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Post by topgsfan on Apr 22, 2013 19:52:28 GMT -5
 Elton Britt (July 27, 1912–June 23, 1972), born James Elton Baker, was a country music singer, songwriter and author who sang and played guitar since his mid-teens. Elton Britt was born in Zack, Arkansas, near Marshall and gained his first success as a singing sensation with the Los Angeles-based "Beverly Hillbillies" band in Los Angeles before moving to New York City in the mid-1930s. Elton Britt's voice was a pleasant, easy tenor that could handle cowboy tunes and wistful ballads with equal facility. He embellished some of his songs with a high yodel that often reached a full octave above the melody, which became one of his trademarks. He recorded over 600 sides and 60 albums for RCA and other labels in more than a 30-year span, and is best known for such hit songs (several of which he wrote or co-wrote) as "Detour," "Chime Bells," "Maybe I'll Cry Over You," "Pinto Pal," and the million-selling wartime hit "There's A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere." A singer, bandleader, radio and television performer, songwriter and standard-setting yodeler, he starred in at least two films in the late 1940s and had hit records as late as "The Jimmie Rodgers Blues" in 1968. He died June 23, 1972. |
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Post by topgsfan on Apr 22, 2013 19:58:21 GMT -5
This guy could yodel! I love yodeling and wish Country music would bring it back.  Elton Britt was a country music singer and songwriter whose recordings included the World War II-era patriotic hit "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere." Britt, born James Elton Baker in Arkansas, hit it big when Los Angeles-based radio station studio manager Glenn Rice organized a search party of sorts in the Arkansas mountains to find an authentic country musician to join a group called the Beverly Hill Billies. Britt was 15 when he arrived in L.A. to join the Hill Billies. The Times reported on Aug. 14, 1930: "The boy arrived in overalls and hickory shirt, sans shoes, but wearing a peaked cap. The youth was open-eyed with wonder as the tri-motored plane landed at the airport in the glare of arc lights and the applause of a large audience." After achieving initial success on the radio with the Hill Billies, Britt moved to New York City. He recorded a number of hits and was known for his yodeling ability and musical similarities to another country star, Jimmie Rodgers. — Lindsay Barnett for the Los Angeles Times June 21, 2010, with additional reporting from the Los Angeles Times Aug. 14, 1930 |
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Post by topgsfan on Apr 22, 2013 20:06:36 GMT -5
Hollywood Walk of Stars  Elton Britt parlayed his Jimmie Rodgers imitation -- with a yodeling ability and range that surpassed Rodgers' -- into country's biggest hit of the World War II era, "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere," which sold four million copies in the early '40s. He was born James Elton Baker in Zack, AR, on June 27, 1913, and began playing guitar and singing around his hometown while in his mid-teens. Baker's career was made in 1930 when the Beverly Hill Billies returned from California to their Arkansas home to recruit a new vocalist. He won the talent search, and after being renamed Elton Britt, spent three years performing and recording with the Hill Billies. Britt moved to New York in 1933, initially playing in a quartet named Pappy, Zeke, Ezra & Elton. He recorded later in the '30s, as a solo act and also with the Wenatchee Mountaineers, Zeke Manners' Gang, and the Rustic Rhythm Trio. Britt began his period of fame in 1939, thanks to two circumstances: his signature on a contract for the discount label RCA Bluebird and -- most importantly -- his friendship with songwriter/producer Bob Miller. Miller wrote all of Elton Britt's greatest early hits, including "Chime Bells," "Rocky Mountain Lullaby," "Buddy Boy," "Driftwood on the River," and in 1942, "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere." The latter was adopted as a symbol of the war effort by patriotic audiences -- much as "Over There" had served World War I sympathizers. President Franklin Roosevelt even invited Britt -- billed as "the World's Highest Yodeler" -- to the White House in 1942 to perform the hit. By the time the charts came into existence in 1944, though, Britt had peaked. He did hit the Country Top Ten 11 times during the last half of the '40s, but never topped the charts. "Someday" reached number two in 1946, and six other songs peaked in the Top Five, including the double-sided "Wave to Me, My Lady"/"Blueberry Lane," "Detour," "Gotta Get Together With My Gal," "Candy Kisses," and "Quicksilver." A re-recording of his early hit "Chime Bells" hit number six. Britt continued recording with RCA, eventually releasing over 50 albums until 1957, when he moved to ABC/Paramount. He made a brief bid for the presidency in 1960, and recorded the number 26 "Jimmie Rodgers Blues" eight years later, but retired soon after. He died on June 22, 1972. ~ John Bush, Rovi Edited to say...Bob Miller didn't write ALL the songs mentioned in this article. Actually Elton Britt wrote "Chime Bells" and "Candy Kisses" was written by the country singer George Morgan . "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" was written in 1942 by Paul Roberts and Shelby Darnell. Elton Britt's recording of it was Country Music's very first gold record selling over one million records and eventually selling 4 to 5 million copies. The others in this article....I don't know who wrote them.
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Post by topgsfan on Apr 22, 2013 21:30:19 GMT -5
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Post by topgsfan on Apr 23, 2013 13:00:09 GMT -5
He could hold his breath longer than anyone. He once won a breath holding contest. I forgot how long it was, but it was LONG!
