Billy Grammer passes away at 85

Billy Grammer, who scored on both the country and pop charts with Gotta Travel On, passed away Wednesday morning after a long illness. He was 85.

Grammer was a multi-instrumentalist even as a teen, playing guitar, fiddle and mandolin. After getting out of the service, he had trouble finding work so he decided to try music, auditioning for Connie Gay's Radio Ranch in Arlington, VA.

In 1955, Gay suggested to Jimmy Dean that he try Grammer out on his television show and Billy joined the studio band for a number of big artists including Hackshaw Hawkins and Clyde Moody.

By 1958, he was ready to strike out on his own, so he formed a band and was signed to Monument Records. In early 1959, he hit the top five on both the country and pop charts and the top 15 in R&B with Gotta Travel On, which would become the biggest hit of his career.

Grammer never made it to the top ten again (his other semi big hit was the original version of Detroit City, called I Wanna Go Home) even though he continued recording throughout the rest of the decade. His prowess on guitar led to a number of albums that were instrumental based and, in 1965, he co-founded RG&G Company (later the Grammer Guitar Company) which made the Grammer guitar until 1970.

Through the late-60's and early-70's, Grammer thrived on studio work for a number of Nashville's biggest artist, all the while playing as a regular at the Grand Ole Opry. Billy gave the invocation at the dedication of the new Opry house in 1974 and was inducted into the Illinois Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990. On February 27, 2009, he made an appearance at the Opry in celebration of his fifty years as a member.

Later in life, Grammer suffered from eye disease that eventually left him blind.



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