Thanks to longtime friend and mentor Chet Atkins, George Hamilton IV found success on U.S. country music charts with songs like the number-one hit “Abilene” (1963) and “She’s a Little Bit Country” (1970). However, once his popularity began declining stateside, Hamilton took his act overseas, winning over fans in the Soviet Union, Poland, Australia, the Middle East, and East Asia. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the life of George Hamilton IV, born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on this day (July 19) in 1937.
George Hamilton IV Didn’t Get Started in Country Music
Between listening to his grandfather’s Jimmie Rodgers records and watching the cowboy matinees starring Tex Ritter and Gene Autry, country music was more or less always in Hamilton’s blood.
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“My people were originally farmers from the mountains,” he said. “Their heritage was mountain music—string bands, fiddles, and the like. It seemed the natural thing to do to learn to play an instrument and sing.”
Hamilton did just that, mastering the guitar by age 12. As a freshman at the University of North Carolina in 1956, he formed a band before meeting a budding songwriter named John D. Loudermilk.
Loudermilk wrote Hamilton’s first single, “A Rose and a Baby Ruth”, which the 19-year-old recorded in June of that year.
It reached the top 10 on the U.S. pop charts, selling more than a million copies and opening up a wealth of musical opportunities for George Hamilton IV. He toured with the likes of Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and the Everly Brothers before joining the cast of The Jimmy Dean Show. By 1959, Hamilton was hosting his own ABC-TV series.
The Pivot to Country Music
Despite finding success with “teenybopper ballads”, George Hamilton IV’s heart had always rested with country music. So after his TV hosting gig fell flat, he moved his family to Nashville in 1960.
After several performances at the Grand Ole Opry, the country music institution welcomed Hamilton as a member in 1960.
His chart breakthrough came the next year with “Before This Day Ends”, released with RCA Records. A year later, in 1962, he scored his first number-one hit, “Abilene”, also penned by John D. Loudermilk. Hamilton followed that with the 1964 top 10 hit “Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston”.
He continued recording for RCA through 1974, with his later work taking on more country-folk tones. Undaunted by the lack of chart success, Hamilton took his act overseas. Delivering widely acclaimed performances across the globe, he earned the title of “International Ambassador of Country Music.”
In 1973, he performed 73 shows over a period of three months, setting the record for the longest international tour by a country artist. One year later, Hamilton became the first country singer to perform behind the Iron Curtain.
George Hamilton IV focused primarily on recording gospel music until his death in Nashville on September 17, 2014. He was 77 years old.
Featured image by Michael Putland/Getty Images