Commenting on the death of country star Faron Young in December 1996, Joel Bernstein wrote, "Many of today's country fans don't know Faron Young from Mighty Joe Young." True then...even more true now. Earlier that month, on December 10, 1996, Faron killed himself. He was despondent over his deteriorating health and perhaps equally despondent over the end of his hit-making run some 20 years earlier and feeling the country music industry had turned its back on him.
Bernstein noted that one of Faron's early hits was "'It's A Great Life (If You Don't Weaken)', (but) forty-one years later, suffering from emphysema and prostate cancer, Young did weaken. He put a bullet in his head and...his great life ended. He may have been thinking back to his first Number One record, 'Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young (And Leave A Beautiful Memory).'"
Faron Young had his first break on the Louisiana Hayride, which launched the careers of Hank Williams, Elvis Presley and Webb Pierce. At age 20, Faron, known as "The Hillbilly Heartthrob" and "The Singing Sheriff", had his first hit, "Goin' Steady," which reach the Number Two spot. Forty more Top Ten hits followed through 1974, including "If You Ain't Lovin", "Wine Me Up" and "It's Four In The Morning". Faron's success as a recording artist was rooted in his ability to "smooth out some of the grittiest elements of honky tonk music, balancing it with pop vocal phrasing and flourishes." He also had a good ear for a good song and was willing to give up-and-coming songwriters a chance. Faron one was of five artists to reach Number One with Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" and hit the Number 12 spot on the pop charts with Willie Nelson's "Hello Walls". In fact, when "Hello Walls" hit the charts, Willie, desperate for money, offered to sell Faron the song, but Faron asked Willie how much he needed--$500--gave him the money and made him swear never to sell that song to anyone.
There are many colorful stories about Faron, but, perhaps the most interesting involves a girl and the biggest country star ever. In 1952, Faron was invited to guest on the Grand Ole Opry and drove to Nashville with his new girlfriend, Billie Jean Jones. "Sitting in the visitors box (onstage at the Opry), in her off the shoulder black and white dress, she attracted the attention of Opry headliner, Hank Williams." Bernstein picks up the story, "By the end of the night, she was Faron's ex and Hank's bride-to-be. " According to country singer Billy Walker, Hank pulled a gun on Faron and announced, "This is gonna be my girlfriend from now on." Hank also said Billie Jean would be the next Mrs. Hank Williams. He was prophetic. She became Mrs. Hank Williams, three times. They married secretly on October 18, 1952, and publicly, twice, the next day, at two, $2-a-person public ceremonies.
Less than three months later, Hank Williams, at age 29, died in the back seat of a Cadillac on the way to a New Year's Eve show in Canton, Ohio. He'd been dead for hours. Billie Jean remarked, "Hank was too young to die, but...he was in too much pain to live."
The same could have been said some 40 years later of her former boyfriend, Faron. He was too young to die.
"It's A Great Life (If You Don't Weaken)"
"Hello Walls"
"Sweet Dreams"
Porter Tubb
Monday, March 9, 2009
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