Heading to Nashville at the end of World War II, he landed a job singing and playing guitar at WLAC, a 50,000-watt station with a signal that reached many midwestern and eastern states. In 1940, when he was 19, he married Melba Miller (she and her brother, future country star Roger Miller, were raised in the same town) and moved to the Los Angeles area, but job opportunities for an "Okie from Erick" were scarce. Though he played guitar and led a country band during high school, it appeared working as a welder might be the best job he could ever hope to have. Growing up in Erick, a wide spot in the road on the western edge of Oklahoma, Shelby Wooley spent much of his teen years on horseback and put in some time riding in regional rodeos. His signature hit, one of the top-selling records of the 1950s, was way out in the stratosphere, a kid-appeal ditty based on the punch line of one of the hokiest of jokes: "What has one eye, one horn, flies and eats purple people?" Self-composed songs like "Mule Boogie" ('.how that mule could kick!'), "Down in the Toolies" and "You're the Cat's Meow" possessed a lightness of spirit that leaned in a more comical direction as time went by. Sheb was different from a lot of western-style musicians, always taking a lighthearted, often humorous approach to the music he made. Wooley (1921 - 2003) and David Seville, aka Rostom Sipan 'Ross' Bagdasarian, (1919 - 1972).When a guy like Sheb Wooley sets out to be a successful country singer, the end result isn't always as originally planned. It peaked at #1 (for 6 weeks) on Billboard's Best Selling in Stores chart on May 25th, 1958, and it was only its second week on the chart.Īnd the week it reached #1 there was another novelty song on the Top 10 "Witch Doctor" by David Seville was at #3 on the Best Sellers chart. Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn July 27th 1958, Sheb Wooley performed "The Purple People Eater" on the CBS-TV program 'The Ed Sullivan Show'.2" reached #6 on the Country Singles chart. * He also released records under the name Ben Colder and in 1962 his "Almost Persuaded No. 'Sheb' Wooley passed away on September 16th, 2003 at the age of 82. according to Billboard Magazine, and remained the best seller for six consecutive weeks.Īs stated above he reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart with "That's My Pa" that was for one week on March 11th, 1962. Sheb Wooley*, who played cowpoke Pete Nolan, appeared in 110 episodes.Įight months earlier on May 25th, 1958 Sheb Wooley's "The Purple People Eater" became the Best Selling record in the U.S. The series ran for eight seasons with 217 episodes.
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