On January 20, 2008, the Nashville Tennessean ran an obituary announcing that country singer Slim Whitman had died on his 85th birthday.
The obituary went viral after being picked up by the newspaper’s website, but there was one problem—Whitman was still very much alive.
The country singer and guitarist would hold on for five more years before he died of heart failure at age 90 on this day (June 19) in 2013 at Orange Park Medical Center in Orange Park, Florida. Today, we’re taking a look at his life and career on the 13th anniversary of his death.
Slim Whitman Once Had Completely Different Career Aspirations
Born January 20, 1923, in Tampa, Florida, Ottis Dewey “Slim” Whitman Jr. grew up singing along to Gene Autry and Jimmie Rodgers.
However, music wasn’t yet his main passion. Whitman wanted to play professional baseball, and the talent was there as a teenager.
After graduating from high school, Whitman took a job at a meat-packing plant, where he lost almost all of the second finger on his left hand in a workplace accident.
Despite the handicap, Whitman taught himself to play guitar—upside down and left handed—while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He often broke the monotony for his shipmates by singing, yodeling, and showing off his newfound guitar skills. So skilled was Whitman at boosting morale that a senior officer blocked his transfer to another ship. This move saved his life when that ship later sank, leaving no survivors.
Returning to Tampa after the war, Whitman pursued a musical career while working odd jobs at a local shipyard. He caught the attention of Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s notorious manager, while singing on the radio. Parker offered to represent Whitman and helped him land a contract with RCA Victor.
Whitman kept a part-time job at the post office until he scored his first top 10 hit with his 1952 cover of the Bob Nolan hit “Love Song of the Waterfall”. His next single, “Indian Love Call”—which fans of the 1996 sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks! may recognize—reached number two and crossed into the pop top 10.
Winning Fans Across the Pond
The hits kept coming for Slim Whitman, who ultimately sold more than 70 million records. He gained a significant following in the United Kingdom, which included Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney.
In 1955, he scored a number-one hit in the United Kingdom with “Rose Marie”, the theme song to the operetta of the same name. The song spent 11 of its 19 weeks on the chart at the top, setting a record that lasted for 36 years. Bryan Adams eclipsed Whitman in 1991 with “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”.
Featured image by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The post On This Day in 2013, We Said Goodbye to This Yodeling Country Crooner—for Real This Time appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Erinn Callahan
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