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Chanteur Rockabilly US né Joseph Lephmon Pennington, le 15 Janvier 1928 à Plant City (Floride). Joe Penny a fait parti des Drifting Cowboys de Hank Williams et a enregistré un single à la fin des années cinquante pour Federal Records. Il fut un chanteur régulier au Hoosier Hoedown en 1956, puis au Hoosier Jamboree en 1957 (WEHT-TV, Enderson, Kentucky). Joe Penny est décédé le 1er Juillet 2020.
Rockabilly cat Joe Penny was born Joseph Pennington in Plant City, FL, on
January 15, 1928. Taught to play guitar by his mother, he joined his first
group, the Sons of the South, at the age of 16, and after high school he
relocated to San Angelo, TX, to play with the Western swing combo Dub Adams &
the K-Bar Ranch Hands. Through a mutual friend he met country icon
Hank Williams, joining his backing unit the Drifting Cowboys in 1947 for
seven dollars a show. Nicknamed "Little Joe Pennington" by
Williams in response to his diminutive size, the guitarist soon renamed
himself Joe Penny.
He left
Williams in 1949 to serve in the U.S. Navy, regularly performing at military
dances. After returning to civilian life, Penny played behind
Lefty Frizzell and
Little Jimmy Dickens in addition to pursuing a career as a songwriter, and
in 1954
Jean Shepard recorded his "Don't Fall in Love With a Married Man." By 1955
Penny evolved from straight-ahead country into rockabilly, even traveling to
Memphis to pitch his songs to Sun Records owner Sam Phillips. Earmarked for Sun
sensation
Elvis Presley, the songs were rejected and Penny relocated to Evansville,
IN, where he regularly appeared on WEHT-TV's Hoosier Hoedown and worked
part-time as a disc jockey. In 1957 he was tapped to host WEHT's new Hoosier
Jamboree.
The following year, he and his band journeyed to Cincinnati's King Studios,
recording the rockabilly cult classic "Bip a Little, Bop a Lot" for the Federal
label. The record fared poorly on its original release, however, and in 1960
Penny returned to Florida, returning to radio as well as country music with the
minor hit "Frosty Window Pane." In the wake of a near-fatal auto accident he
found religion, and in the years to follow focused on gospel music, most notably
recording the LP Growing Old With God. Inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
in 2001, two years later Penny was the subject of the NBM label release Large
Economy Size, which paired unreleased demos from the 1950s alongside newly
recorded material. In his twilight years, he also wrote Lookin' Back on Hank, a
memoir of his life on the road with
Williams.
Joe Penny passed away on July 1, 2020.
Talents : Vocals, Guitar
Style musical : Rockabilly, Rock 'n' Roll
Mercy, Mercy,
Percy (1958)
BIP A LITTLE, BOP A LOT (1958) Frosty Window Pane (1964) Hatty Fatty (1964) |
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Years in activity :
1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 | 20 |
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles
03/1958 | SP FEDERAL 45-12322 (US) | Mercy, Mercy, Percy / Bip A Little, Bop A Lot |
04/1964 | SP SIMS 173 (US) | |
12/1964 | SP DEL-MAR 1021 (US) |
When Your WomanTurns Bad / What's The Score |
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© Rocky Productions 13/01/2017