On This Day in 1983, Country Music Said Goodbye to a Massively Influential Guitarist Who Wrote Some of the Genre’s Most Enduring Hit Songs

On this day (October 20) in 1983, Merle Travis died of a heart attack at his home in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He was 65 years old. Before he died, Travis built a lasting legacy in the country music world. His unique guitar style has influenced generations of musicians. He also penned many songs about the plight of coal miners, including Tennessee Ernie Ford’s ”Sixteen Tons.”

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Travis’ father was a coal miner. As a result, he grew up in the coalfields of Muhlenberg County in Western Kentucky. However, he knew at a young age that he wouldn’t follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he became obsessed with the local guitar style. The style involved picking a syncopated rhythm on the bass strings while playing melody notes on the bass strings. Years later, he would popularize the style now called Travis Picking. Decades after his death, it remains the most popular form of fingerstyle guitar for country and folk music.

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According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Travis moved to Evansville, Indiana, at the age of 19 to pursue his musical career. There, he worked with local bands. He later relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Drifting Pioneers where he joined the cast of the radio show Boone County Jamboree. Travis recorded his first songs with Grandpa Jones under the name The Sheppard Brothers in the early 1940s.

By the mid-1940s, Travis moved to California, where he worked as a session musician, appeared on multiple radio shows, and began recording as a solo artist. He found his first No. 1 with “Divorce Me C.O.D.” in 1947. The song stayed at the top of the country chart for 14 weeks.

Merle Travis Wrote and Recorded Multiple Hit Songs

Merle Travis wasn’t just the most consequential guitarist of the 20^th century. He also wrote some of the most enduring songs of his era. For instance, Travis wrote “Sixteen Tons” in 1946. Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded it in 1955 and made it a massive hit. Its popularity helped it become a standard.

He also co-wrote “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” with Cliffie Stone. Tex Williams recorded it and it became Capitol Record’s first release to sell a million copies.

Additionally, Travis co-wrote many of his hits, including “Merle’s Boogie Woogie,” “Fat Gal,” and “Three Times Seven.”

Later in his career, he recorded with Chet Atkins. Their album, The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show, won a Grammy Award.

However, nothing he wrote was more influential or enduring than the guitar style that he spent years honing and popularizing.

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