Don Gibson was born Donald Eugene Gibson on 4/3/1928 in Shelby, NC.
He had been a textile mill worker, had delivered baby diapers, worked as a dish washer, soda jerk, delivery truck driver, dealt with jukebox maintenance.
His musical career got underway in 1948,when his band Sons ofthe Soil got playing station WOHS, Shelby, NC, on a regular basis.
In 1949 he had his first recording session for Mercury Records at WBBO, Forest City, NC. His song Why Am I So Lonely had been cut at the event.
In 1950 he changed to RCA. At that time he moved from Shelby, NC, to Knoxville, TN, joined WNOX's Midday Merry-Go-Round and Tennessee Barn Dance. In 1952 he signed with Columbia Records.
In 1955 he wrote Sweet Dreams, began recording for MGM. Around that time, Don signed a publishing contract with Acuff-Rose.
In 1957 he moved over to RCA Victor, wrote and recorded his first single release Too Soon to Know. He decided to write songs for a living.
The 1958 recording of Oh Lonesome Me won him many major awards, as did I Can't Stop Loving You and Sea Of Heartbreak in 1961.
In 1958 Don Gibson appeared on the Grand Ole Opry for the very first time. He spent a couple of years in Nashville. In 1964 he left the Opry. By 1969 he signed with Acuff-Rose's Hickory Records, in 1975 he was reinstated as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Don Gibson was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
He died November 17, 2003, at a Nashville hospital at age 75. |