"The Jimmie Rodgers Blues" (I love this song and the way Elton Britt does it)
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Post by november on May 6, 2013 4:31:24 GMT -5
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Post by topgsfan on May 16, 2014 14:59:51 GMT -5
Here's another Bio of Elton Britt.
Elton Britt (June 27, 1913-June 22, 1972), born James Elton Baker, was a country music guitarist and singer-songwriter.
Biography
Elton Britt was born in Marshall, a small town in Searcy County, Arkansas. He recorded over 600 sides and 60 albums for RCA and other labels in more than a 30-year span, and is best known for such hit songs (several of which he wrote or co-wrote) as "Detour", "Chime Bells", "Maybe I'll Cry Over You", "Pinto Pal", and the million-selling wartime hit "There's A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere".
A singer, bandleader, radio and television performer, songwriter and standard-setting yodeler, he starred in at least two films in the late 1940s and had hit records as late as "The Jimmie Rodgers Blues" in 1968.
He died June 23, 1972, five days before his 59th birthday, due to heart attack.
He had at least four children. at least three boys and one daughter. His Father was James Baker and had two sisters Gretta Sanders and Druse Baker,who was known for her strange random clogging, and several brothers.
Biography from Wikipedia
***I LOVED his singing AND Yodeling! 
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Post by topgsfan on Jun 21, 2017 17:48:07 GMT -5
Elton Britt's "The Jimmie Rodger's Blues" song has a longer version that's over 7 minutes long. I have it and LOVE it!
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Post by topgsfan on Jul 21, 2017 10:12:51 GMT -5
Elton Britt's "The Jimmie Rodger's Blues" song has a longer version that's over 7 minutes long. I have it and LOVE it!
hopefully!I've always loved this guy's singing and yodeling ever since I was very, very young!
Elton Britt died too young from a heart attack. I'm so glad I have some of his recordings.
Edited to say I have this LP album from way back when! Love it! |
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Post by topgsfan on Jul 26, 2017 10:59:59 GMT -5
Elton Britt (July 27, 1912–June 23, 1972), born James Britt Baker, was a country music singer, songwriter and author who sang and played guitar since his mid-teens. Elton Britt was born in Marshall, Arkansas, (actually in Zack, just outside Marshall) and gained his first success as a singing sensation with the Los Angeles-based "Beverly Hillbillies" band in Los Angeles before moving to New York City in the mid-1930s. Elton Britt's voice was a pleasant, easy tenor that could handle cowboy tunes and wistful ballads with equal facility. He embellished some of his songs with a high yodel that often reached a full octave above the melody, which became one of his trademarks. He recorded over 600 sides and 60 albums for RCA and other labels in more than a 30-year span, and is best known for such hit songs (several of which he wrote or co-wrote) as "Detour," "Chime Bells," "Maybe I'll Cry Over You," "Pinto Pal," and the million-selling wartime hit "There's A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere." A singer, bandleader, radio and television performer, songwriter and standard-setting yodeler, he starred in at least two films in the late 1940s and had hit records as late as "The Jimmie Rodgers Blues" in 1968. He died June 23, 1972. Edited... to say Elton Britt was actually born in Zack, Arkansas which is a small town outside of Marshall, Arkansas. It's in the northwest part of the state not far from Fayetteville where the University of Arkansas is located. |
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Post by topgsfan on Aug 7, 2017 16:15:01 GMT -5
Hope this works! If it does it's a "live" video of Elton Britt
singing "Chime Bells in the movie "Laramie".
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Post by topgsfan on Aug 13, 2017 15:59:18 GMT -5
I'm loving this guy's singing and yodeling more and more as time goes by. With all this so-called "country" music out there today...Elton Britt's music, along with Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Jim Ed Brown, George Strait, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Glen Campbell,Marty Robbins and others of their era is all I listen to. Thank the Good Lord for CD's and music videos of some of these guys! I'm even listening to Jimmie Rodgers (who has been called the father of country music) again.
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Post by topgsfan on Sept 13, 2017 11:40:16 GMT -5
There are so many articles on the internet where people who apparently didn't know Elton Britt have his name wrong or his birth place or where he was raised. To put it straight....he was born in Zack, Arkansas, a small town a few miles from Marshall in Searcy County. His real name (birth name) is James Elton Baker...the name James after his father and the name Elton in honor of his doctor who kept him alive his first year of life. He was born with a heart problem and his parents didn't even give him a name his first year of life because they didn't think he would survive. People just called him cute or cutie. Elton died from the results of a heart attack when he was almost 59 years old. Back to the internet...one person said he was born in Zack, Arizona....one said he was born in Oklahoma....one said she just had heard about him and that he was raised in Oklahoma and a ton of people have his birth name wrong, I have been a fan of Elton's ever since I was a teenager and I'm older than the hills now! Some of the articles I posted on here from the internet have some of these things wrong and I just thought I needed to correct them. Sorry, I don't intend to offend any of theses people.
P.S. I forgot to say...to put it short and sweet the name Britt was given to him for show business reasons. |
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Post by topgsfan on Sept 13, 2017 11:53:47 GMT -5
Elton Britt
The Cattle Call (live)
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Post by topgsfan on Sept 13, 2017 12:14:49 GMT -5
It's been said Elton Britt has such a versatile voice he could sing any genre he would want to.
He sings this song with such emotion.
Touch My Heart
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