 |
Rest In Peace,
Louis,
You are with God now.
1931 - 2012 |
Louis Nunley
was a veteran of the music industry in
Nashville. As the Bass Singer with The Anita Kerr
Singers since February 1953, he was one of the twenty or
so performing musicians, including The Jordanaires,
whose contributions to recordings were the basis of what
has become known the world over as "The Nashville
Sound".
Louis was born October 15, 1931, in Sikeston, Missouri,
and was raised in Anderson, Indiana. In 1948, he moved
to Nashville to attend David Lipscomb College, where he
made his first commercial recordings in 1949, and was graduated in 1952, with a major in Mathematics.
Louis is survived by his wife Mary Ann,
and two sons: Louis, Jr. and Lee
|
 |
|
In the early years of the recording industry in
Nashville, there were two active vocal groups: The
Jordanaires and The
Anita Kerr Singers. Since vocal
groups are a basic element in almost all Nashville
recordings, both groups worked unbelievably busy
schedules in the studio, on television and on the radio.
The two groups were doing three to four, 3 hour
recording sessions per day, 7 days a week. Consequently,
they are collectively and individually, among the most
recorded voices in the history of music.
In 1956, The Anita Kerr Quartet won the popular "Arthur
Godfrey Talent Scouts Show". That began a relationship
with Godfrey that continued until he retired from his
daily CBS radio and television shows. The group had an
open invitation to come to New York and appear on
Godfrey's shows, so they arranged their schedules of
background recordings in Nashville, as often as possible
to clear small blocks of time for him. It was an
opportunity to promote their growing reputation as a
featured recording act and that recognition culminated
in the quartet's winning two "Grammy's" in 1965: "Best
Recording By A Vocal Group" and "Best Religious
Recording" with George Beverly Shea.
Meanwhile, Louis had stayed busy in the " background
singing business" through the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's,
90's and is still going strong. Louis has
recorded with hundreds of artists, some of whom are: Red
Foley, Brenda Lee, Burl Ives, Jim Reeves, Al Hirt, Pete
Fountain, Floyd Cramer, Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Eddy
Arnold, Perry Como, Dolly Parton, Engelbert Humperdinck,
Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and, yes,
Elvis Presley -- and the list goes on.
In addition to recordings, Louis was active in
commercials, movie and television soundtracks, and has
appeared on the vast majority of major network
television specials originating in Nashville, including
The CMA Awards Shows and The Music City News Awards
Shows, as well as being a regular on the "Statler
Brothers Show", among the countless others. He is also
an outstanding arranger, both for vocals and for
instruments, from one piece to symphony.
Louis filled in with "The Jordanaires" when needed
for over forty-five years, subbing for everyone in the
group at one time or another. When illness forced the
retirement of Duane West in 1999, Louis was tapped for
replacing him as baritone and as a regular member of the
group. With the passing of Neal Matthews in the year
2000, Louis was pressed into his role as arranger for
the group.
Quoteth Louis: "The first 50 years as a professional
singer has been a great warm-up and now I'm looking
forward to meeting all the new challenges in today's
music industry and to many more pleasant, productive
years with Gordon, Curtis and Ray: "The Jordanaires".
|
