," "At Ease Heart" and "I Love To Dance With Annie." Ashworth continued to be a regular performer at the Opry, but he never had a record to match the success of "Talk Back Trembling Lips".
In 1989, he purchased radio station WSLV
WSLV
WSLV is a daytime-only radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Ardmore, Tennessee, USA, the station is currently owned by B & E Broadcasting, Inc....
in Ardmore, Tennessee
Ardmore, Tennessee
Ardmore is a city in Giles and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 1,213 at the 2010 census. Ardmore is the site of a Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Welcome Center...
. In 1992, Ashworth was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame
Alabama Music Hall of Fame
The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then saw to its Phase One construction of a after a state-wide referendum in 1987...
. Always a popular performer overseas, he had a number one song on the UK Independent Chart, "Lonely Only Bar," in 1999 and was also named the "Number One Most Programmed Independent Artist in Europe" that year.
Ashworth remained active as a recording artist until his death in 2009, making appearances at the Grand Ole Opry and spending much of his time tending to the affairs of his radio stations in Ardmore
Ardmore, Tennessee
Ardmore is a city in Giles and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 1,213 at the 2010 census. Ardmore is the site of a Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Welcome Center...
and Gallatin, Tennessee
Gallatin, Tennessee
Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, along a navigable tributary of the Cumberland River. The population was 23,230 at the 2000 census. Named for U.S...
.
In 2008 Ernie was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Throughout his career he achieved many awards and inductions into Halls of Fame across the United States
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Hits of Today and Tomorrow | 18 | Hickory |
| 1969 | The Best of Ernie Ashworth | — |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
||
| 1960 | "Each Moment (Spent With You) Each Moment (Spent With You) "Each Moment " was a country song written by Billy Hogan. It was a top 5 hit for Ernie Ashworth in 1960.-Chart performance:... " |
4 |
| "You Can't Pick a Rose in December" | 8 | |
| 1961 | "Forever Gone" | 15 |
| 1962 | "Everybody But Me" | 3 |
| 1963 | "I Take the Chance" | 7 |
| "Talk Back Trembling Lips Talk Back Trembling Lips "Talk Back Trembling Lips" is a 1963 song first recorded by Ernest Ashworth. The song became the most successful of Ernest Ashworth's career, becoming his only No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that October. The song spent 35 weeks on the country chart. The song also bubbled... "A |
1 | |
| 1964 | "A Week in the Country" | 10 |
| "I Love to Dance with Annie" | 4 | |
| "Pushed in a Corner" | 11 | |
| 1965 | "Because I Cared" | 18 |
| "The DJ Cried" | 8 | |
| 1966 | "I Wish" | 28 |
| "At Ease Heart" | 13 | |
| "Sad Face" | 31 | |
| 1967 | "Just an Empty Place" | 63 |
| "My Love for You (Is Like a Mountain Range)" | 48 | |
| "Tender and True" | 48 | |
| 1968 | "A New Heart" | 39 |
| 1969 | "Where Do You Go (When You Don't Go with Me)" | 69 |
| "Love, I Finally Found It" | 72 | |
| 1970 | "That Look of Good-Bye" | 72 |
Notes
- APeaked at #1 on Bubbling Under Hot 100.
- All singles from "I Wish" onward credited to Ernie Ashworth.
External links
- Official Website
- Ernie Ashworth at CMT
- [ Ernest Ashworth] at Allmusic
- Ernie Ashworth at the Grand Ole Opry