[78-L] HILLBILLY HEAVEN

[Cary Ginell]

Eddie Dean recorded "Hillbilly Heaven" before Ritter (1955)- it was on a Sage & Sand 78). Griffith wasn't originally in the "Big Tally Book," but all the others Ritter mentioned were. Of course, the singer's name is the last to be read, so Dean's name was at the end of the list. I was at Eddie's funeral in Westlake Village, Calif. in 1999. He was the last of the old singing cowboys to pass away. The song was written by Dean and Hal Southern, who I also knew. Here's what Hal wrote about the song:
 
"It was actually about a dream. When I woke up the next morning, I practically had the complete song written, because it was as if somebody had laid it out for me, and all I had to do was copy it down. The song is exactly like the dream. Cowboy Copas is the only one who has passed away since recording the song. There was a very popular DJ on the West Coast by the name of Squeakin' Deacon Moore, and he always talked about Bell Gardens, California, being 'Hillbilly Heaven' because there were so many country music lovers in that town, and I think that hearing him talk about it so much made me subconsciously dream about a song with that idea in mind. So I had the dream, wrote the song, Eddie Dean recorded it and it has had a profound effect on my life that I never dreamed possible when I had the dream. — Hal Southern

Whoever sings the song inserts different names into the "Big Tally Book." I also have versions of it recorded by Southern, Wesley Tuttle, Patsy Montana, Asher & Little Jimmie Sizemore, Bill Lowery, and Cowboy Copas. The Frontiersmen, a group that included Southern, recorded a variation called "I Dreamed of a Cowboy Heaven" that included names of cowboy film stars in the Big Tally Book.
 
Cary Ginell
 

> Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 11:33:52 -0400
> From: dlennick at sympatico.ca
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] HILLBILLY HEAVEN
> 
> Too bad..CARMEN and ROMEO & JULIET were also on 78s. SILHOUETTES might have 
> been, at least in Canada.
> 
> dl
> 
> On 7/3/2012 11:27 AM, Ray wrote:
> > The last remaining celebrity mentioned in Tex Ritter’s HILLBILLY HEAVEN has gone to hillbilly heaven.
> >
> > http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/03/12543460-report-americas-sheriff-andy-griffith-dead-at-86?lite
> >
> > Andy’s WHAT IT WAS WAS FOOTBALL was on 78.
> >
> > RayK
> > _______________________________________________
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