Slim Whitman

There are those of you who might not recognize this singer. He was never one of the most popular ones you always read about but he had a fantastic voice and he sang the most wonderful country-style love songs. He came into this world in 1923 as Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr. in Tampa, Florida but professionally became known as Slim Whitman.

His career began in the late 1940s and he had a string of hit songs in the 1950s and 1960s. With time Whitman became one of the most beloved and successful country artists of his time.

He was an American country music and western singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. His singing style was different because he could yodel and had a falsetto. Altogether he sold more than 120 million records and in the 1950s he toured with Elvis. The reason there are people who might not have heard of him is because even though he was American he became more popular in Europe, especially in the U.K.

Whitman’s 1955 hit single “Rose Marie” held the Guinness World Record for the longest time at number one on the U.K. Singles Chart for 36 years until the record was broken.

In 1957 Slim Whitman released his album Slim Whitman Sings. A popular song from the album was “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”.

In 1959 with another album of the same name he recorded a Willie Nelson song “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain”

In 1968 Love the Whitman Way and he sang “Unchained Melody”

In 1971 on his album, Happy Anniversary he recorded the popular country song “There Goes My Everything”

In 1976 Slim Whitman sang the ever-popular “Rambling Rose”

Red River Valley his 1977 album included “Rhinestone Cowboy”

Whitman's signature song was “Indian Love Call”

Among his other popular songs are:

“I Remember You”

“Silver Threads Among the Gold”

“Down the River of Golden Dreams”

As you can see these songs have gold in common and they are really lovely.

Finally, I have to mention a country song made popular by country singer Gene Autry and recorded by Slim Whitman in 2010 at the age of 87

“Back in the Saddle Again”

Legacy

Slim Whitman was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the recording industry.

Former Beatle George Harrison cited him as an early influencer saying

"The first person I ever saw playing a guitar was Slim Whitman, either a photo of him in a magazine or live on television. Guitars were coming in."

Before stardom and The Beatles Paul McCartney bought his first guitar but didn't know how to play it because he was left-handed. Then he saw a photo of Whitman playing left-handed so he restrung his guitar so he could play it with his left hand.

American pop singer Michael Jackson looked upon Whitman are one of his ten favorite vocalists.

In the 1996 movie “Mars Attacks!” Whitman's recording of the song “Indian Love Call” was featured as a weapon against Martian invaders with the song causing the head of the Martians to explode.

Rob Zombie used Whitman's version of the song “I Remember You” in his directorial debut in the movie “House of a Thousand Corpses” in 2003.

American singer and musician Daniel Johnston mentions Whitman in his song “Wild West Virginia” featured on his 1981 album Songs of Pain.

Slim Whitman joined the angel choirs on June 19, 2013, at the age of 90.

You can find the album The Very Best of Slim Whitman – 100 Tracks including His Greatest Hits and Most Requested Favorties on Spotify the digital music, podcast, and streaming music service.