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EARNEST ASHWORTH
BORN: December 15, 1928, Huntsville, AL
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ernie Ashworth began his music career in 1948 as a member of the Tunetwisters. During the 1950s, Ashworth wrote songs for such performers as Little Jimmy Dickens and Carl Smith, and in 1955 was "discovered" by Wesley Rose and signed to MGM. Ashworth was billed as "Billy Worth" and cut six singles, none of which became hits. In 1957, he returned to Alabama and joined the Army Reserves.
Meanwhile, Rose remained determined to help Ashworth's music career and managed to get him signed to Decca in 1960. Billed as Ernest Ashworth, his first Decca single, "Each Moment (Spent with You)," hit the Top Five. That same year he scored a Top Ten hit with "You Can't Pick a Rose in December." In 1962, he signed with Hickory and again hit the Top Five with "Everybody but Me." A year later, he had his only number one hit with the self-penned "Take Back Your Trembling Lips." Ashworth joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1964 and scored periodic hits, the last of which was 1970's "The Look of Goodbye." After four singles on the independent O'Brien label flopped, he retired to his farm in Lewisburg, Tennessee, continuing to appear regularly on the Grand Ole Opry and occasionally touring the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide
| You'll find his famous "LIP" suit at the Alabama |
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| Hall of Fame. He donated it for display. |
TEXAS DROVER RECORDS are finishing up their
Debut compilation album to be released in late August.
Featuring Opry Star Ernie Ashworth's Self Penned
Gospel song, "I've Got Heaven On My Mind," "Country songs "Just Like My Love Without You"(by the late Jerry Parker.) & the heartbreaker "Borrowed Bottle," written by Ernie Ashworth & Joe Mack Pigg. The CD will also include RUSTY DOHERTY, TRACEY K. HOUSTON, Patty And "THE Misty Mountain Band" among a list of 12 great songs.
News
Grand Ole Opry Celebrates 75th Anniversary With Brooks, Parton, Others
Oct 16, 2000, 11:00 am PT
The Grand Ole Opry celebrated 75 years of radio shows with a weekend of festivities culminating in a series of performances by some of the Opry's top entertainers.
Most of the 71 members of the world's longest-running radio show attended or performed during the Opry's 75th birthday weekend (Oct. 13-15) at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, including Vince Gill, Loretta Lynn, Trisha Yearwood, and Porter Wagoner.
Many performers commemorated the event by reviving songs from the past. Lorrie Morgan covered Patsy Cline's "Crazy," and Marty Stuart performed "Rock Island Line." The shows also featured collaborations between members. Garth Brooks and Steve Wariner sang their duet, "Longneck Bottle," during one of Saturday's performances, while Alison Krauss and Union Station backed Dolly Parton for two songs, "Train Train" and "Coat of Many Colors."
In all, some four dozen acts performed in at least one of five shows - two each Friday and Saturday nights, plus a Saturday matinee. Friday's shows featured Jim Ed Brown, the Whites, Hal Ketchum, Jeanne Pruett, Diamond Rio, Holly Dunn, Del Reeves, Bill Anderson, Jimmy C. Newman, the Osborne Brothers, Martina McBride, Ernie Ashworth, Charlie Louvin, Hank Locklin, Stu Phillips, and Mel McDaniel.
Travis Tritt, Riders in the Sky, Little Jimmy Dickens, Pam Tillis, Jean Shepard, Ricky Van Shelton, Skeeter Davis, Wilma Lee cooper, Ralph Stanley, Johnny Russell, Ray Pillow, Charlie Walker, the Opry Squaredance Band, and the Melvin Sloan Dancers appeared on Saturday's shows.
Brooks, Wariner, Krauss, Wagoner, Ronnie Milsap, Jeannie Seely, Connie Smith, Bill Carlisle, and Jan Howard played both days.
Nashville's WSM-AM first broadcast the Opry's forerunner, the WSM Barn Dance, on Nov. 28, 1925. A two-hour television special celebrating the anniversary will air Nov. 23 on CBS at 9 p.m. EST/PST, and will feature performances by Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, and Trisha Yearwood. Dolly Parton and Vince Gill will host the broadcast.
-- Story and photos by Brian Mansfield
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